Tribune Sports Staff

Win and go to Salt Lake City (1,054 miles) for a first-round playoff game against a team you've already beaten at its place.

Lose and go to Omaha (606 miles) for a first-round playoff game against a team you've already beaten at its place.

From the Bismarck Roughriders' standpoint, Saturday's National Indoor Football League game at Sioux Falls was a wash before kickoff, and that was a good thing because they played like it in a 44-27 loss to the Storm. It was the regular season finale for both playoff-bound teams.

The Roughriders committed four turnovers as their five-game winning streak came to a grinding halt. As the No. 4 seed in the Pacific Conference, the Roughriders will travel to top-seeded Omaha next week. Bismarck beat the Beef 39-38 in Omaha in Week 3.

Sioux Falls, meanwhile, won for the seventh straight time in its fifth straight home game. The Storm earned the third seed in the Pacific Conference and travels to Utah for its first-round playoff game.

The Sioux Falls defense successfully grounded the Roughriders' aerial show. Owners of the NIFL's No. 1 scoring offense, the Roughriders didn't get on the board until just 2:42 remained in the first half. Their 27 points was nearly 33 points below their season scoring average.

The Roughriders helped the Storm with a blizzard of turnovers, including a fumble lost on the Storm 1-yard line, and a Chris Schwab fumble that led to a safety midway through the fourth quarter.

Despite the loss, and a sub-par game for Schwab, he was still able to run his NIFL single-season touchdown pass record to 86 with three more scoring strikes. Schwab completed 29 of 52 passes for 246 yards. He tossed scoring strikes to A.J. Street and Cradle, who also scored Bismarck's other touchdown on a short run.

The teams exchanged interceptions and Sioux Falls cashed in for a 7-0 lead just one 1:30 into the game.

The Storm added a pair of touchdown passes by Ryan Aulenbacher, one to Justin Bivins and the other to Matt Holmlund to go up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Holmlund had nine catches for 67 yards and three touchdowns.

Cradle's 1-yard run with 2:42 left in the half closed the gap, but the Storm answered again before the half to go up 28-7.

The Roughriders got something going in the third when A.J. Street (10 catches, 123 yards) caught a TD pass, followed right away by Cradle's second score. They had a chance to pull even closer on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Cradle fumbled on the 1-yard line and Sioux falls took over with its 15-point lead intact.

The Storm put the game out of reach with a safety after Schwab fumbled and the Roughriders knocked the ball out of the end zone with 7:49 left.

Bismarck 0 7 13 7 - 27

Sioux Falls 14 14 7 9 - 44

First Quarter

Sioux Falls: Unknown (Adam Hicks kick), 13:30

Sioux Falls: Justin Bivins 6 pass from Ryan Aulenbacher (Hicks kick), 4:56.

Second Quarter

Sioux Falls: Matt Holmlund 8 pass from Aulenbacher (Hicks kick), 5:49.

Bismarck: Quentin Cradle 1 run (Jeremy Meltebarger kick), 2:42.

Sioux Falls: Holmlund 3 pass from Aulenbacher (Hicks kick), 1:19.

Third Quarter

Bismarck: A.J. Street 14 pass from Chris Schwab (Meltebarger kick).

Bismarck: Cradle 2 pass from Schwab (kick failed), 7:07

Sioux Falls: Matt Holmlund pass from Aulenbacher (Hicks kick), 4:07.

Fourth Quarter

Sioux Falls: Safety, 7:49.

Bismarck: Cradle 10 pass from Schwab (Meltebarger kick), 2:23.

Sioux Falls: Justin Bivins 3 run (Hicks kick), :40.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Bismarck - Quentin Cradle 5-0. Chris Schwab 2-(minus 3). Sioux Falls - Justin Bivins 15-67. Cody Jamison 1-7. Ryan Aulenbacher 1-3. Casey Veenhof 1-1.

Passing: Bismarck - Chris Schwab 29-52-3, 246 yards. Sioux Falls - Aulenbacher 18-23-2, 146 yards.

Receiving: Bismarck - A.J. Street 10-123. Cradle 10-61. Reggie Schulte 3-21. Sonte Wong 2-10. Duane Monlux 1-6. Sioux Falls - Matt Holmlund 9-67. Veenhof 6-42. Bivins 1-5.

Records: Bismarck 9-5, Sioux Falls 10-4.