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| Sports ExtraFriday, March 28, 2008 6:48 PM CDT |
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Extreme knows importance of game before road trip
BLOOMINGTON — In an ideal world, the Bloomington Extreme would never play away from the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. But in reality, it must go on the road. | Extreme page | Gameday glance That’s why this game is so critical. After tonight’s 7:05 p.m. United Indoor Football game against the Colorado Ice, the Extreme will play three of its next four games on the road. With an opportunity to push its record to .500, Bloomington looks at this game as a must win. “We really need this game,” first-year coach Kenton Carr said. “We just need some wins to get that momentum and get that good feeling.” Following the game, Bloomington will embark on a two-game road trip that will take it a total of 1,498 miles. In fact, the Extreme will play one game at home in the month of April. With a critical stretch of games ahead, the team believes the time is now to start winning. “We have to be motivated,” wide receiver James Walton said. “We have to have it now.” Now may be the perfect opportunity to pick up wins. The Ice (0-2) is seventh in the UIF in scoring average and last in offense. Despite the low offensive production, Bloomington is not looking ahead. “We have to be prepared and ready for their best shot,” Walton said. “They’re definitely going to give it to us.” The Extreme has faced Colorado only once since joining the UIF for the 2006 season. Last June, Bloomington held the Ice to 15 points and limited it to 171 yards of offense. In order for the defense to duplicate last year’s performance, defensive coordinator Frank West believes the Extreme will have to stop the run. “We’re always concerned about everybody’s run,” he said. “The key for us is to stop their run.” Colorado has rushed the ball a total of 31 times for 56 yards — a 1.8 yard-per-carry average. Although the Ice has a meager rushing total, Carr knows it will pound the ball against a vulnerable Bloomington run defense. “They’re going to come right at us,” he said. “I know the coach (Collins Sanders) loves to run the ball. If I was him, I’d come right at us. It’s very important that we get after it right away.” The key is scoring early. “We’ve got to set the tone off the bat — both offensively and defensively,” Carr said. “Hopefully, defensively that emotion carries over from last game and we can set the tone early.” If that happens, the Extreme will begin its road swing on a positive note. “Right now, this is the biggest game of the season for us,” West said. “You want to at least get the record back to 2-2. You don’t want to be 1-3, then going on the road. You want to take care of business at home and we have a great opportunity to do that but it’s going to be tough.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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