Empire fall in title game
SIOUX FALLS, Iowa — In their inaugural season in the Indoor Football League, the Spokane Empire couldn’t quite do enough to stop the five-time reigning league champion Sioux Falls Storm from getting a sixth on their home turf.
Lorenzo Brown threw for 161 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Storm past the Empire 55-34 in the United Bowl on Saturday night before an estimated 9,000 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
Spokane opened a 7-0 lead after the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Charles Dowdell to Jefferson Hayes.
Sioux Falls scored 20 points in the second quarter to take a 20-13 halftime lead after blocking an extra point attempt by Spokane following a 24-yard touchdown pass from Dowdell to Samuel Charles. The Storm extended the advantage to 34-20 after the third.
Brown finished with 161 yards passing and four touchdowns and ran for three scores for Sioux Falls, which beat Spokane in both previous meetings during the regular season.
Dowdell completed 20 of 24 passes for 184 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushed for 18 yards and one touchdown. Charles finished with three catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
Spokane was playing in its fifth league championship game in franchise history. The Shock won the af2 championship in their first season in 2006 and then again in 2009, lost in the ’08 title game, and also won the Arena Football League’s ArenaBowl in 2010. The franchise moved to the IFL this season.
Spokane 7 6 7 14 — 34
Sioux Falls 0 20 14 21 — 55
First quarter
Spo — Jefferson Hayes 9 pass from Charles Dowdell (Pat Clarke kick), 9:34
Second quarter
SF — Lorenzo Brown 1 run (Justin Syrovatka kick), 11:55
Spo — Samuel Charles 24 pass from Dowdell (kick failed), 8:33
SF — Mike Tatum 23 pass from Brown (Syrovatka kick), 7:57
SF — Korey Williams 11 pass from Brown (Syrovatka kick), :03
Third quarter
SF — Tatum 49 pass from Brown (Syrovatka kick), 14:30
Spo — Charles 31 pass from Dowdell (Clarke kick), 13:58
SF — Brown 1 run (Syrovatka kick), 8:57
Fourth quarter
SF — Brown 4 run (Syrovatka kick), 9:02
Spo — Dowdell 1 run (kick failed), 5:42
SF — Caleb Holley 20 pass from Brown (Syrovatka kick), 3:24
Spo — Andrew Pierce 24 pass from Dowdell (Charles pass from Dowdell), 2:55
SF — Williams 2 run (Syrovatka kick), 1:22
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Spo, Pierce, 13-20, Dowdell, 5-18. SF, Johnson-Farrell, 13-59, Brown, 17-58, Williams, 4-28, Tatum, 2-13.
PASSING — Spo, Dowdell, 20-24-0-184. SF, Brown, 10-16-0-161.
RECEIVING — Spo, Charles, 3-67, Pierce, 5-46, Borel, 8-43, Hayes, 4-28. SF, Tatum, 4-84, Holley, 3-46, Williams, 2-16, Johnson-Farrell, 1-15.