Hawks are on fire

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, June 23, 2005

EVERETT – In the relatively brief history of the 5-year-old National Indoor Football League, the only team to produce an undefeated regular season was the 2003 Ohio Valley Greyhounds.

This year, two first-year NIFL teams – the Everett Hawks and the Odessa Roughnecks – are knocking on the door of that exclusive club.

Everett (13-0) continues its quest for perfection at 7:05 p.m. today against the Billings Mavericks in the Hawks’ regular-season finale at the Everett Events Center.

Odessa, also 13-0 and battling Everett for the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Conference playoffs, plays host to the Beaumont Drillers (5-8) on Saturday. The Roughnecks, in their second season, played in the Intense Football League last season.

“When we came here, our goal was to win a championship,” Everett coach Dan Maciejczak said, “and we stumbled on top of a win streak.”

Billings (4-8) has had a challenging campaign after advancing to the Pacific Conference title game last year with Maciejczak as its coach and a dozen or so of the current Hawks on its roster.

The Mavericks have had to rebuild under new coach Joe Curtiss.

“It’s been tough from day one,” Curtiss said. “But, it’s been fun and I’ve enjoyed this team.”

Despite its record, Billings is still in the thick of the NIFL playoff race. The Mavericks are fighting it out with Beaumont and the Lubbock Gunslingers (4-9) for the final two playoff berths in the Pacific Conference.

The Mavericks, who lost to the Hawks 55-43 in the season opener at Billings, are coming off of consecutive heartbreaking losses to two of the hottest teams in the Pacific Conference. Saturday the Mavericks led Wyoming 34-29 in the second half, but succumbed 51-47 after the Cavalry (9-3) scored three late touchdowns.

On June 11, Billings led Tri-Cities (9-4) for most of the game before the Fever scored twice in the final seven minutes to hang a 58-55 loss on the Mavericks.

“This year we’re not pulling those close games out,” Curtiss said. “In the fourth quarter we’re just not making plays.”

But don’t let Billings’ record fool you.

“They’re a good football team even if their record doesn’t show it,” Maciejczak said.

Billings has two quality quarterbacks in Chris Dixon and veteran Bob Bees. Dixon is the starter, but he has sat out the past two games with a toe injury. Curtiss said he will probably be available to play, if not start.

The Hawks are prepared for the contrasting styles of Dixon and Bees.

“Dixon’s a mobile quarterback who knows how to escape the rush,” Maciejczak said. “Bob Bees is the complete opposite … he likes to sit back in the pocket and get rid of the ball.”

League takes Xtreme measures: The NIFL announced on its Web site that the New Jersey Xtreme franchise has been suspended for the remainder of the season for unspecified violations of “league rules and policies.”

The fate of the 0-12 Xtreme apparently will be decided after the end of the current season. The Cincinnati Marshals were awarded a victory by forfeit over New Jersey on June 19. Lakeland and Dayton remain on the Xtreme schedule and will each, presumably, be awarded a victory by forfeit.

Fever reaches 100: Tri-Cities set a season-high mark for points scored with its 100-17 victory over Lincoln last Saturday. Lincoln briefly led 7-0 before the Fever erupted for 14 TDs and a safety to record its seventh straight victory since suffering a 72-55 home loss to Everett on April 30.

Sign of better times for Pharms: The Hawks drew cheers when they unveiled their “Pacific Conference West Division Champions,” banner prior to last Friday’s game against Miami. But, in the second half, fans who displayed a sign saluting linebacker Jeremiah Pharms were likewise applauded. The red-lettered sign read “State Pharm Insurance,” and included three circles, each containing a single word: Sacks, fumbles, tackles. Appropriate because against the Morays, Pharms – the former University of Washington standout who is trying to leave his troubled past behind and make a football comeback – was in on seven tackles (four unassisted), recorded a sack and forced a fumble, which led to an Everett touchdown two plays later.