2016 United Bowl

The 2016 United Bowl was the championship game of the 2016 Indoor Football League season. It was played between the Intense Conference Champion Spokane Empire and the United Conference Champion Sioux Falls Storm. The game was played at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

2016 United Bowl
Spokane Empire Sioux Falls Storm (12–4) (15–1) Intense United 34 55 Head coach:  Adam Shackleford Head coach:  Kurtiss Riggs
1 2 3 4 Total Spokane 7 6 7 14 34 Sioux Falls 0 20 14 21 55
Date	July 23, 2016
Stadium	Denny Sanford Premier Center
Location	Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
MVP	Sioux Falls QB Lorenzo Brown
Attendance	9,000

This was the Sioux Falls Storm's sixth United Bowl championship and seventh overall United Bowl appearance. It was the Spokane Empire's first United Bowl appearance.

Venue

The game was played at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as the Sioux Falls Storm had the home field advantage by cause of having a better regular season record.

Background

Spokane Empire

On September 1, 2015, the Spokane Shock left the Arena Football League for the IFL. They changed their names to the Empire, as the AFL owned the rights to the Shock name. The Empire finished the season with a conference best 12–4, earning the first seed in the Intense Conference and a first round bye. In the conference championship, they defeated the Nebraska Danger at home in a 55–44 contest.

2016 Intense Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	GB	STK
y-Spokane Empire	12	4	0	.750	815	709	--	L2
x-Billings Wolves	8	8	0	.500	643	647	4.0	W2
x-Nebraska Danger	6	10	0	.375	765	794	6.0	W1
Colorado Crush	4	12	0	.250	849	914	8.0	W2
Tri-Cities Fever	3	13	0	.188	577	758	9.0	L9

Sioux Falls Storm

In 2016, the Storm began the regular season with four straight wins before their first road-bump in a loss to the Cedar Rapids Titans. They rebounded from that loss with eleven consecutive victories to finish the season with a 15–1 record, and first place in the United Conference. Sioux Falls clinched home field advantage and a first round bye due to their conference finish. In the conference championship, they defeated the Cedar Rapids Titans at home by a score of 54–28.

2016 United Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	GB	STK
y–Sioux Falls Storm	15	1	0	.938	951	720	--	W11
x–Cedar Rapids Titans	12	4	0	.750	781	628	3.0	W7
x–Wichita Falls Nighthawks	11	5	0	.688	1001	861	4.0	W2
Green Bay Blizzard	5	11	0	.313	682	932	10.0	L1
Iowa Barnstormers	4	12	0	.250	737	838	11.0	L7

Box score

	1	2	3	4	Total
Empire	7	6	7	14	34
Storm	0	20	14	21	55

at Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

• Date: July 23, 2016
• Game time: 8:05 p.m. EDT
• Game attendance: 9,000

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SPO SFX 1 9:34 8 37 5:26 SPO Hayes 9-yard touchdown reception from Dowdell, Clarke kick good 7 0 2 11:55 6 30 3:05 SFX Brown 1-yard touchdown run, Syrovatka kick good 7 7 2 8:33 5 38 3:15 SPO Charles 24-yard touchdown reception from Dowdell, Clarke kick no good 13 7 2 7:57 1 23 0:29 SFX Tatum 23-yard touchdown reception from Brown, Syrovatka kick no good 13 13 2 0:03 8 45 2:44 SFX Williams 11-yard touchdown reception from Brown, Syrovatka kick good 13 20 3 14:30 1 49 0:29 SFX Tatum 49-yard touchdown reception from Brown, Syrovatka kick good 13 27 3 13:58 1 31 0:25 SPO Charles 31-yard touchdown reception from Dowdell, Clarke kick good 20 27 3 8:57 9 45 5:01 SFX Brown 1-yard touchdown run, Syrovatka kick good 20 34 4 9:02 5 35 3:06 SFX Brown 4-yard touchdown run, Syrovatka kick good 20 41 4 5:42 4 17 3:14 SPO Dowdell 1-yard touchdown run, Clarke kick no good 26 41 4 3:24 3 21 2:09 SFX Holley 20-yard touchdown reception from Brown, Syrovatka kick good 26 48 4 2:55 1 24 0:25 SPO Pierce 24-yard touchdown reception from Dowdell, 2-point pass good (Dowdell–Samuel pass) 34 48 4 1:22 4 17 1:43 SFX Williams 2-yard touchdown run, Syrovatka kick good 34 55 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 55

References