Tri-Cities Fever Capture 2005 NIFL Indoor Bowl
By Mike Thompson
The Tri-Cities Fever of the NIFL are the new champions for 2005 and River City Rage Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt on Monday morning summed up the feelings of the entire Rage organization when he said “I have nothing but the greatest respect for what they were able to achieve this season. To overcome some early season problems, turn things around, put together a seven game win streak towards the end of the regular season, and then defeat two previously undefeated teams on the road in the playoffs, well, I know from experience, that takes some doing. They deserve to be champions.” Then with a smile, he mused, “hey, they even managed to beat us in the forth game of the season up at their place. So, they had something going on.”
That ‘something’ got up and moving for The Fever after a 67-62 victory over The Rage on April 16th in Kennewick, Washington. It was the first game for new Head Coach Dan Whitsett and the first for new Fever quarterback Doug Coleman, a NIFL veteran. With an even record of 2-2 at that point, Tri-Cities then won 7 of its next 10 regular season games to finish the regular season with a mark of 9-5.
Saturday night’s sell-out crowd at the Three Rivers Coliseum saw The Fever win the coveted NIFL Indoor Bowl trophy by defeating the Rome Renegades 47- 31. With just under 5 minutes to play, on 3rd and 13 from their own 2 yard line, Fever QB Coleman hit wide receiver Donte Wong with a pass over the middle of the field, good for a 48 yard touchdown and a 16 point lead that held up for the rest of the game.
The Renegades entered the playoffs with a season record of 7-7, but came on strong to defeat Lakeland and Montgomery before upsetting the Cincinnati Marshals at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati to win the Atlantic Conference Championship. However, the Tri-Cities Fever rush to the title was too much for the Rome team to overcome and so, it’s congratulations and helmets held high to the Tri-Cities Fever, the first Pacific Division team to win the National Indoor Football League Championship!
Mike Thompson is the Director of Media Relations for the RiverCity Rage. Although this article comes from his weekly press release, he has agreed to write Rage related articles exclusively for The First Capitol News.
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