BLOOMINGTON - Certainly one of Dusty Burk's greatest assets is his strong right arm. The Bloomington Extreme quarterback proved he is more than one dimensional on Saturday night. | Photo gallery | Extreme page

Needing critical yards to keep a slim lead intact, Burk turned to his legs for a tackle-breaking run that preserved a 51-42 United Indoor Football victory over the RiverCity Rage in front of 4,838 fans at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Facing a 3rd-and-7 from his own 18 late in the fourth quarter, Burk was faced with pressure from the back side. After initially beating the rush, Burk was met with two more defenders, but he quickly sidestepped the defenders and broke three tackles for a 6-yard gain.

One play later, Bloomington (5-4) sealed the win after SoSo Brooks converted the fourth down.

"I knew if we got a first down, we could close out the game," said Burk, who ran for a game-high 51 yards. "I was just fighting to get the first down so we could go home with the win."

The play left some almost speechless.

"That was probably, by far, the best play I've seen all year," Extreme coach Kenton Carr said. "I haven't seen that kind of effort out of anyone this year. That was amazing."

The win extends Bloomington's lead in the East Division to a game-and-a-half over the Rage and Sioux City, which lost on the road to Sioux Falls.

Bloomington had a 45-28 lead early in the fourth, but the Rage (3-5) crawled back and eventually got within six points.

RiverCity had an opportunity to take its first lead of the game midway through the fourth quarter after defensive back Brandon Gregory returned an interception to the Extreme 4-yard line.

But for the third time in the game, Bloomington did not allow a touchdown after having the ball inside its own 10. RiverCity converted a 26-yard field goal by Mike Matheny to cut the deficit to 45-42 with 4 minutes, 15 seconds left in the game.

"That's huge," Carr said of the defensive stand.

The Extreme opened a 28-21 halftime lead due to precision passing by Burk and key defensive stops. He had four touchdowns and 143 passing yards while compiling a 145.9 passer rating.

Burk completed touchdown passes to James Walton, Glenn Johnson and Derin Graham.

The defense stuffed RiverCity and two fourth-and-goal situations inside the 5-yard line.

Burk added 180 passing yards and five touchdowns. Walton and Johnson, who was playing in his first game on the season, each had six catches for 65 and 64 yards, respectively.

Brooks added 38 rushing yards on nine carries with two touchdowns.

The Extreme ran for a season-high 100 yards and averaged almost six yards per carry.

"It was real great," Brooks said of the rushing effort. "The offensive line really pushed through."