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2015 CIF Championship Game Box Score - Story
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2011 APFL Championship Box Score - Story - Picture below Scott Jansen, QB 2011 APFL Player of the Year, scoring during the Championship Game.


August 14, 2005, Sioux Falls 40 @ Sioux City 38
Box score

Sioux City Journal's Jerry Giese write up of the 2011 championship game
SIOUX CITY -- There wasn't supposed to be a runaway in the American Professional Football League championship game, but fans of the Sioux City Bandits didn't seem to mind.
The two-time defending APFL champion Iowa Blackhawks just couldn't keep up with the force that literally ran roughshod while making its league debut this season, outscoring opponents 568-237 while going 10-0 in the five-team loop. The Bandits scored on each of its first five possessions en route to claiming its first title in the 12-year history of the franchise, 69-28 while playing in front of 4,009 fans at the Tyson Events Center.
Coach Butch Faulkenberry's squad concluded the season with a 14-0 record. It was the Bandits' fourth straight win over the Blackhawks, who dropped two of the three previous contests by one touchdown against a Sioux City team that had given Iowa plenty of respect, based on their two titles.
"You have to respect a team until you beat them," said Faulkenberry. "You have to respect them, or you're not thinking right. Until you win that championship game, until you are a champion, that other team is the champion, I don't care what our record was going into tonight.
"We were confident in what we knew we could bring into this football game. Like the other coach (Iowa's Mike Wolff) was talking on Thursday night, they knew our speed, they knew the tools we brought into this game. We knew what we had to do going into this game to get the job done."
Quarterback Scott Jensen passed for 118 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two scores for a squad that ended the season outscoring opponents 848-300. Former Briar Cliff Charger Andrew Prohaska ran for a season-high 77 yards and three touchdowns. Fredrick Bruno returned a kickoff 45 yards for a third-quarter touchdown while J.J. Washington scored on a 45-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't know it was going to be a rout like this," said Jensen. "We came out and we executed every time we had the ball. That's how we were going to win. We all did our jobs. This was a long time coming. We had to go through the two-time defending champions. We stuck together as a team."
Buddy Williams, Taylor Schumacher and Rahn Franklin each recorded interceptions for a defense that limited Iowa 22 points below its 50.7-point scoring average.
Embarrassed by the 26-yard touchdown catch to a wide-open Steve Rush on just the second play of the game, Sioux City rattled off 41 unanswered points. One play after the first of Prohaska's touchdowns, Williams picked off a pass intended for Robert Kirvin, returning it 18 yards for a score that increased Sioux City's lead to 14-6.
"My man (Kirvin) bounced off Alex Ardley and I picked him up," said Williams. "I saw something that was thrown toward him. I did something and I saw nothing but end zone. I was gone.
"(Rush's touchdown) was really a miscommunication. Both guys did a good job. We're not making excuses. It really motivated us to pick it up before the game got out of hand."
The game started getting out of hand, especially in the second quarter. Jensen broke though three tackles and sprinted 43 yards down the left sideline for a second-quarter touchdown. Then, just as the halftime buzzer sounded, Jensen threw a 39-yard TD bomb to Eddie Pertilla.
Jensen's late scoring toss came three plays after Alex Ardley broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Rush. It was one of two times Iowa (7-6) was denied entry into the end zone in the second period.
Trailing 21-6 after Jensen's six-yard touchdown run, the Blackhawks engineered an eight-play, 25-yard drive that was stopped when Ardley tackled wide receiver Robert Kirvin one yard shy of a first down on a fourth-play at Sioux City's 7-yard line.
Schumacher recorded his 13th interception of the season in the end zone midway through the second quarter. Action in the start of the third quarter looked bleak for the Bandits when Fredrick Bruno lost a fumble on the first series, but the Bandits came up with their third goal-line stand of the night as 37-year old Iowa quarterback Charles Wright was unable to complete three straight passes, including a fourth-down play that slipped through Kirvin's fingers after it was broken up by Schumacher and career tackle leader Spetlar Tonga.
Iowa ended a string of six consecutive scoreless possessions when Rush held on to the ball for a 20-yard touchdown catch. Rush fell over the board in the right corner of the end zone along with the Bandits' Rahn Franklin, but the official signaled touchdown and the Blackhawks' pulled within 41-14 following Andrew Seymour's two-point conversion. However, Bruno returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards for a score that put Sioux City up for a 48-14 advantage.
Sioux City Journal's Michael Brauer write up of the 2012 championship game
BANDITS: Sioux City repeats as APFL champions
Michael Brauer, Sioux City Journal (Jul. 15, 2012)

