GAME TEASER: vs Central Valley Coyotes

The Matchup: Boise Burn (8-6) at Central Valley Coyotes (8-6); 8 PM Saturday night, Fresno (CA). At Stake: A Boise win, coupled with losses from Amarillo and Bossier-Shreveport, clinches a playoff spot for the Burn. There is a scenario where a Central Valley win clinches a spot as well, but neither team can be eliminated with a loss. Last Week: Boise put on one of its finest showings since the beginning of the season in an impressive home win over the Florida Firecats. Central Valley looked equally impressive in a rout of Texas. Head-to-head: Central Valley beat Boise in Qwest Arena at the end of May, 46-40. The Burn had a 7-point lead with less than 8 minutes to play but Central Valley got two Joe Ayoob touchdown passes to take the lead. Boise got into Central Valley territory with less than a minute to play, but four straight incomplete passes ended Boise?s hopes of a win. Tiebreaker: With two games between the two, Boise must beat Central Valley? and beat them by more than 6 points? to take the head-to-head tiebreaker in the event of a tie between the Burn and Coyotes. That would leave the teams each with one win against the other. The second tiebreaker is point-differential head-to-head. Central Valley won here by 6, so a Boise win by more than that would give them the edge in point-differential. Change at QB: Ayoob absolutely torched the Burn at Qwest Arena, throwing for 341 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Good news?Ayoob is no longer the starting quarterback for the Coyotes. Bad news?Clay Groefsema is. He went 19-23 for 254 yards and 8 scores in last week?s win over Texas. The pair has combined to throw 77 touchdowns against just ten interceptions? so the task doesn?t get any easier for Boise?s 7th-ranked defense. Finding a rhythm: Quarterback Royal Gill has taken a liking to new receiver Brian Hernandez. The two hooked up for three touchdowns against Florida and Hernandez led all Boise receivers with seven receptions. Roller-Coaster ride: After opening the season with a loss at Tulsa, the Burn won four straight games. They followed that up by losing 5 of 6. Since then, they?ve won three straight. Defensive line dominates Florida: Travis Tofi and Mark Weivoda were each credited with sacks in last week?s win. Tofi leads Boise with 9 sacks, while Weivoda is right behind with 8 on the season. And while he wasn?t credited with any tackles, Chris Solomona was active as well, forcing a fumble and returning one for a defensive conversion on a 2-point conversion attempt by Florida late in the game. That trio along with CJ Niusulu and Garrett Smith will need to be at the top of their game Saturday against Central Valley?s efficient offense (7th in af2 at 54 pts/gm). On the Air: All Boise Burn road games can be heard live on 1140-AM (KGEM) in the Treasure Valley with Scott Conklin handling the play-by-play duties. For fans outside the Boise area, games can be watched live online at www.boiseburn.com. Just look for the af2tv logo on the right-hand side of the homepage.