Jerry Giese, Sioux City Journal (Feb. 27, 2010)

Sioux City starts 2010 season with trip to Colorado

SIOUX CITY -- Sean Kelly felt the Sioux City Bandits' defense played agressive at times a year ago, but not always smart.

As Sioux City's 11th season of indoor football progresses, the 6-2, 245-pound rushing end from Florida A & M will be among those applying heat to Indoor Football League quarterbacks. Their first chance comes tonight in the season opener at Fort Collins, Colo., against the Colorado Ice. Game time at the Budweiser Events Center is 8 p.m.

"We're going to be aggressive and one thing we have, we have a lot of smart players, guys who are selfless and they'll sacrifice," said Kelly during the Bandits' Media Day held earlier this week at the Tyson Events Center. "We're a smart defensive unit and we weren't (always) like that last year. I think a defense should dictate what an offense should do. We want to confuse people."

Kelly, who led the Bandits with 7.5 tackles for loss a year ago, will be joined on the pass rush along with a returning end from last year's 4-10 squad, 6-3, 275-pounder Andy Poulosky. New to the unit is Lamain Rucker, a 6-3, 360-pounder who played collegiately at Northern Illinois.

"I think Sean Kelly's going to have a breakout year," said first-year Bandits head coach Tommie Williams. "Our defense is going to be better than last year. We're athletic, we're aggressive and that defense is not only designed to put pressure on the quarterback. We're going to force penalties and we're going to force turnovers."

Sioux City went 4-10 a year ago and the defense, as a unit, recorded just five sacks. Kelly had two of them in a season where he also recorded 35 tackles and six quarterback hurries in 12 games.

Poulosky, a former Ponca High School standout who also played at the University of Nebraska, had 15 tackles and three tackles for loss in 10 games after starting the 2009 season playing for Tri-Cities of af2. Poulosky, who was a backup linebacker and a special teams player for the Cornhuskers, had a team-high 3.5 sacks in 2008.

Linebackers Spetlar Tonga (6-0, 235), Brett Nickolite (6-0, 240) and JeRon Love (6-2, 245) will help stop the run for the Bandits. Tonga, a fan favorite with the Bandits from 2004-08 (see sidebar), collected 72.5 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and one fumble recovery for the Omaha Beef last year

Nickolite ranked second at Morningside College last fall in tackles (84), tackles for loss (12) and sacks (5).

Tommie Williams (5-10, 185) and Jaa Valentine (6-2, 205) emerged as the leaders at cornerback. Strong safety Ernest Williams ranked fourth on the defense with 67 tackles while also recording five interceptions and five pass-breakups. Alex Otoo is the leader at free safety.

Colorado, which went 5-9 a year ago, brings back its leading rusher in Terry Washington, a 6-foot, 205-pounder from the University of Colorado who ran for 369 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Ice also feature 6-3, 215-pound running back Bobby Purify, third in career rushing at the University of Colorado with 3,016 yards from 2000 to 2004.

"He played Big 12 football, so you know he has to be good," Williams said. "You can't stop him by just arm tackling. The key to stopping him is just to make sure we're physical with him with our hitting. We have to gang-tackle him. We're up for the challenge."

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