SIOUX CITY | Scott Jensen paused for a moment Saturday night, as he soaked up that championship feeling for a second time.

“The defense played fantastic, offense played fantastic -- no turnovers,” he summed up, reflecting on his Sioux City Bandits’ 56-34 APFL title victory over Council Bluffs.

"A perfect game."

A perfect season, in fact. Make that two.

Jensen carved up Council Bluffs for four touchdown passes, ran for another, and Sioux City capped its second straight undefeated season by turning the APFL championship into what every other game has been this season at Tyson -- another Bandit runaway.

Sioux City has gone from new kid on the block to neighborhood bully in two short seasons, and has a pretty impressive two-year record to flaunt: 28-0.

"Sounds pretty good when you say it out loud," said a soaking wet, first-year head coach Erv Strohbeen. His players emptied the water cooler on him as the clock ran out.

"I tried to dodge that for a while," he said.

But there was no dodging the Bandits (14-0) on this night, especially captain Spetlar Tonga -- who finished with a season-high 19 tackles.

It was a gratifying victory for Tonga, the Bandits' most tenured player, because he missed eight games this season with a partially torn meniscus.

"I just thank God that I had a great doctor and was able to make a quick recovery," Tonga said.

He and the defense made up for lost time in this one.

Council Bluffs' first three possessions ended with missed field goals; Sioux City's with touchdowns.

The 21-0 deficit was too much for the Express (10-4) to overcome, even with a revamped roster that featured five Omaha Beef players from the Bandits' old Indoor Football League -- including quarterback James McNear, a familiar face to Sioux City fans.

McNear, the Bandits' quarterback before Jensen, threw for 216 yards and five scores and added 66 yards on the ground. But Sioux City shut him down early and Council Bluffs didn't set foot in Bandit territory until the second quarter.

"They wanted to run the ball against us," Strohbeen said, "and that's kind of hard to do when you're down by three touchdowns."

Jensen, meanwhile, wrapped up a convincing case for another MVP award, completing 7 of 10 passes for 80 yards. He passed with pinpoint precision, scrambled for a pair of first downs and showed why he stole the starting job from McNear two-and-a-half seasons ago.

The opposing quarterbacks and former teammates embraced at midfield afterward.

Jensen hit the carpet hard and got up woozy after his first touchdown pass, a 13-yard strike to Damon Mothershead -- who leap-frogged over two defenders and into the end zone.

But Jensen shook off the early shot quickly, sidestepping a blitz on the Bandits' next possession and finding Fredrick Bruno for a 12-yard score to put the Bandits ahead by two touchdowns.

"Oh yeah, it woke me up," Jensen said of the early hit. "Popped a couple of pills and I was ready to go again."

He finishes the season with 41 touchdowns and just four interceptions -- and another championship ring.

"These guys have been preparing since the middle of January," said Strohbeen, a former Bandits player and assistant who has yet to lose as their head coach. "We got them out of their game plan and that was the goal. "The rest, I guess, is history."

The Bandits' goal was to be flawless, and they just about were. Nick Hope even nailed every PAT.

"I try to do that every night," said the kicker with a smile.

He had plenty of work to do, since Sioux City scored on eight of its nine possessions. Sean Treasure ran for two touchdowns and John Bentley added another with 38 seconds left -- speeding along what seemed like the longest final minute in APFL history.

Council Bluffs tried to muster a comeback by recovering an onside kick, and pulled within 49-34 on McNear's 5-yard touchdown pass to Mike Jones.

But the Bandits' Eddie Pertilla, who caught a pair of second-half touchdown passes, batted the next on-side kick into the stands to all but seal it.

