Sioux City Journal, May 8, 2005 (May. 08, 2005)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Sioux City Bandits simply ran out of time Saturday night.

The Fort Wayne Freedom led from start to finish in a 57-50 thriller during a showdown of United Indoor Football's two remaining undefeated teams at the Allen County/Warren Memorial Coliseum.

It looked like shades of the mid-April road game at the
Sioux Falls Arena late in the fourth quarter for Coach Jose Jefferson's

Bandits. Shortly after quarterback Jarrod DeGeorgia rushed for a 1-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left in the game, the Bandits recovered an onside kick, but a Bandit penalty on the play moved the ball back to the two yard line.

Fort Wayne, UIF's leader in scoring defense (25 ppg) and total defense (161.0 yards per game) put up a terrific pass rush led by Rachman Crable that caused DeGeorgia to throw two incomplete passes. However, DeGeorgia completed his next four passes - a 17-yarder to Johnnie Ostermeyer, a 5-yarder to Dave Perrigo, an 8-yarder to Perrigo and a 6-yarder to Kenneth Horton.

Horton's catch was 12 yards shy of the end zone as time ran out and the Bandits lost for the first time in seven games.

Sioux City, UIF's leader in scoring offense (53.3 ppg) and total offense (248.8 ypg), had a typical high-flying game. DeGeorgia threw for 208 yards and three touchdowns.

League rushing leader Fred Jackson carried for 77 yards and a pair of scores and Perrigo added 57 yards total offense for a team that exploded for a season-high 318 yards total offense.

Defensively, the Bandits yielded season-highs in both points and total yards (270), as Fort Wayne (6-0) got four touchdown runs from Rocky Harvey and four touchdown catches from Jeremy Dutcher. However, Bandits' cornerback DeRon Rush intercepted a pair of passes, cornerback Alex Ardley recovered a fumble and Sioux City's offense scored 10 points off those takeaways.

Ardley's fumble recovery near the end zone not only stopped a Fort Wayne scoring drive late in the fourth quarter, but it led to a 26-yard field goal by Cody Butler that pulled the Bandits within 50-43.

Rush's second interception of the game stopped a Fort Wayne scoring drive half a yard away from the end zone. But, the Freedom pass rush prevented DeGeorgia from completing three passes inside the one yard line, including a fourth down that Perrigo couldn't snag.

Fort Wayne took over at the Bandits' 1-yard line and Harvey (19 rushes, 84 yards) scored immediately for a 57-43 lead.

Fort Wayne entered the game with 12 takeaways (2 fumble recoveries, 10 intereceptions) and got fumble recoveries from Lamar Martin and Glenn Johnson. Both led to scores.

In fact, shortly after Dutcher's first touchdown catch, an 18-yarder two minutes into the game, Martin recovered a fumbled kickoff return by Jackson. It led to a 52-yard field goal by kicker Billy Bennett for a 9-0 lead and from there, the Bandits were forced to play catchup.

It got worse in the second quarter. Sioux City caught what looked like a break when Art Maulupe blocked a 28-yard Bennett field goal, but Johnson recovered Perrigo's fumble at the six yard line. Harvey's 6-yard run increased Fort Wayne's lead to 23-13.

The Bandits played within four to 12 points of the Freedom the rest of the way. However, the Bandits' 105-30 advantage in fourth quarter total yards wasn't enough.

Derek Smith Jr. led the Bandits' defense with 11 tackles (6 solo, 5 assists). Rush had nine tackles (3 solo, 6 assists) for a squad which will host the Omaha Beef Saturday, starting at 7:05 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. Omaha (3-3) beat winless Black Hills 40-24 Saturday.

Sioux City still has a two-game lead in the North Division standings over Sioux Falls (4-3), which whipped Peoria 56-21 Saturday night.

Fort Wayne 57, Bandits 50

Sioux City 6 19 14 17 - 50

Fort Wayne 16 14 20 7 - 57

First Quarter

FW: Jeremy Dutcher 18 pass from Bryan White (kick failed) 13:00

FW: FG Billy Bennett 52, 10:48

SC: Fred Jackson 7 run (kick failed) 6:42

FW: Dutcher 3 pass from White (Bennett kick) :53

Second Quarter

SC: Jon Paulsen 1 run (Cody Butler kick) 7:53

FW: Rocky Harvey 6 run (Bennett kick) 2:56

SC: Jackson 11 run (kick failed) :21

FW: Harvey 1 run (Bennett kick) :06

Third Quarter

SC: Johnnie Ostermeyer 19 pass from Jarrod DeGeorgia (Butler kick) 13:16

FW: Harvey 1 run (Bennett kick) 10:53

SC: Ostermeyer 39 pass from DeGeorgia (Butler kick) 9:43

FW: Dutcher 4 pass from White (kick failed) 8:10

FW: Dutcher 18 pass from White (Bennett kick) 2:27

Fourth Quarter

SC: Jackson 10 pass from DeGeorgia (Butler kick) 14:02

SC: FG Butler 26, 6:45

FW: Harvey 1 run (Bennett kick) 1:20

SC: DeGeorgia 1 run (Butler kick) :46

TEAM STATISTICS

SC FW

First downs 23 21

Rushes-yards 27-120 22-102

Passing yards 198 168

Passes 20-34-0 17-27-2

Total plays-yards 62-318 50-270

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 14-95 5-62

Time of possession 32:38 27:22

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Sioux City - Jackson 17-77, Perrigo 6-42. Fort Wayne - Harvey 19-84, Stroder 2-10.

PASSING: Sioux City - DeGeorgia 20-34-0-208. Fort Wayne - White 17-27-2-173.

RECEIVING: Sioux City - Horton 8-60, Ostermeyer 7-113, Perrigo 3-15, Jackson 2-10. Fort Wayne - Dutcher 7-94, Stroder 6-40, Reese 3-21, Harvey 1-18.

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