By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After defeating Dodge City less than a week ago, the Salina Liberty will pack their bags and head north for a rematch with the 3-3 Sioux City Bandits at 7pm.
The last time these two teams met, it was in a battle of undefeateds. Since losing their first of the season to Salina however, the Bandits have dropped two more, and limp into this matchup on a three-game losing streak.
The Liberty have continued to cruise to a league best 6-0 record, defeating every other team in the league once, and returning for seconds beginning with Sioux City.
The Bandits are the only team to appear on Salina’s schedule three times, and with a win this evening the Liberty could secure a potential tiebreaker for playoff seedings, but for Coach Heron O’Neal and his crew, this is just another game.
“Sioux City is the next team on our schedule,” he said. “We’re not looking into playoff scenarios at this moment because they’re not important at this moment. We have to be prepared to put our best foot forward to get a win against Sioux City.”
The first time these two met, Salina rode a dazzling five-touchdown performance by Tyrie Adams to a 53-24 victory, outscoring Sioux City 47-18 after a slow first quarter.
While things went well in that first meeting, the Liberty will need to once again crack the code of one of the best defensive units in the league.
“Their defensive line was even better than what I thought it was going to be,” O’Neal said. “I hadn’t seen Claude since I left the IFL in 2016 and he’s still playing like it’s 2016. He’s a phenomenal athlete and to add that to Pister, Bridges, and their DBs, they’re a very tough defense to match up with.”
That defense will have a new piece to figure out on the Salina side as wide receiver Chad Steinwachs returns after a two-touchdown outing in his debut against Dodge City.
“The thing that we were missing was a big receiver,” O’Neal said. “To have a good receiving corps you need guys that compliment the rest of the group and at 6-4 220 lbs we now have five guys with different skill sets at wide receiver and now the whole playbook is open.”
While the Liberty take on the Bandits, Coach O’Neal will be inducted into the IFL Hall of Fame at halftime of the Storm game in Sioux Falls.
O’Neal will be joined by Kurtiss Riggs, Fred Jackson and John Pettit as the IFL Hall of Fame’s class of 2021.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” O’Neal said. “I put this right up there with my marriage to my wife, the birth of my children and graduating with my college degree, it’s right there in my top 5.”
Kickoff between the Liberty and Bandits is scheduled for 7:05pm in Sioux City and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM).