The biggest milestone to date in Wyoming Cavalry history almost went unnoticed.

On May 29 Cavs quarterback Matt Strand's seven-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Charlton was the 400th of Strand's indoor football career. He threw four more in the game and finished with seven in Wyoming's 85-6 victory over New Mexico.

Days before his accomplishment, however, Strand had no idea he was closing in on No. 400 for his professional career.

"I didn't even know about it until [Cavalry fan] Amanda [Humphrey] pointed it out," Strand said. "That was a cool thing to hit because that's quite a few touchdown passes."

It's something that Strand has been doing for years, though.

A three-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection at Chadron State, Strand is finishing up his seventh year with the Cavalry and is arguably the most prolific passer in indoor football history. He enters Sunday's American Indoor Football Association Bowl III with 425 touchdown passes in his career and is nearing the 20,000-yard mark in passing yards.

"When we played the Cavalry we always knew they were going to score a lot of points because of Matt Strand," Cavs coach Dan Maciejczak, who coached against Strand for four years prior to taking over at Wyoming, said. "My philosophy going against Matt was to hit him as many times as we possibly could, get three or four cheap shots and see if we could get him really [upset]. If not, let's just outscore 'em.

"We would tell our players, "If you're going to hit him you better drop it and bring it."

In a game earlier this season against the Ogden Knights, Maciejczak recalls Strand being upset with an official's non-call. On the next play the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Strand, chased out of the pocket, lowered his shoulder and ran over an Ogden defensive back. The defender suffered a dislocated shoulder.

"We had some struggles early on in that game and I got a little frustrated," Strand said. 'The good thing about my size is I can take the hits and I can also deliver them. I'll take advantage of a smaller guy if I think I can run him over."

"I think it shows the rest of the guys on the team that whatever it takes to win is what I'm going to do."

Veteran presence

The Cavalry failed to make the playoffs in Strand's first two years but the signal-caller has them in the postseason for the fifth consecutive year and playing for a league championship for the third year in a row.

This year, the reigning AIFA Western Conference MVP has completed 222 of 363 passes for 3,028 yards and 73 touchdowns, with just nine interceptions. Strand threw at least three touchdown passes in every game and had a season-high eight in a 70-31 victory over Ogden on April 24.

"You can contain him a little," Maciejczak said, "but you can't really stop him, especially because he's such a veteran."

Strand's veteran presence has been a perfect fit with Maciejczak's wide-open offensive philosophy, even if the two didn't see eye-to-eye at the beginning.

"It took us a little while to find our comfort zone and sometimes I'll throw into tighter spots than what he'd like,"Strand said. "But Majic's a pretty creative coach and he's willing to try about anything.

"It's fun working with him because he'll give anything a whirl once and if it works it turns into one of our plays."

A lot of those plays end up in the arms of wide receiver Dante Dudley, who has 85 receptions for 1,104 yards and a league-best 34 touchdowns on the season.

Dudley, who is in his third year with the Cavs, continues to be impressed with Strand's ability to stay on top of his game no matter what's happening in the game.

"Matt brings consistency," Dudley said. "He's someone you can rely on game in and game out. Whether [the receivers] are dropping balls or catching balls he's still going to make good throws."

It's an aspect of the position that Strand has seemingly mastered. He has completed more than 60 percent of his passes each of the last three seasons.

"You've got to have arm strength, but I think the biggest thing indoors is you've got to have accuracy," he said. "Throughout the years I've gotten better at it. It's not forcing the throws, but putting them where you need to when you need to."

Family man

With all that Strand has accomplished on the field, it's what he has going for him off it that brings the biggest smile to his face.

Strand married his wife, Dawn, after his second season with the Cavs and they now have two kids 2-year-old Will and 9-month-old Alaina. Strand, who works at a local bank, has made a home for himself and his family in Casper.

"It's great having my family in Casper," he said. "It's been a lot of shifting of priorities the last few years, but I've enjoyed playing football for a long time and it's just been a good opportunity for me here. I wouldn't change anything.

"Hopefully [Sunday] we can play well enough to win and people can come up and congratulate us."

And Strand can add another milestone to his Wyoming Cavalry career.

Contact sports reporter Jack Nowlin at (307) 266-0528 or jack.nowlin@trib.com.

AIFA Bowl III Lookahead

WEDNESDAY: Reading coach Bernie Nowotarski offers his early thoughts on the championship game.

THURSDAY: Cavalry players and administrators hope to make their third consecutive trip to the title game a winning one.

FRIDAY: Die-hard fan Amanda Humphrey has never missed a Cavalry home game and also helps make sure the players don't go hungry.

TODAY: Quarterback Matt Strand has thrown 425 touchdown passes in his indoor football career, all of them with the Cavalry.

SUNDAY: Wyoming coach Dan Maciejczak goes after his first indoor football championship.

AIFA Bowl III Tracker

SUNDAY: AIFA Bowl III, Casper Events Center, 5 p.m.

WHO'S HERE: Wyoming Cavalry (13-2) vs. Reading Express (13-3).

MILESTONE MAN: Wyoming quarterback Matt Strand has thrown 425 touchdowns in his indoor football career with the Cavalry, but is still seeking his first professional title.

HE SAID IT: "You can contain him a little, but you can't really stop him, especially because he's such a veteran." Cavs coach Dan Maciejczak, on quarterback Matt Strand.