ASI Panthers Declare May 9 Indoor Football Day in Reading
May 8, 2015 - American Indoor Football (AIF)
ASI Panthers News Release
The ASI Panthers will be hosting a complete day of exciting Indoor Football all day on Saturday, May 9th on Boscov's Travel Field at Santander Arena.
There will be FOUR great games that fans can see for just ONE TICKET!
The action kicks off with the first game at 1:00 PM (gates open at 12:00 noon). The ASI Panthers "B-Team" will be playing against the Overbrook Ducks team. The Ducks are from the Philadelphia area and currently are members of the MIFL Indoor League.
The Panthers B squad is coached by Jeff Anderton and Anthony Fisher. Both Anderton and Fisher are A Team assistants.
Panthers fans will recognize many of the B team players since many have played for the Panthers "A Team" in the AIF games each week. The Panthers utilize these two teams together as one effective organization.
Next up at 3:30 is a U-10 Championship game for the Junior Express Youth Indoor Football League featuring the "JDM Outsiderz" vs. the "Exeter Eagles". It should be a great game.
At 6:00 PM is the main event. The ASI Panthers (A Team) take on the Philadelphia Birds. The Philly Birds are operated by the people at East Preps Sports Management and will be bringing some high quality players to challenge the Panthers.
The nightcap features another Championship game from the Junior Express League. This one is for the U-12 division, and should start around 8:30 PM. The game will feature the "Governor Mifflin Stampede" against the "JDM Outsiderz" squad. These kids know how to play the game and you just might be seeing future ASI Panthers on the field!
Anybody can attend any of the games with ONE TICKET. One ticket allows you to watch all of the games if you want. You can even leave and come back for more later!
The title sponsor for the day will be "PeopleShare" and they will have lots of great giveaways for the kids.
It's also going to be "Team Bernie" charity day with the ASI Panthers. Jill Nowotarski (wife of Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski) send the following message to all:
"Everyone has been asking all season, when will the ASI Panthers have a Saturday night football game?!?! Well this Saturday May 9th at 6:00 pm is it!!! Did I mention that the Panthers are supporting our own Coach B in his battle with Multiple Myeloma by making May 9th TEAM BERNIE night! We will have Team Bernie shirts for sale, the Philadelphia Soul have donated 4 VIP Box Suite tickets, 4 field passes and a signed Ron Jaworski signed football, the Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks are showing their support by donating some exciting items, you can bid on these items on Saturday night night!! We will also have a 50/50 raffle!! Come on out Saturday night, have a great time to support our ASI Panhters and Coach Bernie! At half time our very own Christopher M Winters, Chief of Staff for Pa House of Representative Tom Caltagirone is presenting our family with certificates for our support and fight against cancer. Come on out Saturday May 9th and have a great time and watch some incredible football!!!"
Panther Notes:
- Panthers star receiver Tyriq Smith has been cleared to play this week but it's uncertain as to whether he will play in the Philadelphia Birds game or not. With the game not counting for the league standings, he may be held out one more week to play against York.
- Starting QB Ray Wagner is scheduled to start against the Birds but newly acquired backup QB Adam Hearns (Western Carolina) may see significant time too. Hearns adds extra mobility to the position and will likely be used as a dual threat type of player who can also play other positions (DB, WR).
- The Panthers showed nice diversity and great depth by having all four WRs on the active roster against Savannah catch TD passes. Daryl Shine, Ed Williams, Kyle Williams, and Terrell Barnes all caught TD passes from QB Ray Wagner.
- With the exception of the first play of the game where Savannah completed a long pass for a TD, the Panthers defense dominated the Savannah team all night. The offense wasn't too shabby either. In the first half the offense only had four possessions and scored TDs on all four.
Quotes:
Bill Mattis (ASI Associate Head Coach/Owner):
"We are very fortunate to have some extreme depth at many different positions. It sometimes makes it tough keeping everybody happy with playing time but in the long run it's a big asset. This is why we have a B team. It's so the extra guys can get game action from week to week too."
"We've gone through QBs like they're going out of style, but Ray (Wagner) has settled in to really take command of the offense. He's starting to do the same things that McCreery used to do during the games and practices. It's to the point where he'll come over for a play call and suggest something that I was going to call anyway."
"We feel pretty good about what we have accomplished on the field. The only team in our league who has beaten us is York and everybody looks at them as the top team. We're only a tiny step behind them and I think we can beat them when we see them again. We're improving each week and we're a better team than when we played them last time."
"It's somewhat frustrating to the team to not have better crowds. The hockey team does well with attendance. The Reading Phillies are always doing great with attendance too. I would have thought that we'd get a better turn out than we've seen so far. Hopefully Saturday will be much better because we need it. Anybody who comes to our game becomes an instant fan and they all seem to be very dedicated. The people coming to our games are amazing supporters and we appreciate them a ton."
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American Indoor Football Stories from May 8, 2015
- ASI Panthers Declare May 9 Indoor Football Day in Reading - ASI Panthers
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