SIOUX CITY – The Sioux City Bandits are in a prime position to lock up a top seed in the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) playoffs as they hold a two-game lead in the standings with three games to play.
The Bandits (7-0) host Salina at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Tyson Events Center.
Salina is 4-3 on the season and is sitting fifth in the league standings. Earlier this season, the Bandits defeated the Liberty 36-29 in Salina.
Most recently, Sioux City beat Southwest Kansas 66-14 on the road last Saturday.
“They played pretty well,” Bandits head coach Erv Strohbeen said. “We still had a lot of improvements to make, even in that big victory. I think at halftime I kind of got on the guys. We lost our composure on a few plays and missed assignments on a few plays. We definitely didn't play a perfect game there.”
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The win was the first of the season by more than 17 points for the Bandits. Entering play this weekend, Sioux City has the top offense in the league, averaging 51.1 points per game. The Bandits have the second ranked rushing attack (660 rushing yards) and the fourth ranked passing attack (873 passing yards) this season.
This week’s challenger has the best defense in the league through seven games. Salina has allowed 182 points this season, the fewest in the league.
The second best defense in the league comes from the Bandits, who’ve allowed 217 points on the year. Special teams play will be the key to giving the Bandits a chance to score efficiently.
“We have to set ourselves up, special teams wise, for short fields,” Strohbeen said. “I mean, they've got a great defense every year. We definitely can't make any mistakes on the special teams end. we got to get some good kick returns, we got to stick them deep and make them drive the field on us.”
With three games to play, Sioux City has two more home games at the Tyson Events Center. The Bandits played the last two games on the road and have played four of their last five contests away from their confines.
“It's nice to look at the schedule and know that your last games are actually at home,” Strohbeen said. “We went on a pretty long road string there and came out pretty well. We have a real tough opponent this weekend, Salina is always a big rival of ours. We expect it to be a great game, so we have to come to play, but it's nice to be at home for sure.”
Another big part of this final push for the Bandits will be staying healthy. After roughly three months of practice and play, the Bandits are starting to see the wear and tear on their bodies, but they are needing to keep right now more than ever.
“You're dealing with guys that have been going at it now for darn near three months, so we're starting to see some little bumps and bruises,” Strohbeen said. “Guys are having to, maybe, not practice quite as hard and stuff like that. That's where the veteran aspect comes in, because these guys have to develop in the film room versus getting out there and running all the plays.”
Saturday night is Kids Night for the Bandits, and Strohbeen is hoping another strong crowd will be out in full force, just like the crowd that willed them to victory three weeks ago against Omaha.
“I fully believe that the fans helped us win that game against Omaha because Omaha had a couple of false start penalties in the last minute, and they had a couple of timeouts they had to burn late in that game because of you know crowd noise,” Strohbeen said. “So we're hoping that that (the crowd) plays into effect when Salina comes tomorrow (Saturday). We need a home field advantage.”