Jerry Giese, Sioux City Journal (Mar. 06, 2010)
SIOUX CITY -- Don't be surprised if the Sioux City Bandits throw deep on their first offensive play tonight.

Two new wide receivers will be added to quarterback James McNear's arsenal when the Bandits open the home season with a 7:05 p.m. game at the Tyson Events Center against the Green Bay Blizzard. Former Morningside College standout Trae Johnson, who didn't make the road trip for last Saturday's season-opening 48-38 win over the Colorado Ice, will make his debut along with Carl Sims, who played a year ago for the Bloomington Extreme.

Johnson led the NAIA in receiving as a senior at Morningside in 2005, with 81 catches for 1,910 yards and 21 touchdowns. He had two solid seasons in af2, recording 61 catches for 669 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Tri-Cities Fever in 2007 and 100 catches for 1,027 yards and 17 touchdowns a year later for the Quad City Steamwheelers.

Sims had three catches for 31 yards and one touchdown for Bloomington. He also returned three kickoffs for 103 yards and one touchdown.

"Carl was a big play receiver last year and he's also an excellent kickoff return guy," Sioux City Coach Tommie Williams said. "We're very excited to have Trae becoming part of our offense. Everybody's waiting for him to explode. Being a Morningside alum, he'll bring people to watch he game and I hope he plays with the offensive skills we anticipate from him."

Five Bandits caught passes, topped by T.J. Williams, who had seven catches for 91 yards and touchdowns of 13 and nine yards. Running back John Bentley, the 2008 United Indoor Football rushing champion, had a combined 59 yards of total offense that included five catches for 33 yards and one touchdown.

"We controlled the Colorado game whether we were running the ball or throwing it," Williams said. "We had the defense on their toes a lot and (Colorado's) offense never dictated anything. I hope we will attack (Green Bay) immediately, put them on their toes and give them different schemes and different looks. Defensively, we'll play different formations and we will be aggressive.

"Borrowing a phrase from Coach (Anthony) Parker, we're going to hit them in the mouth on every play with how aggressive we are. We want to make their offense feel miserable."

Two new Bandits have been added on defense, including Teon Wilson, a 6-2, 255-pound lineman who collected 32 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries last year for Wichita and playing sparingly for Sioux City in 2008. Marquell Winn, a 6-1, 205-pound strong safety, participated in the preseason camp of the Sioux Falls Storm.

Sioux City's defensive statistics were also spread out. Ernest Williams had a team-high eight tackles while cornerback Tommie Williams added six. Linebacker Spetlar Tonga, playing in a Bandits' uniform for the first time since 2008, had five tackles and two quarterback sacks while lineman Lamain Rucker had five tackles.

Green Bay will make its IFL debut tonight after playing the previous seven seasons in af2. Coach Williams expects 6-2, 213-pound Cleveland McCoy to play quarterback for the Blizzard.

McCoy, in 29 career games at South Carolina State, passed for 2,981 yards and 23 touchdowns while rushing for 1,096 yards and 12 touchdowns. Following his 2006 graduation, he had participated in NFL camps with the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions and also competed in the camp of the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

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