Beef / Outlaws Preview

April 21, 2023 

The Omaha Beef (5-0) hit the road for the fourth time this season visiting the Billings Outlaws (2-3) Saturday at MetraPark-First Interstate Arena for a 7:30pm CT kickoff. The Outlaws are coming off their bye week, while Omaha hung on to win a 36-31 battle at Salina. Omaha opened the 2023 Champions Indoor Football season with a 47-19 victory over Billings at Liberty First Arena back in March.  

Omaha has the best scoring offense and defense in the CIF as they score an average of 52.6 points per game while only giving up 23.2 points per game. The offense led by quarterback Tommy Armstrong averages 91 yards on the ground while throwing for another 107 yards. Armstrong ranks 8th in rushing (26.4 ypg), 6th in passing (107.4 ypg), 3rd in passing efficiency (108.4), 6th in total offense (133.8 ypg), and 5th in scoring (10.8 ppg).  

Jeff Mack has filled in for Jailin Singleton the past two games and has rushed for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. Singleton is still ranked 7th in rushing, averaging 30.7 ypg. Meanwhile, Mack continues to climb the Beef all-time rankings, in 20 games he has rushed 227 times for 749 yards and 16 touchdowns to ranked 6th all-time. He ranks 9th in all-purpose yards with 1,620 and has scored 19 touchdowns. Mack, who has played for five teams in the CIF, has 467 rushing attempts for 1478 yards and 49 touchdowns. Overall, Mack has scored 68 touchdowns since 2015. 

Gourney Sloan leads the Beef receivers with 25 catches, 302 yards and six touchdowns, while Devanaire Conliffe has added 9 catches, 107 yards and four touchdowns. They will be joined by recently activated Jordan Barton and Traveon Samuel. Barton caught one pass for six yards in last week’s game against the Liberty.  

Omaha has been able to move the ball thanks to the play of the offensive line (Olu’kayode Akinmoladun, Steven Fluker, Clifford Porter Jr, and Reggie Patrick) who have not given up a sack in five games. The Beef have been highly effective in the red zone where they have scored 91.3 % of the time (21-23) scoring 19 touchdowns and 2 field goals. Paul Ortiz has scored 27 points since joining the team in week 3, hitting 5 of his 7 field goals tries and 12 of 14 extra points. Ortiz was named week 7 Special Teams Player of the Week, his second time winning the award. The defense can also brag about its red zone ranking as they led the league at allowing only 61.5% success rate (8 of 13) and the lowest number of attempts inside the red zone. 

The Beef defense continues to shut down opponents allowing only 53.6 rushing yards and 80.0 passing yards per game. Defensive line of JayShawn Washington, Javari Nichols, and Tamar Heart have combined for 48 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, and ten sacks. Washington is tied for the most sacks with 5, while leading the CIF with 10 TFL. The linebacker play of Key James Black (19 tackles, 2 sacks) and Cameron Hunt (16 tackles) have helped the defensive backs to intercept 12 throws. Dreko Statham leads the CIF with 7 picks. 

The Billings Outlaws have a new head coach this meeting as Kerry Locklin was let go and Shon King has been named Interim Head Coach. The Outlaws also will have a change at quarterback as Jamario Benson takes over. Benson has only thrown four passes (3-4, 1 TD, 1 INT) and ran eight times for 43 yards in the season. Josh Batiste leads the team with 180 yards rushing and ranks 3rd in the CIF averaging 36 ypg. Two-way player D’Nerius Antoine led the Outlaws defense with 43 tackles to rank 3rd in the CIF.  The Outlaws have not lost at home this season, while they are winless on the road. 

OTHER NOTES: The Omaha Beef - Tommy Armstrong Youth Football Camp will be held May 12 & May 13. In addition to the football camp, your registration will include an Omaha Beef shirt, pizza party, and a ticket to the May13th game where all participants will play football on the field before pre-game activities. https://a4footballacademy.eventsmart.com/.../ta-football.../ 

2023 Omaha Beef Schedule (5-0) 

(CIF rank after week 7) 

Projected Starters 

CIF Player of the Week Awards- 

Tommy Armstrong (1)– Week 2 - Offensive 

JayShawn Washington (2)– Week 3, Week 6 - Defensive 

Dre’Sonte Dorton (1)– Week 3 - Special Teams 

Paul Ortiz (2)– Week 5, Week 7 - Special Teams 

Billings Outlaws (2-3) 
  

Visit https://omaha.footballshift.com/ for more information. 

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