By Michael Hicks
Berthoud Recorder

LOVELAND — If nothing else, the Colorado Ice learned in their first two games this season just how bitter a pill losing is. Both times the team was driving for the eventual game-winning score only to throw an interception and lose by a combined six points.

On Saturday night at the Budweiser Events Center, Josh Gibson made sure Colorado didn’t suffer a similar fate. The wide receiver from Adams State caught two of Justin Holland’s four TD passes, but it was his 58-yard kickoff return early in the fourth quarter that, for all intents and purposes, gave Colorado the sense of victory that its been searching for.

Saturday’s 44-26 victory in front of 2,115 has been three weeks in the making for the Ice. “When you get gun shy like we were the first two games, you stay gun shy until you get that first win. So now hopefully it will just boost our confidence level,” Ice Head Coach Collins Sanders said. “This is a huge win for us to be able to gain that confidence and know we can do it against a very good team.”

Things didn’t look good after Bloomington built a 23-7 second-quarter lead, but after Holland hit Gibson for a touchdown it was the Ice’s defense that turned the momentum around. Extreme quarterback Mitch Tanney fumbled the ball with his team at the Ice 2-yard line. Defensive lineman Wayne Wilder forced the miscue, and fellow lineman Jeff Spletzer recovered the ball at the Ice 15. Eight plays later Holland hit Gibson for a second time, and Colorado (1-2) went into halftime only down 23-21 instead of trailing by two touchdowns or more.

“When we went in at halftime, we felt like we had the momentum. We just had to go out and execute, do what we do best, and we felt like we really had a pretty good handle on the game,” Sanders said. “We made a few little adjustments that we needed to make at halftime but for the most part, it was a matter of just executing what we do.”

Ice kicker Rocky Stevens hit a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter and Colorado never trailed again. Another Holland TD pass was followed by a 30-yard Pete Christofilakos field goal that pulled the Extreme (3-2) to within 30-26 with 10:49 left in regulation. But Gibson returned the following kickoff to put the game on ice. 

“I was just glad I could do my part. My guys made good blocks, I saw the hole, and I just went for it,” Gibson said. “I felt after the kickoff return morale was really up. I felt that we knew we could win it this time, and we didn’t have to struggle to come back or the hurry-up offense. We could just run our offense how we knew how. We practiced it all week, and it was a great feeling.”

Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Bloomington’s fate was sealed when Colorado linebacker Ryan Palmer returned a Tanney interception 44 yards for a touchdown with 1:16 left.

EXTRA POINTS: Wide receiver Cory Sleeth, who caught six passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns in the Ice’s opener against Billings, was named the Indoor Football League’s Offensive Player of the Week on April 3. Sleeth caught TD passes of 35, 24 and 22 yards — all in the second half. … Former Florida State standout Peter Warrick, the No. 4 pick of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals in the 2000 draft, plays wide receiver for the Extreme.

BLOOMINGTON    13    10    0    3–26
COLORADO        7    14    9    14–44

SCORING SUMMARY
B — Peter Warrick 3 pass from Mitch Tanney (kick failed), 10:46
C — Justin Gallas 5 pass from Justin Holland (Rocky Stevens kick), 7:26
B — Robert Redd 7 pass from Tanney (Pete Christokfiakos kick), 2:41
B — Quince Holman blocked field goal recovered in end zone (Christokfilakos kick), 14:36
B — Christofilakos 46 field goal, 10:05
C — Josh Gibson 12 pass from Holland (Stevens kick), 6:30
C — Gibson 8 pass from Holland (Stevens kick), 0:22
C — Stevens 40 field goal, 12:55
C — Gallas 4 pass from Holland (kick failed), 0:22
B — Christofilakos 30 field goal, 10:49
C — Gibson 58 kickoff return (Stevens kick), 10:31
C — Ryan Palmer 44 interception return (Stevens kick), 1:16

RUSHING: Bloomington — Keith Brooks 7-47, Mitch Tanney 1-9. TOTALS: 8-56. Colorado — Terry Washington 12-72, Eugene Reed 2-9. TOTALS: 14-81.
PASSING: Bloomington — Tanney 22-37-1, 164, Ronnie Simpson 1-2-0, 10. TOTALS: 23-39-1, 174. Colorado — Justin Holland 15-25-2, 122.
RECEIVING: Bloomington — Derin Graham 7-53, Robert Redd 5-32, Peter Warrick 4-47, Alan Turner 4-29, Brooks 3-13. TOTALS: 23-174. Colorado — Justin Gallas 8-65, Josh Gibson 4-49, Washington 2-2, George Hill 1-6. TOTALS: 15-122.
FIRST DOWNS: Bloomington 15, Colorado 12
TURNOVERS: Bloomington 2, Colorado 2
PENALTIES: Bloomington 4-25, Colorado 7-35
TOTAL YARDS: Bloomington 209, Colorado 203