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| Sports ExtraWednesday, July 2, 2008 11:30 PM CDT |
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Extreme defense very confident
BLOOMINGTON -- Forty-eight hours later, Bloomington Extreme receiver James Walton was still amazed. “They were lights out,” Walton said of the defensive performance Monday night. “That’s the best defensive performance I’ve ever been a part of as a football player.” But can they do it again? Fresh off its 33-7 drubbing of the RiverCity Rage in the United Indoor Football Eastern Conference championship game, the Extreme took the practice field Wednesday night still astonished over the defensive effort. With a date in United Bowl IV against Sioux Falls nine days away, the team is certain the defense can duplicate its record-setting game. “I’m very confident,” Extreme coach Kenton Carr said. “Our defense is so confident. They’re not afraid of anyone. I’m not worried at all.” Neither are those on the defense. “We’re more confident than ever,” defensive end Quince Holman said. They should be. Playing physical and with reckless abandon, the Bloomington defense looked like a totally different unit than in the past. The quarterback was pressured, passes were covered and running lanes were closed. That enabled the Bloomington defense to set franchise records for points allowed, interceptions (four) and yards-per-carry average (1.6). “They’re flying around. They’re having fun. They’re hitting,” Carr said. “So far, I’ve seen them as one of the more physical teams in the league. We weren’t even close to that earlier in the year. I’m happy where we’re at defensively. You couldn’t pick a better time.” The defense picked a great time. Despite scoring 26 points — seven came off an interception return — the offense was not as sharp or explosive as it had been throughout the season. Bloomington was 0-for-3 inside the red zone and converted 5-of-11 third-down chances. Each time the offense sputtered, the defense was right there to pick up the offense. “For the first time in a long time, when we didn’t score, it didn’t matter,” Walton said. “We were going to get another chance to score and the scoreboard was still going to say zero. That’s how confident they were playing.” The Extreme believes its opponent will notice the swagger, too. “If you’re Sioux Falls, you got to be a littler nervous with how well our defense is playing,” Carr said. “Right now, we’re the most physical team in the league.” It’s hungry, too. “We like to hit,” Holman said. “We’re running to the ball. You can’t get any better out of a defense than having them hit people and run to the ball.” Extreme at StormWhat: United Bowl IV When: 7:05 p.m., July 12 Where: Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, S.D. Records: Bloomington 8-7, Sioux Falls 12-3 E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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