Outlaws seek payback in APFL title tilt against Iowa
The Mid–Missouri Outlaws never doubted the road to the American Professional Football League championship would go through the Iowa Blackhawks.
The defending APFL champion Blackhawks are the class of the league, finishing the year atop the standings with an 8-1 record and cruising past the six-time champion Kansas Koyotes last week in a 60-30 semifinal victory.
They’ve rarely faced adversity, outscoring opponents 572-282 and carrying a 6-0 record at home.
Their only blemish on the season, though, happens to be against the team they’ll be facing at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
And the Outlaws, who defeated the Blackhawks 41-38 at the Mathewson Exhibition Center earlier in the season, are no stranger to postseason glory. The Outlaws are a perfect 10-0 in the playoffs — this includes three Central Plains Football Championships — and they’re coming off a 35-27 win over the Springfield WolfPack in the other semifinal.
The Outlaws, though, will have to go through Council Bluffs to capture the trophy, a place they didn’t take kindly to earlier in the year.
The Blackhawks evened up the regular season series and gained home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 41-37 win over the Outlaws, setting up what looks to be an epic showdown.
“This is truly who we want to play,” Outlaws quarterback Kyle Middleton said. “And me personally, l have a bone to pick and a score to settle with them. I cost us the game on a bobbled snap and I’m ready to get some payback.”
The bobbled snap came on the Blackhawks’ goal line and is reminiscent of the Outlaws’ defensive stop to shore up the first game, which came down to the final drive.
“I don’t it see it playing out any different on Sunday,” Outlaws coach and co-owner Travis Jobe said. “It’s going to be a helluva game. They’ve got big players and we have athletic players.
“We just have to weather the storm, not allow them to come out of the gates the way they have before against us. And if we can do that, it’s just going to come down to who can make better adjustments and who wants it more.”
With wide receiver Eric Brown back to anchor a wide receiving corps that includes Ben Lyles, Aaron Luebbe and Marcus James, a healthy backfield that features former Detroit Lions running back Allen Williams and La-Katto Barr and Middleton at the helm, the offense is ready to back a defense that returns leader Tufue Tua and has limited opponents to an average of just 31 points in the last five games.
“We said in the huddle last week, ‘Let’s get that swagger back,’ ” said Middleton, referring to a banged-up offense that’s struggled of late. “We know they’re bigger, but we’re a better team. We just have to go out there and prove it.”
UP NEXT
Outlaws at Iowa
7 p.m. Saturday, Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa
