In the midst of a battle for playoff positioning, the Wild didn't overlook a struggling team in the Sioux Falls Bandits. Wichita’s offense mercilessly and efficiently ripped apart the Bandits' defense, establishing a tone on their first two possessions that would be maintained throughout the whole game and lead to a 67-17 win.
The first two drives ended with Darius Fudge pounding the ball into the end zone on short, powerful touchdown runs. Both scores were set up by precision passing. Dixie Wooten hit Clinton Solomon on a 42-yard pass that set up Fudge's 3-yard touchdown run to give the Wild a 6-0 lead. And though the over the shoulder catch was a sight to behold, Solomon would top it over and over again.
It was a night when Solomon felt unstoppable and he let it show.
On his way to setting team records in single season receptions (73) and touchdowns (27), the 6-foot-4 wide receiver turned in a season-high 127-yard receiving performance with four touchdowns.
"When the opportunity presents itself I try to take advantage of it,” Solomon said. “They tried to come at me with man-to-man coverage and I did well."
On a crossing pattern that led him through the back of the end zone, Solomon fully extended to catch a pass in traffic from Wooten. He got leveled in the process and lost his helmet, but he popped up as if nothing happened and gave a ball to fan in the stands. He managed to put together one highlight play after another.
"Hopefully he'll be unstoppable like that for the next five weeks," Wild coach Ken Matous said. "He's the best receiver in the league. If you watched he was double covered a whole bunch and he was still catching the ball all over the place.”
The Wild's 50-point margin of victory was more than a morale boost for the team as it looked to establish home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Wild would have to lose to Omaha in the final game of the regular season by more than 50 points in order to not get home-field advantage.
"We know we needed to score a lot of points for the playoff home-field advantage kind of thing," Solomon said. “It means a lot because we've got one more game before we go into the playoffs. Anytime you can go into the playoffs scoring 60-something points, it's good for your team"
In his four-touchdown performance, Fudge also eclipsed the 100-yard plateau by gaining 109 yards on 19 carries for the Wild. It was something that the rest of his teammates had been waiting for.
"He was due for his 100-yards," Solomon said. "We've been riding him all week and all season about not getting over a hundred. He worked hard for it and so did our O-Line."
Brandon Kaufman started on defense and had a three-interception performance that included a 16-yard touchdown return.
"We sat a couple of guys, trying to give them some rest this week," Kaufman said. "I tried to take advantage of my opportunity. I got to play at a lot of free safety. That was the position I played in high school and college. It was more natural for me. I didn't have to think as much."
Sioux City 3 14 0 0 — 17
Wichita 12 34 7 14 — 67
W—Fudge 3 run (kick blocked)
W—Fudge 3 run (kick failed)
S—Hudnall 44 FG
W—Solomon 42 pass from Wooten (Pohlman kick)
S—Williams 26 pass from Corterie (Hudnall kick)
W—Fudge 5 run (Pohlman kick)
W—Fudge 19 run (Pohlman kick)
W—Solomon 6 pass from Wooten (kick blocked)
S—Johnson 45 pass from Jensen (Hudnall kick)
W—Solomon 9 pass from Wooten (Pohlman kick)
W—Solomon 7 pass from Wooten (Pohlman kick)
W—Wooten 2 run (Pohlman kick)
W—Williams 16 interception return (Pohlman kick)
Individual statistics
Rushing — Sioux City, Jones 6-13, Johnson 1-5, Jensen 1-4, Hall 3-4, Corterie 5-(-4). Wichita, Fudge 19-109, Randle 2-7, Walker 2-5, Wooten 1-2.
Passing — Sioux City, Corterie 7-22-76-3, Jensen 1-3-45-0. Wichita, Wooten 21-28-258-0.
Receiving — Sioux City, Johnson 3-59, Williams 1-26, Mothershead 1-17, Jones 1-10, Hall 2-9. Wichita, Solomon 7-127, Randle 6-79, Chinn 4-30, Fudge 3-15, Walker 1-7.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/12/1357658/wichita-wild-offense-explodes.html#ixzz0qpvbYBPz
