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02/14/2006: "Stampede vs Thunderbirds"

Stampede vs Thunderbirds

It's the new season: Playoffs
2006-09-20 Heather Rienhart
 The Central Minnesota Thunderbirds will begin playoff action Saturday at St. John's University and will face the Superior Stampede — a team they trampled 21-0 earlier this season.
 Coach Chad Baldwin said the Stampede have added players to their roster since the previous meeting, and Saturday's game should be a good contest between two strong teams.
"They're a different team now," he said, adding that Superior has a different quarterback now. "They've definitely improved by adding more skill players."
 In fact, the Stampede defeated the Midwest Pioneers 24-10 last month — the team that handed the Thunderbirds their only loss of the season.
 "They've beaten a lot of good teams," Baldwin said.
The Mid-American Football League playoffs began last week and Superior (7-2) defeated the Cedar Valley Vikings in the opening round. The Thunderbirds (6-1) had a first-round bye due to being ranked No. 2 in the league and will see their first playoff action on Saturday.
"I like the match-up," Baldwin said. "I'm excited to play them because they're a tough team."
The history between the two teams has the Thunderbirds well out front. In the past three years, the T-Birds have outscored Superior 100-plus points to 3.
 "Regardless of the score of our games, they've always been a tough team to play," Baldwin said. "They're very physical. When you play these guys, you know you played them. You feel it the next day."
Because of the first-round playoff bye, the Thunderbirds will have had nearly a week off since their last practice on Sunday, Sept. 17.
"The hurt to us is that it takes us longer to get started," Baldwin admitted. "Some teams you can afford to start slow against and some teams you can't. I'm not sure where (the Stampede) fall in that category."
Saturday's game is tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John's University. The game time will be updated on the team's web site later this week.
 Baldwin noted that in the last game between the two teams, the Stampede wore their blue and white jerseys, which were very similar to the T-Birds' blue and gold. He hopes the opponent brings its white jerseys to the field this time around.
The winner of Saturday's game will play the winner of the Minneapolis Lumberjacks vs. Midwest Pioneers game the following weekend. That game will be for the MFL Championship, held on Saturday, Sept. 30.