Fort Wayne moves to the UIF This year would be the Freedom's first in a new
league, United Indoor Football (UIF). With a new head coach at the helm the Freedom would have it's most successful season
thus far, finishing with a record of 14-3. Previously the offensive coordinator for the team, Matt Land flourished in his
role as head coach.
The team started off strong with 10 straight wins before incurring their first loss of the
season to the Omaha Beef in Omaha on June 11, 2005. The next week the Freedom suffered their second straight loss in a game
against one of their biggest rivals, the Lexington Horsemen, at home. The team would finish strong, however, winning their
remaining games during the regular season and grabbing the top seed in the east.
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| 2005 Program Cover |
The playoffs were not kind to the Freedom, as
they suffered a first-round loss to an inspired Tennessee Valley Raptors team. The Freedom saw much success on the field this
season, but had just as many challenges off the field and those seemed to come to a head as they came out flat and never seemed
to find their spark in a game that ended in a 22-57 loss. Newly signed QB Ben Sankey led the Raptors with a 20-29 completions,
no interception and five touchdown performance.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
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| Mar 20, 05 | vs Greyhounds | W 29-25 | | Apr 10, 05 | at
Greyhounds | W 31-20 | | Apr
16, 05 | vs Red Dogs | W 59-34 | | Apr 23, 05 | at Fire Ants | W 51-15 | | Apr 30, 05 | at
Storm | W 34-31 | | May 7,
05 | vs Bandits | W 57-50 | | May 13, 05 | vs Rough Riders | W 52-32 | | May 21, 05 | at
Rough Riders | W 41-13 | | May
28, 05 | vs Fire Ants | W 45-20 | | Jun 05, 05 | vs Beef | W
42-40 | | Jun 11, 05 | at Beef | L 30-33 | | Jun 18, 05 | vs Horsemen | L 41-58 | | Jun
25, 05 | at Rough Riders | W 56-35 | | Jul 02, 05 | at Red Dogs | W 40-26 | | Jul 08, 05 | at
Greyhounds | W 44-34 | | Jul
17, 05 | vs Greyhounds | W 41-31 |
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Top Players
Rocky Harvey had another stellar season, finishing
with 1,095 yards rushing and 30 TD's. He also grabbed another 16 catches for 146 yards and three more TD's. WR Jeremy
Dutcher returned to the Freedom after spending a season with the AFL's Grand Rapids Rampage. Dutcher led the Freedom receivers
in 2003 and picked up where he left off in 2005. He had 72 catches for 911 yards and 26 TD's.
The Freedom
defense was a force to be reckoned with this season. The team led the league in Sacks, with 38, and Passes Defended Efficiency,
with a 56.3, including a league-low 31 TD's allowed and 26 INT. Leading the defense were DL Rachman Crable and DB Scott
Heighland. Crable, a constant on the defensive line, accumulated 70.5 total tackles and 15 sacks. Heighland, a crowd favorite
for his heart and hard hits, had 71 total tackles of his own, along with six INT's and seven pass breakups.
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| Freedom vs. Omaha Beef |
2005 UIF Season For complete stats and
paticipation for the 2005 season please click here.
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