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BLOOMINGTON — Hot at the right time, the Bloomington Edge came out blazing for their first postseason appearance in four years.

So when offensive lineman Rufus Quinn switched to the defensive front to make a game-ending tackle, he just had to celebrate.

“I got a lot of energy; I had to hold it back the whole game,” said Quinn, who raised his arms high as he danced along the wall in front of the Edge bench. “So that was the whole game coming out of me right there.”

The Edge jumped to a 26-point lead and thwarted Sioux City’s comeback attempt to claim a 65-45 victory over the Bandits in the first round of the Champions Indoor Football playoffs before a crowd of 1,021 at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

“Everybody doubted us when we were 2-4 and turned their back on us,” said defensive lineman Antonio Ficklin after the Edge improved to 8-5 with their fifth straight win. “I felt like it was us against the world, so we had to play together as a team.”

With the franchise’s first playoff victory in six tries since 2008, the Edge advanced to face the Northern Division champion Wichita Force (10-2) in the semifinals next Saturday in Kansas.