Empire look past Colorado’s 0-5 record in Indoor Football League

Spokane and Colorado will play on artificial turf inside the Arena and not on paper.

Some would consider the latter a mismatch with the Empire boasting the best winning percentage among Intense Conference teams (conference play hasn’t started yet) and Colorado the Indoor Football League’s lone winless team. The former? To be determined.

Spokane brings a 3-1 record and players and coaches insist the proper mindset into Saturday’s date with the Crush (0-5).

“If we didn’t learn our lesson in Billings (in a 30-22 loss) that records don’t matter in pro football, then I haven’t done my job,” Empire head coach Adam Shackleford said. “If you watch the film, you can see they’re just scary good at times, scary talented. They have ability all over the field. They’re just making mistakes at crucial times.”

Shackleford pointed out that Colorado had Tri-Cities on the ropes last week but “one of their guys falls down with 20 seconds left and Tri-Cities scores (the winning) touchdown.”

Three of the Crush’s losses are by six points or less. Five-time defending IFL champ Sioux Falls beat Colorado 58-55 on a last-second field goal. Colorado spent the last week in Kennewick instead of returning to Fort Collins.

“You just have to stay focused, not get overconfident, not get satisfied,” Empire defensive back Josh Ferguson said. “One thing about this team, we will work. You don’t have to strike a match to get guys going. You’re going to have to pull us back.”

Spokane is 2-0 at home, a 66-65 win over Wichita Falls and a 54-51 victory over Iowa on April 1. The Empire committed just one turnover a week ago, but it was costly as the Barnstormers scooped up Charles Dowdell’s fumble and scored a touchdown.

“At times we looked very good,” Shackleford said. “I think we wore down. We got off to a good start – a lot of people thought we would have rust (from two consecutive byes) – but it was the opposite for us. We hadn’t played football in a while and the only way to get in shape is to actually play football.”

Spokane is getting at least two players back from Major League Football (MLFB), an upstart outdoor league that has postponed its start date until next spring. Defensive lineman Bryon Bennett is expected to play Saturday. Andrew Pierce, a second-team All-IFL running back for Shackleford at Tri-Cities, is inactive this week. Trevor Kennedy ran for four touchdowns and 127 yards against Iowa.

Former Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman will replace Brady Beeson, who suffered a foot injury against Iowa. Brotzman will be the team’s fourth kicker in five games.