Columbus Unloads Monkey Off Their Back With Win In Nashville
Published on May 17, 2015 under Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Columbus Lions News Release
COLUMBUS, GA (May 17, 2015) - In another battle for first place, the Columbus Lions (6-2) of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) unloaded a huge monkey off their backs picking up their first win in five tries defeating the Nashville Venom (4-3) 44-38.
"Whew, is really all I can say," says Lions Head Coach Jason Gibson. "We almost let another one slip through our finger tips, but the guys kept their composure and ended up finishing this team effort with great play on all sides of the ball."
Despite the offense clearly struggling once again the second half, the Lions special teams and defense helped carry the load with some big plays in the second half including the game sealing fumble recovery by Damian Thornton in the final minute.
"At different moments of the game either special teams, or the offense, even the defense had times where they carried the team on their shoulders," continues Gibson. "Offense got us off on the right step to start the game, special teams picked up some key points at the end of 2nd and start of 3rd while the defense picked up the close in the 4th."
Overall both teams struggled to find any rhythm offensively with both clubs turning the ball over two times as well as going 3 of 10 on 3rd down conversions and combining to reach the red-zone only three times. Looking
to overcome his last meeting against Nashville, Columbus QB Casey Kacz completed just 15 of 37 passes for 188 yards his lowest output in seven starts.
The offensive second half woe's for the Lions continued on Sunday finding the end-zone only once with that lone score coming midway through the 4th. Up by as many as 21, Columbus almost let another three touchdown lead slip through their fingers as the Venom thirteen straight points to close out the 3rd quarter.
Kacz's counterpart, Charles McCullum, managed to complete 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards and 4 TD's, however difficulty in the center-to-QB exchange hampered the Venom offense all night bobbling the snap close to eight times. Although only losing one of those fumbles, it was a costly fumble scooped up by Thornton allowing Columbus to put the nail on the coffin and pick up their first win in franchise history over Nashville.
With another bye week looming, the Venom will have an extra week to figure out how their comeback bid fell short before returning to field to host the Marion Blue Racers of the X-League in a non-conference clash.
Following the victory, the first place Lions will enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend off with a bye week and will then return home to host the last place Erie Explosion (1-6) on May 30th. The victory puts Columbus in the driver's seat as the top overall seed for the impending playoffs. The combined record of their final three opponents is 8-14 with two of the three remaining games residing on their home turf.
For more ticket information about the Lions two remaining home games, including the regular season home finale on June 13th game with special guest Vince Dooley, contact the front office at 706-322-3336.
Professional Indoor Football League Stories from May 17, 2015
- Columbus Unloads Monkey Off Their Back With Win In Nashville - Columbus Lions
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