This was Council Bluffs' fourth straight appearance in the APFL title game. The franchise won titles in 2009 and 2010 as the Iowa Blackhawks, but fell to Sioux City 69-28 in last year's championship.

Saturday night was more of the same.

"28-0 -- what more can you ask for?" pondered Tonga, soaking up the commotion afterward.

A three-peat, perhaps?

"I don't know -- we'll have to see," said the 32-year-old Tonga, shaking his head. "I'll really leave that up to my wife."
Sioux City Journal's write up on June 20, 2015 by Jeff Budlong

SIOUX CITY | It was a great birthday present, it was going into retirement on top and, most of all, it was a title for Sioux City.
The Sioux City Bandits finally got the defensive stops when they needed them in the second half to down Texas 76-61 to claim the Champions Indoor Football league title in front of 3,757 fans at Tyson Events Center on Saturday.
The title was the first for the Bandits since back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012 when the team played in the American Professional Football League. It also ended a run of playoff heartbreak for the team as it lost a home playoff game to Salina two years ago and fell to Wichita to finish as the runner-up last season.
"I can't even put this one into words right now with a championship win on my birthday," said Bandits wide receiver Damon Mothershead, who said this will be his last game. "This is the sweetest one. Nothing against the APFL or CPIFL, but this one we earned."
The Revolution (9-5) came into the game riding a four-game winning streak and were stride for stride with the Bandits until late in the third quarter when the Sioux City defense got its first stop of the game.
Texas kicked from deep in its own end zone and the Bandits' Frederick Bruno returned the ball to the 10-yard line. Mothershead ran the ball nine yards and Drew Prohaska went over the top for the third time in the game from a yard out to put Sioux City up 55-47.
"First half we struggled and the second half we started blitzing and it started working for us," said Bandits defensive end Marcus Miles of the defensive adjustment in the second half. "It was about pressure because they are not a team that wants to throw the ball deep."
One stop led to another in the fourth quarter and Sioux City had its title as Rahn Franklin sealed it with a late interception, his 11th of the season.
"This is surreal right now because to be 2-3 and to be where we are right now, no one would have believed that," Franklin said. "We were so hungry man and that sour taste will never leave your mouth until you have a chance to redeem yourself."
Texas hurt itself with 15 penalties and six failed point after touchdown attempts.
Bandits quarterback Charles Dowdell capped his season going 8 of 11 for 136 yards and four scores including a 39-yard bomb to Willie Downs to reach the final margin.
"We just wanted to take a shot and put it out of them and get the dagger," Dowdell said. "It really worked out for us."
Sioux City had the most prolific offense in the league averaging 60 points a game and it was at it again on Saturday. The Bandits scored on their first three possessions of the game to take a 21-13 lead. That stretched Sioux City's consecutive possessions scoring points in the postseason to 15.
However, Sioux City would give the ball to the Revolution on its next possession when Dowdell fumbled while scrambling. Texas scored on a 1-yard run from Robert Williams to take its first lead 25-21.
The teams would trade the lead the rest of the half as Bruno had three scores in the first 30 minutes including a 38-yard kickoff return, his sixth of the season. Dowdell and his Texas counterpart, Robert Kent Jr., both threw three touchdowns in the first half.
Kern Jr. threw for 131 yards and four touchdowns and ran for three more.
The Revolution came into the game known for its defense, but it was the offense that stood tall in the first half as Texas scored every time it had the ball leading to the 35-all tie at halftime.
Texas used its running game and an ability to convert third- and fourth-and-long situations to keep pace with Sioux City.
Sioux City (11-3) reeled off nine straight wins to capture the title which was a major success for numerous Bandits veterans that were part of the last championship team.
"This is why I came back and I am glad that I am going out like this," Bentley said. "This was about redemption."
Sioux City finished its first year in the new CIF with a perfect 8-0 record at the Tyson Events Center. It was an impressive finish to a season that saw Dowdell named the league MVP, Bruno earned co-special teams player of the year honors, and Strohbeen was named coach of the year for the second straight season. Strohbeen is now 45-10 with two championships during his four years as head coach.