Beef start their 2023 post-season vs Outlaws

June 9, 2023    

The Omaha Beef start their Champions Bowl 8 quest and a second Champions Indoor Football championship with a semi-final battle vs Billings on Saturday June 10th at Liberty First Credit Union Arena. The undefeated Beef won both contests vs Billings. The first game of the season the Beef won 47-19 and on April 22nd in Billings they won 45-12. 

Omaha, the first team in CIF history to go undefeated in the regular season, continues to have the highest scoring offense and the best scoring defense in the CIF. In ten games the Beef are averaging 52.8 points per game (528 pts) while only giving up 21.3 points per game (213 pts). The defense can still set a few CIF season records, one for scoring defense as they are currently better than the 2017 Salina Liberty who allowed 287 points for an average of 23.9 points per game. The second is for total defense where the record currently sits at 144.5 ypg by the 2021 Wichita Force while the 2023 Beef have allowed an average of 137.9 yards per game. Third, the plus 23 turnover margin is better than the current record of +21 by the 2019 Duke City Gladiators and 2016 Texas Revolution. Another area the Beef have been great this year is in the red zone. The offense has scored on 90.2 percent of its chances (37-41) with 34 touchdowns and only one turnover. On defense, the opponent's success rate is only 53.6 percent (15-28), giving up only 14 touchdowns and creating six turnovers. 

Tommy Armstrong, 3-time Offense Player of the week, leads the offense with 294 yards of rushing (61 attempts), while Tabyus Taylor has gained 134 in four games (46.3 avg). Armstrong has thrown for 1054 yards and 29 touchdowns and only four interceptions with a completion percentage of 62.3.  Gourney Sloan leads the team with 37 catches for 497 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Devanaire Conliffe (17-171, 5 TD), Jordan Barton (6-95, 3 TD), Traveon Samuel (5-90, 2 TD), and Terrance Tolbert-McIntyre (8-105, 2 TD) around out the balanced receivers group. Paul Ortiz, 3-time Special Teams player of the week, continues to be a weapon for the Beef. Ortiz, the CIF leader in field goals and extra points percentage, has hit 9 of 17 field goals and 29 of 35 extra points.  

Omaha’s top ranked defense allows an average of 55.6 (tied 1st) rushing yards per game and average of 82.3 yards per game (1st) with a pass defensive efficiency of 77.6% (1st), and pass completion percentage of 41.6 (1st). The front three have claimed four Defensive Player of the week awards this season. JayShawn Washington (3 times) leads the Beef with 49 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, with four forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Tamar Heart, one defensive player of the week award, is third on the team with 45 tackles and has 4.5 sacks, and 10.5 TFL. The nose tackle position has rotated between Jamar Claibourn (13 tackles, 1 sack) and Javari Nichols (11 tackles, 2 sacks). The linebacker spot has also rotated between Key James Black (33 tackles, 3 sacks) and Cameron Hunt (29 tackles, 3 sacks). The defensive backs are led by CIF leader in interceptions Dreko Statham, who claimed week 13 Defensive Player of the week. Statham’s 11 interceptions tied a Dontae Jones’ Beef single season record and is tied for second in CIF history. (12, Soloman St. Pierre, Sioux City, 2018) Omaha’s Aaron Jackson (47 tackles, 4 INT), Ponce Deleone (31 tackles, 1 INT), Trey Dudley-Giles (27 tackles, 2 INT), and Chris Perry (26 tackles, 1 INT) led the CIF with 20 interceptions as a team.  

Billings season has turned around after starting 2-6, the Outlaws have won five in a row. Shon King, who took over head coaching duties before the April 8th game against Salina, has gone 5-2. Lorenz Stefan, who started the season with Topeka, has taken over as the quarterback in the last three games for the Outlaws. Stefan has thrown 11 touchdowns and has completed 67.6 of his passes in those three games. The Billings running game uses the speed of Josh Batiste (78-330 yds, 8 TD) and the power of two-way player D’Nerius Antoine (36—165, 10 TD) to supplement the passing game with group of wide receivers' that include Kris Lewis (22-216, 5 TD), Jost Best (26-201, 5 TD) and Kalib Woods (19-221, 5 TD).  Antoine leads the defense with 75 tackles, the most in the CIF and second in the average tackles per game, while adding 12 tackles for loss.  The Outlaws are third in the CIF as a team with 15 interceptions on the season lead by Damian Francis who has four. 

OTHER NOTES: 2023 playoffs started last Saturday, as the Gillette Mustangs defeated the SW Kansas Storm in Gillette 40-35 and on Monday the Billings Outlaws defeated Sioux City Bandits 39-31. The semi-final winners of Gillette/Salina and Billings/Omaha will meet next Saturday at the highest seed for Champions Bowl 8. 

The playoffs have returned to the Slaughterhouse! Tickets are now on sale starting at just $18.00, you can buy them by visiting the arena box office or online at Omaha Beef Football | Liberty First Credit Union Arena 

Help us pack the Slaughterhouse and be there for our quest to win the championship at home! Any questions call the Beef office at 402.346.2333 

2023 Omaha Beef Schedule (10-0) 

(CIF rank after week 13) 

Projected Starters 

CIF Player of the Week Awards- 

Tommy Armstrong (3)– Week 2, Week 10, Week 11 - Offensive 

JayShawn Washington (3)– Week 3, Week 6, Week 8 - Defensive 

Paul Ortiz (3)– Week 5, Week 7, Week 13 - Special Teams  

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

Tamar Heart (1) - Week 11 - Defensive 

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

Livestream - https://www.youtube.com/@ChampionsIndoorFootballNetwork/featured 

2023 Billings Outlaws (7-4) 
  

vs Billings Outlaws (5-13)