ExtremeWednesday, August 1, 2007 10:17 PM CDT

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Playoff run comes to an end at Lexington

By Randy Reinhardt
rreinhardt@pantagraph.com

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Peter Christofilakos had earlier boomed a franchise-record 53-yard field goal through the narrow United Indoor Football uprights. | Video highlights

A subsequent 23-yard field goal attempt to send the Bloomington Extreme into halftime tied appeared almost a formality.

It was anything but.

Ellery Moore stormed the middle of the Extreme line to reject the field goal try, and Leonard Burress returned the bouncing ball 28 yards for a touchdown to give Lexington a 10-point halftime lead it would not surrender Saturday as the Horsemen claimed a 67-49 victory in the Eastern Conference championship game before a Rupp Arena crowd of 2,669.

“There was two seconds to go and it was a chip shot. That play made the difference,” Bloomington coach Ted Schmitz said. “We would have been tied but we were 10 down. We never recovered.”

Lexington (10-7) advanced to United Bowl III on Aug. 4. The Horsemen will play the winner of today’s Billings at Sioux Falls game on the road.

The Extreme concluded its second season in the UIF with a 9-8 record.

Lexington riddled Bloomington for 27 third-quarter points, the most the Extreme has given up in a quarter all season. The Horsemen’s 67 points were a season-worst for Bloomington.

“We knew we had to get some stops to win the game. We didn’t get enough,” said Extreme defensive back Mike Crumpler. “Their huge receivers gave us difficulty. They made big plays and caught the ball in traffic.”

Lexington scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half. Quarterback Eddie Eviston scrambled 11 yards for the first TD and followed with scoring passes of 7 and 30 yards to Chad Spencer and 12 yards to John Cooper for a 54-34 advantage.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Schmitz said. “He (Eviston) is even better than I thought. What a great presence in the pocket. We could not get pressure on him.”

Eviston, who led Lexington to the UIF title game last season but began the current campaign in arenafootball2, completed 18 of 25 passes for 234 yards and seven touchdowns.

“This game is about scoring,” said Extreme receiver Glenn Johnson. “You’ve got to tip your hat to Lexington. They scored pretty much every possession. Once you get behind a good team, a good passing team, you can’t catch up. Our defense gave up a lot of points, and their defense gave up a lot of points.”

Failing to reach the end zone for the first time of the second half, Lexington settled for a 25-yard Collin Barber field goal and a 57-41 lead with 7:58 remaining.

Bloomington responded with a 30-yard TD strike from Dusty Burk to James Walton. Burk and Walton also hooked up on the two-point conversion to slice the Horsemen margin to 57-49.

The Extreme defense stiffened again, but Barber nailed a critical 43-yard field goal at the 4:34 mark.

Jonathan Messick recovered a Walton fumble with 2:05 left, and Lexington tacked on another touchdown for the final margin.

“When we got it down to eight, we had a chance,” Schmitz said. “We did not hang our heads. We made a run at them.”

Johnson set Extreme records with 11 receptions and 115 yards receiving. Burk set team standards with 27 completions, 44 attempts and 279 yards.

Burk tossed four touchdowns, two to Reggie Gray, one to Johnson and one to Walton. Carlos Lattimore rushed for TDs of 5 and 4 yards in the first half as Bloomington held its last lead at 17-13.

Rayshawn Askew complemented Eviston with 57 yards rushing on 12 carries. Spencer caught six passes for 89 yards and four TDs.

Lexington narrowly won the total offense battle, 307 yards to 298.

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Take a look

The Horsemen's Bryan Stallings, left, fumbled the ball and Bloomington's 10-Mike Crumpler lost his helmet as the Bloomington Extreme played the Lexington Horsemen in the United Indoor Football Eastern Conference championship game played in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, July 28, 2007. This is second quarter indoor football action. Stallings, an offensive lineman, caught a deflected pass and then fumbled the ball on the run. The fumble was recovered by Bloomington. (Charles Bertram/Lexington Herald-Leader)

The Horsemen's Ellery Moore, right, tackled Bloomington quarterback Dusty Burk, left. after he scrambled from the pocket as the Bloomington Extreme played the Lexington Horsemen in the United Indoor Football Eastern Conference championship game played in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, July 28, 2007. This is first quarter indoor football action. (Charles Bertram/Lexington Herald-Leader)

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