2011 Championship

The 2011 United Bowl marked the third championship game in Indoor Football League history and delivered a dominant defensive performance by the home team. Played on July 16, 2011, at the Sioux Falls Arena, the top-seeded Sioux Falls Storm defeated the fourth-seeded Intense Conference champion Tri-Cities Fever, 37–10, in front of 4,500 fans.

Game Recap

Sioux Falls set the tone immediately, marching down the field on the opening drive and striking first on a 5-yard touchdown run by James Jones. Kicker Parker Douglass added a 22-yard field goal later in the quarter to give the Storm a 10–0 advantage.

Tri-Cities answered in the second quarter, tying the game on a 41-yard field goal by Gary Cismesia and a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lillard to Jackie Chambers. Sioux Falls regained the lead late in the half when quarterback Chris Dixon connected with James Terry on a 24-yard touchdown pass, sending the Storm into halftime ahead, 17–10.

The turning point came early in the third quarter. After the Fever appeared poised to tie the game, Storm linebacker Brian McIntire tackled Tri-Cities running back Dennis Kennedy for a 7-yard loss on third down, forcing a field-goal attempt that sailed wide. Sioux Falls immediately capitalized, driving 45 yards in five plays before Dixon found Jones for a 19-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 24–10.

Moments later, McIntire delivered the decisive blow. Lillard attempted a pass to the flat, but McIntire intercepted it and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, pushing the Storm advantage to 31–10 and effectively sealing the outcome.

The Storm defense continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, denying Tri-Cities on back-to-back goal-line opportunities after the Fever reached the Sioux Falls 1-yard line twice. Overall, the Storm recorded eight defensive stops and limited the Fever to just 11 rushing attempts for four yards.

Dixon finished with 154 passing yards and two touchdowns and was named United Bowl MVP, while McIntire recorded a game-high 14 tackles to anchor a relentless defensive effort. Terry led Sioux Falls receivers with six catches for 61 yards. For Tri-Cities, Lillard threw for 146 yards, and Chambers caught three passes for 59 yards, while Lionell Singleton led the Fever defense with 10 tackles.

This victory marked the first championship in franchise history for the Sioux Falls Storm. The win capped a dominant 16–1 season and solidified Sioux Falls’ emergence as one of the league’s premier teams. While it was the Storm’s inaugural title, it represented a third consecutive IFL championship for quarterback Chris Dixon and eight other Storm players who had previously won United Bowl titles with the Billings Outlaws in 2009 and 2010.