Tony Thompson brought indoor football back to Colorado in 2024 after a 6 season hiatus following the Colorado Crush being dissolved. A man who played the game as recently as 2023 with the Rapid City Marshals now owns a team based where the Crush once played in a recently renamed Blue Arena. Ironically this win came on “Blue Night” with the crowd, coaches, and team employees encouraged to wear blue.
Facing the Carolina Cobras who were in the NAL Championship just a season ago- and handed the Spartans a loss earlier in the season, the Spartans had something to prove. If ever there was a team to beat to prove your record isn’t reflective of your talent, it was the Carolina Cobras who are a playoff lock every season they play.
Road to Regular Season Victory
The road to this victory has had its ups and downs. It started on a high note with a 70-12 win in their first-ever game as a team, a preseason game against a surprisingly scrappy outdoor semi-professional team called the Noco Nightmare. They wouldn’t play another game for 13 days, this time it was against another non-league opponent. This pitted an NAL team against an AIF team, two leagues battling for a fan base currently. The Spartans sent the River Kings home with a 35-26 loss.
In week three the Spartans were asked to play the Omaha Beef who were coming off of their 14th straight win dating back to their 12-0 Championship run in 2023 while members of the Champions Indoor Football League. The Spartans would add to that winning streak losing 32-45. Jason Whitaker threw two interceptions and it ended up being the difference in a game that reminded us of vintage Tommy Armstrong as he accounted for four touchdowns on his way to a 15th win in a row.
In week four the Spartans were on the road again. This time to Carolina to face the Brandon Negron-led Cobras. This time Whitaker threw 5 touchdown passes to 3 interceptions, while Guy Myers managed 4 touchdowns. It was Myers’ mobility that changed the game and tipped it in their favor. The Cobras would ultimately win the game 44-35 sending the Spartans to Sioux City 0-2 to begin their first season in the National Arena League.
The Beginning of a Turn-Around
The Colorado Spartans went into Sioux City determined to prove they were better than their 0-2 record, and that they belonged in the NAL among the top teams. Sioux City is one of the most well run franchises in any indoor football league. They are typically a team known to be competitive every season, and they are extremely stable. Winning a game in Sioux City is no easy task as over the years they have built a very loyal fan base.
The Spartans nearly did just that, but fell 1 point short in a game that saw the two teams combine for 123 points on the day. The Bandits managed to snatch victory away from the Spartans, and Colorado would finally return home, this time 0-3 in the regular season. Before their game with the Cobras, the coaching staff knew things were about to change. Having lost their last two games by a total of 10 points, minor adjustments would go a long way.
A coach with the Spartans said “We are about to go on a streak” days before the game. Coach Shaw before the game told the broadcasters they were going to see a different game. The Spartans delivered just that, as they would quickly take the lead and continue to hold onto it all game long.
Starting Fast
The Spartans started on defense, allowing a quick touchdown, but their offense responded immediately scoring a touchdown of their own. On the ensuing kickoff, the Spartans kicker would knock it through the uprights tacking on two more points going up 9-7. From there on, the Spartans took control and never let up.
It wasn’t long before the Spartans defense made an incredible play to intercept a pass as it nearly flew out of the back of the endzone.
This would give the Spartans back the ball, and immediately after Whitaker threw a deep pass to Deonte Rarrieck for six. The Spartans would go up 16-7. The Cobras would answer their touchdown with a field goal. However, minutes later Whitaker and Rarrieck connected again for another touchdown putting the Spartans up 23-10.
To their credit, the Cobras were not getting discouraged, and scored another touchdown making it 23-16. On the kickoff, Steve Newbold caught the ball just before it flew out of bounds, and took it coast to coast for 6 more points, then he would hold for the extra point immediately after. Unfortunately the Spartans missed their first kick of the night. Spartans are up 29-16.
Just before halftime, the Spartans would again open up the lzw2ead this time adding a rushing touchdown by Jason Whitaker. The game would go into halftime 36-16. The Cobras had started with the ball, and they would kick off to start the second half. Skelton would receiver the kick and take it back to the Spartans 18 yard line giving the offense a short field to work with. They would capitalize with a deep pass from Whitaker to Steve Newbold Jr. who was finding the endzone for the second time in the game, and 8th on the season in just his fourth game, he wasn’t done yet..
Second Half
With just over 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter Whitaker slid left out of the pocket and found Newbold again on the right sideline. Immediately a defender slipped but grabbed Newbold’s jersey and held tight. Newbold shook the defender off, and darted up field between defenders tacking on six more points, his ninth touchdown of the season.
On the next two drives, the Cobras and Spartans traded touchdowns making the score 55-24. Just after the Spartans scored the third quarter ended with a 31 point deficit. The Cobras were not going to go away without a fight. Credit to the coaching staff for keeping their players invested, and attempting to score until the final seconds of the game, and score they would.
The defense for the Spartans began to let up just a bit with the lead in their back pocket, Coach Negron and Guy Myers took advantage closing the gap with a pair of touchdowns. The Cobras couldn’t overcome the 31 point gap, but by the time the game was over, the deficit was only 17. As much as this was the Spartans’ night to find victory, this also was not the Cobras night, and I expect they will rebound at home next week against Sioux City.
The Spartans will play the Denver Sharks on April 27th at home, but they don’t have another league opponent until May 5th when they will play the Idaho Horsemen in Idaho. As always you can catch that game on the National Arena League YouTube channel live at 5:00 pm Mountain Time. If you would like to attend the next Spartans home game against the Oklahoma Flying Aces on May 17th you can purchase here.
Check out our episode of Around the Indoor Football World LIVE tomorrow at 6:00 am mountain time. Running Back Kadarrius Campbell will be joining us to talk about the franchise’s first win.
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