The Sioux City Bandits made the first of their Texas two-step challenge to a championship look too easy.
The Bandits jumped out to a big lead and dominated in nearly every facet of the game in beating Amarillo 83-52 at the Tyson Events Center on Saturday night.
The win improved the Bandits to 7-0 at the Tyson Events Center this season as they now host Texas for the inaugural Champions Indoor Football league title. Texas downed Wichita 39-27 on Thursday to reach the championship game.
"We are playing at a high rate right now and the offense is executing real well right now," said Bandits receiver Damon Mothershead.
The Bandits dominated the first half scoring all eight times they had the ball and added two safeties. That gave Sioux City four safeties against the Venom in two games this season as the Bandits raced out to a 59-21 halftime lead.
Running backs Johnny Bentley and Drew Prohaska combined for five touchdowns in the first half as they racked up 117 yards on the ground. Bentley scored on runs of 16, 7 and and 10 yards while Prohaska had a 1-yard TD run and a 31-yard pass from Charles Dowdell.
"It is just a matter of giving effort and going out and closing the deal out," said Prohaska, who added a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and held on to a key onside kick attempt in third quarter despite being hit hard in the air. "It might have looked impressive but it didn't feel impressive."
"Me an him complement each other real well and they think he doesn't have any power but he does," said Bentley, who finished with 64 yards on nine carries.
Dowdell was 7-for-7 in the first half for 118 yards and two scores with his other touchdown going to Willie Downs, for 22 yards, 19 seconds before halftime. Mothershead and Frederick Bruno had matching runs of 11 yards in the second quarter for the team's other scores.
Marlon Lobban and Cliff Stokes grabbed interceptions for the Bandits on Amarillo's final two possessions of the first half to help the lead balloon.
"That is just part of our method to our madness, just control the game as much as possible," said Lobban. "We are just out to wreck some havoc especially the way our back end is playing right now and our D-line is playing great right now."
The Bandit defense bothered Amarillo quarterback Nate Davis all game and limited him to 17 of 39 for 164. By contrast, Dowdell threw just 11 passes in the game connecting on 10 as the league MVP had three TD passes and no picks.
"I think that goes to the offense and the guys that call the plays because they put us in great position to make plays," said Dowdell of his performance. "It is a blessing to have those guys around me and it makes my job easy."
Amarillo did get a 51-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and an 8-yard TD reception in the third quarter from Raymond Johnson Jr., but it was too little too late as the Venom ended their season at 7-6.
The Bandits scored every time the offense got the ball in the game, but Max Martin's 25-yard field goal with 11:49 to play in the fourth quarter was the only scoring drive not to end in a touchdown. The drive also saw Dowdell throw his lone incompletion of the game.
Andre Jones had the final score of the game for the Bandits as he intercepted Davis for the third time and raced 39 yards for the touchdown.
The win improved the Bandits, who have won eight straight games, to 10-3 on the season giving Sioux City five consecutive years of at least 10 victories.
The Bandits downed the Venom 79-58 in their only meeting of the regular season on May 30 at the Tyson Events Center.
Sioux City is looking to claim its first football championship since back-to-back titles in the American Professional Football League in 2011 and 2012. Two years ago the team lost in the first round of the playoffs, and followed that up with a runner-up finish to Wichita with both results coming in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League.
Sioux City 83, Amarillo 52
Amarillo 14 7 17 14 -- 52
Sioux City 30 29 7 17 -- 83
First Quarter
SC: Johnny Bentley 16 run (Max Martin kick), 14:00
SC: Bandits safety, 13:02
SC: Bentley 7 run (Martin kick), 11:13
A: Percy Turner 12 pass from Nate Davis (Jacob Felton kick), 8:44
SC: Drew Prohaska 31 pass from Charles Dowdell (Martin kick), 8:14
A: Martee Tenner 16 run (Felton kick), 4:35
SC: Prohaska 1 run (Martin kick), 2:13
Second Quarter
SC: Bandits safety, 14:56
SC: Damon Mothershead 11 run (kick blocked), 13:08
A: Wyreaz Bradley 4 pass from Davis (Felton kick), 9:23
SC: Bentley 10 run (Martin kick), 5:16
SC: Frederick Bruno 11 run (Martin kick), 1:25
SC: Willie Downs 23 pass from Dowdell (Martin kick), :19
Third Quarter
A: Felton 28 FG, 8:29
SC: Bruno 5 pass from Dowdell (Martin kick), 6:48
A: Raymond Johnson Jr. 51 kickoff return (Martin kick), 6:38
A: Johnson Jr. 8 pass from Davis (Felton kick), 1:42
Fourth Quarter
SC: Martin 25 field goal, 11:49
A: Johnson Jr. 6 pass from Davis (Felton kick), 7:55
SC: Prohaska 1 run (Martin kick), 6:08
SC: Andre Jones 39 interception return (Martin kick), 3:19
A: Johnson Jr. 8 pass from Davis (Felton kick), 2:15
TEAM STATISTICS
Amarillo Sioux City
First downs 19 20
Rushes-yards 21-92 23-132
Passing yards 164 142
Passes 17-39-3 11-12-0
Total plays-yards 60-256 35-274
Fumbles-lost 2-0`1-0
Penalties-yards 10-47 8-43
Possession time 35:48 24:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Amarillo –Martee Tenner 16-69, Nate avis 2-41, Wyreaz Bradley 3-15, Team 0-(-33) . Sioux City – Drew Prohaska 6-37, Johnny Bentley 9-64, Damon Mothershead 1-11, Charles Dowdell 2-(-2), Frederick Bruno 2-17, Willie Downs 1-3, Anthony Thomas 2-2.
PASSING: Amarillo – Davis 17-39-3 164. Sioux City – Dowdell 10-11-0 136 yards, Mothershead 1-1-0 6.
RECEIVING: Amarillo – Percy Turner 5-48, Raymond Johnson 5-39, Julian Walker 2-36, Tenner 2-18, Brock Ringo 1-13, Shu Richardson 1-6, Bradley 1-4. Sioux City – Bruno 6-61, Mothershead 1-8, Prohaska 1-31, Willie Downs 1-22, Bentley 1-14, Dowdell 1-6.
TACKLES
(Solo-Assist-Total)
AMARILLO: Ronne Goforth 7-0--7, Cameron Gupton 3-2--5, Nate DAvis 2-3--5, Tenner 3-0--3,Kendrick Causey 3-3--6.
SIOUX CITY: Marlon Lobban 7-1--8, Drew Prohaska 5-2--7, Andre Jones 5-2--7, Jonathan Smith 3-2--5, Marcus Miles 3-2--5, Cliff Stokes 3-2--5.
Champions Indoor Football
