Beef run over Outlaws, punches ticket to Champions Bowl

June 11, 2023

The Omaha Beef used a muffed kickoff return to set the early advantage and never trailed as they defeated the Billings Outlaws 42-6 at Liberty First Credit Union on Saturday. It sets up a third straight Champions Bowl matchup between Omaha and Salina.

The Beef took the opening drive quickly down the field as they scored on the fifth play of the drive when Tabyus Taylor scored on a six-yard run.  On the ensuing kickoff the Outlaws Josh Best could not handle the bouncing football and Aaron Jackson recovered it at the Billings 12 yardline.  Four plays later Paul Ortiz kicked a 27-yard field goal to put the Beef up 10-0.  The Outlaws scored their lone touchdown on the next drive as Lorenz Stefan connected with Kalib Woods on an 11-yard reception to cut the Omaha lead to four.  It was all Beef after that as they scored 36 unanswered points.  Omaha added a Taylor two yard run and a second quarter 11-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Armstrong to Taylor to lead 22-6 at halftime. In the third quarter Taylor added his third rushing touchdown, fourth of the game, from 27 yards and it was 29-6 after three quarters.  The fourth quarter saw Paul Ortiz hit his second and third field goals (21 and 29 yards) and Armstrong connected with Terrance Tolbert-McIntyre on a 49-yard pass for his second touchdown pass of the game.

The Beef defense showed why it is the best defense in the CIF as they held the Outlaws to six points, a total of 109 yards of offense, and intercepted Stefan five times. Dreko Statham picked off two passes to give him the single season Beef and CIF record with 13 interceptions. Ponce Deleone added two interceptions and Trey Dudley-Giles picked off one as Omaha increased its turnover margin to a plus 29. Omaha also lowered its scoring defense to 19.9 points allowed per game and total offense allowed to 135.3 yards per game. JayShawn Washington and Statham led the team with five tackles on the night.  Tamar Heart collected the lone sack of the game to go along with his three tackles.

The well-balanced Beef offense picked up 95 yards of rushing on 22 attempts and Armstrong was 9 of 15 for 136 passing yards. Armstrong led the Beef as he rushed for 54 yards on 10 attempts and Taylor added 45 yards on 10 attempts.  Tolbert-McIntyre, Taylor and Gourney Sloan each caught three pass for Omaha.

Billings, who defeated Sioux City on Monday, never seems to get anything going on their short week. The Outlaws ran the ball 13 times for only 11 yards and with the six turnovers Billings never could get any real offense going.  Josh Batiste led the Outlaws with seven rushing yards. Kalib Woods was the Outlaws leading receiver with five catches for 79 yards. Damian Francis was the leading tackler with nine.

OTHER NOTES: Champions Bowl 8 will be the rubber match between Omaha and Salina.  Salina defeated the Gillette Mustangs 37-30 on Saturday night to earn the right to play in the championship game for the fourth straight time. In 2021 the Beef defeated the Liberty when a last second FG was blocked by Omaha and the Beef won 40-39 in Champions Bowl 6.  The Liberty returned the favor in Champions Bowl 7 when they won 38-34.  The Liberty will be making their fourth straight appearance in the Championship game as they were defeated by the Duke City Gladiators in 2019, 35-29, when the Gladiators scored with 17 seconds left in the game.

Omaha will be making its third appearance in a Championship game and second time hosting as they lost to the Tennessee Thundercats 38-47 in the 2001 IPFL Championship game.  Salina has the most appearances in the CIF Championship with four, followed by Omaha three, then Sioux City, Duke City, and Texas all have two.

2023 Omaha Beef Schedule (11-0)

Champions Bowl 5 (2019) – Salina @ Duke City – Gladiators 35-29

2020 – no game due to Covid-19

Champions Bowl 6 (2021) – Omaha @ Salina – Omaha 40-39

Champions Bowl 7 (2022) – Omaha @ Salina – Salina 38-34

Champions Bowl 8 (2023) – Salina @ Omaha -?