Post by fwp on May 21, 2010 5:02:25 GMT -5
www.pantagraph.com/sports/football/professional/arena/extreme/article_cc3d260c-646a-11df-bcc3-001cc4c002e0.html
Saying road trips have been unkind to the Bloomington Extreme would be an understatement.
The Indoor Football League franchise has lost three straight when playing as the visitors, getting outscored 122-66 while suffering consecutive defeats at Rochester and Omaha in the past month.
So Coach Ted Schmitz wants his players to treat Friday's 7 p.m. visit with the La Crosse Spartans like another game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
"We've had two very, very bad road trips and we're trying to change that up," said Schmitz. "We're going to go through our regular routine to try and make it like it's a home game."
Previously the Extreme would depart from Bloomington the day before an away game. Instead, Schmitz and his players will leave Friday on the 5½-hour bus ride to Wisconsin.
Bloomington (5-5) moved into second place in the Central North Division with a 33-30 win over Chicago last week. That followed an impressive 54-18 victory over the Spartans in Schmitz's first game after assuming head coaching duties.
"I think we're coming along and getting better, but we're not where we need to be," said receiver John Cooper, who caught eight passes for 92 yards in last week's victory. "Right now we're just trying to get some momentum going toward the playoffs."
Coming off a bye, La Crosse (1-8) will play its second straight game against the Extreme. Schmitz said the Spartans may let quarterback Buddy Rivera run a spread offense or could switch to a more traditional alignment with Purdue product Hakeem Abdullah replacing the injured Mark Bonds at running back.
"We don't know for sure what they're going to do," said Schmitz. "If they don't have a running game I think it helps us, but if they do then we'll have to play our whole package. We've got to be ready for both."
Bloomington played its best game of the season in the first meeting, especially on defense with six sacks and four takeaways. That success has Schmitz cautioning his players against overconfidence.
"We can't let ourselves slip and think we're somewhere we're not. We need to keep working hard, working hard, working hard," said defensive lineman Jeff Sobol, who leads the team with four sacks. "We have to act like we're going into it with something to prove and get back to where we need to be as a team."
Personnel move: Former Extreme linebacker Calvin Jones has rejoined the team as a defensive lineman. Jones will spell Shemiah LeGrande, who is participating in a UFL tryout this weekend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heading north
Extreme at Spartans
Time: 7 p.m. Friday
Broadcast: WJBC-FM (93.7)
Saying road trips have been unkind to the Bloomington Extreme would be an understatement.
The Indoor Football League franchise has lost three straight when playing as the visitors, getting outscored 122-66 while suffering consecutive defeats at Rochester and Omaha in the past month.
So Coach Ted Schmitz wants his players to treat Friday's 7 p.m. visit with the La Crosse Spartans like another game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
"We've had two very, very bad road trips and we're trying to change that up," said Schmitz. "We're going to go through our regular routine to try and make it like it's a home game."
Previously the Extreme would depart from Bloomington the day before an away game. Instead, Schmitz and his players will leave Friday on the 5½-hour bus ride to Wisconsin.
Bloomington (5-5) moved into second place in the Central North Division with a 33-30 win over Chicago last week. That followed an impressive 54-18 victory over the Spartans in Schmitz's first game after assuming head coaching duties.
"I think we're coming along and getting better, but we're not where we need to be," said receiver John Cooper, who caught eight passes for 92 yards in last week's victory. "Right now we're just trying to get some momentum going toward the playoffs."
Coming off a bye, La Crosse (1-8) will play its second straight game against the Extreme. Schmitz said the Spartans may let quarterback Buddy Rivera run a spread offense or could switch to a more traditional alignment with Purdue product Hakeem Abdullah replacing the injured Mark Bonds at running back.
"We don't know for sure what they're going to do," said Schmitz. "If they don't have a running game I think it helps us, but if they do then we'll have to play our whole package. We've got to be ready for both."
Bloomington played its best game of the season in the first meeting, especially on defense with six sacks and four takeaways. That success has Schmitz cautioning his players against overconfidence.
"We can't let ourselves slip and think we're somewhere we're not. We need to keep working hard, working hard, working hard," said defensive lineman Jeff Sobol, who leads the team with four sacks. "We have to act like we're going into it with something to prove and get back to where we need to be as a team."
Personnel move: Former Extreme linebacker Calvin Jones has rejoined the team as a defensive lineman. Jones will spell Shemiah LeGrande, who is participating in a UFL tryout this weekend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heading north
Extreme at Spartans
Time: 7 p.m. Friday
Broadcast: WJBC-FM (93.7)