Indoor Football Weekly #32: It's All Over (For 2017)

Credit: Honolulu Star Bulletin

Well folks this past weekend wrapped up the 2017 Indoor Football Season with the IFL playing the 2017 United Bowl Championship on Saturday and the NAL playing its inaugural Championship Game on Monday night.

Credit: Indoor Football League

Adam Lamprecht once again brings us all the action of the IFL, this time from the 2017 United Bowl in Sioux Falls, SD.

The 2017 United Bowl topped off the IFL Season, as the top teams of each conference faced off. The Arizona Rattlers traveled to Sioux Falls to face off against the defending IFL Champions, the Sioux Falls Storm.

The Rattlers took the opening kickoff and marched down the field in 4 plays, taking the opening drive for a score, as the no. 2 rusher in the league, Darrell Monroe, took it in from two yards out. The Storm would answer right back, as Korey Williams took the kickoff and ran it back for a touchdown to tie things up at 7 a piece. From there, it went downhill for the Storm.

The Rattlers answered back, as Cody Sokol found a wide open Jamal Miles, who found the endzone after a 34 yard pass, and the Rattlers went up 14-7. After holding the Storm on downs, the Rattlers were driving as the 1^st quarter ended. On 4^th and Goal to start the second quarter, Monroe found the end zone for the second time in the game. Petre Sawyer missed the PAT, but the Rattlers were up 20-7.

The Storm took the ball and drove down the field, but could not find the end zone, and Justin Syrovatka missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, giving the Rattlers the ball back at their own 5. The Rattlers had no luck moving the ball either, and had to settle for a field goal attempt. At least that’s what they wanted the Storm to think, as they tried a fake field goal. But Storm linebacker Tyler Knight sniffed it out, stopping them and turning the ball over on downs, giving the Storm much needed momentum and the ball back on the Rattlers 14-yard line.

But on the Storm’s first play of the drive, Storm quarterback Lorenzo Brown would get sacked, fumble the ball, and the Rattlers would pick it up, as Joshua Gordon would return the fumble 29 yards for the score, putting the Rattlers up 27-7. The Storm’s next drive didn’t fare any better, as Brown would get sacked two more times, and Syrovatka would try another field goal. He would come up short, and the Rattlers would return it back to the Storm 5-yard line. One play later, Sokol nails Anthony Amos for the touchdown. The Storm would try another field goal for the last play of the half, but it was no good, and the Rattlers would go into the half, dominating the Storm 34-7.

The Storm took the opening kickoff of the second half, and would finally find the endzone on offense, as Brown hit Judd Harrold for 17 yards and the score, putting the score at 34-14. The Rattlers would take over, and on the second play, Tyler Knight would force the fumble from Sokol, and Storm defensive back Elijah Fields would pick it up. A few plays later, “Mighty Mouse” Robbie Rouse would find pay dirt, and the Storm were right back in it, down 34-21. Three plays later, Sokol’s pass was tipped by Knight, and Brandon Peguese would pick it off in the endzone, and the Storm only trailed 34-28. After a missed field goal by Sawyer, the Storm looked to capitalize, going into the fourth quarter only down by 6.

But the Rattlers would hold on 4^th down, as they would force a turnover on downs at the Storm 9-yard line. A couple plays later, Monroe would get his 3^rd rushing touchdown of the night, and the Rattlers would go up 41-28. Another mistake by the Storm would cost them, as Brown would fumble on a jet sweep, and the Rattlers would recover. Although they wouldn’t find the endzone, Sawyer would put up his first field goal, and the Rattlers lead 44-28.

The Storm came marching back, as Brown would find Harrold again for the score. The two point conversion was no good, and the Storm would trail 44-34. The Storm defense held again, but once again, Sawyer was true through the middle for 3, and the Rattlers lead 47-34. On the first play of the drive, Brown would find Mike Tatum, and hit him 40 yards for the score, and the Storm were back within 6, 47-41.

The Storm would try an onside kick, and even though they recovered, they were penalized for an illegal block, and the Rattlers would get the ball at the Storm 11-yard line. Though denied the end zone again, the Rattlers would get 3 from Sawyer, and lead 50-41 with only 42 seconds left in the game.

The Storm would try to mount a comeback, but a late pick by Arkeith Brown would seal the deal, and the Arizona Rattlers were the 2017 IFL Champions, defeating the Storm 50-41 in United Bowl XIII.

The big factor in this game was mistakes. The Storm had 3 turnovers, one of them coming off one of 4 sacks by the Rattlers defense. 3 of the 4 sacks, in my honest opinion, came off poor decision making, as Brown held the ball far too long, and should have just thrown the ball away. The Rattlers had 2 turnovers, but only 1 sack on Sokol. Both teams were abysmal on third down, as they combined for a total 2-15 on third down, 1/8 for Arizona and 1/7 for Sioux Falls. Another factor was the kicking game, as Sawyer, who came into the game first in the IFL in field goal percentage, would hit 3 of 4 field goals in the game, all 3 were clutch field goals down the stretch. Syrovatka, on the other hand, was 0 for 3 in field goal attempts, all 3 being in the first half.

Credit: Jacksonville Sharks

The Inaugural National Arena League Championship game was played on Monday night and saw the Jacksonville Sharks (12-1) host the Columbus Lions (9-3). This was the teams third meeting of the season and second straight Championship Game appearance for the Lions (2016 AIF Champions). The game started out with Jacksonville capping off a 7 play 44 yard drive with a 1 yard touchdown run to make it 7-0. However after that the game got slow, really really slow, and extremely boring. The Lions ended their first drive with an interception, Jacksonville fumbled it back on their first play with the ball back and Columbus then missed a FG. It would take until there was 5:23 remaining on the clock in the SECOND quarter before another score happened. That just happened to be a 7 yard toss to Ruffins for a Jacksonville TD. After 1 very dull half of football the Sharks led the Lions 13-0.
The second half started a little better as Columbus scored to start the game and Jacksonville answered right back on 2 long drives ending the 3rd Quarter at 20-7 Sharks. The 4th quarter started right where the 3rd left off with Columbus and Jacksonville trading scores once again, that was until the final two drives. The Sharks, who with a touchdown could secure the game, but threw a pick into the endzone and the Lions would start with the ball on their own 5. With no timeouts left the Lions drove the ball downfield and ate up a considerable amount of clock. With the ball at the Sharks 5 and just 11 seconds left, the Lions were in position to win the game and the title. The Lions QB Mason Espinosa would fumble the ball and it would be recovered by Jacksonville. The score didn't show everything as the Lions went 22-37 with 1 pick and the Sharks 17-25 with 2 picks. Combine those QB stats with a combined 39 yards rushing and a total of 19 penalties for 121 yards and you realize how bad of a game this really was. But the Sharks came out with the inaugural National Arena League Championship.

That wraps the seasons up in a nice little bow for everyone. The Texas Revolution as CIF Champions, the Arizona Rattlers as IFL Champions, and the Jacksonville Sharks as NAL Champions. This week it's the Best of Arenas Semi-Finals so don't forget to vote either here or on Facebook! Next week will be a special Indoor Football Weekly as we'll bring you Shit Show: Post Season Edition that will cover all the leagues we don't normally cover.