Legends clinch Northern Conference second seed
June 8, 2006 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) News Release
CANTON, Ohio - The Canton Legends clinched home field advantage in the first round of the American Indoor Football League's Northern Conference playoffs Thursday night with a 50-28 victory over the Miami Valley Silverbacks in the regular season finale for both teams.
Canton (10-4) will host either Johnstown, Erie or Huntington next week. Miami Valley ends its season 5-9. It was the Legends' fifth consecutive victory.
"At that time (5-4), I told our team we had to win out,'' said Canton coach Brian Olive. "We had a long journey to get here to the playoffs, and we were unsure about the quarterback situation, but everything came together."
Kevin Mason threw for 209 yards and five touchdowns for the Legends, who didn't exactly bring their "A" game to the Canton Civic Center, but made enough plays to keep the Silverbacks at bay. Heck, Mason even threw his first interception since joining Canton last month.
"We were really sloppy," Olive admitted. "We were coming off a bad week, but I don't know if that was the reason for the way we played. "We came out strong, but we slacked. I have to give credit to Miami Valley, because they did a good job in the secondary."
The Legends took a quick 15-0 first quarter lead on Doug Schwaberow's one-yard run, Tim Smith's 18-yard pass Mason and two extra points and a rouge from JR Cipra, but struggled offensively until the final three minutes of the first half when Mason connected with Randall Knapp twice, including a 25-yard one second before halftime, to up the Legends' lead to 28-6.
The Silverbacks closed to 35-20 on Kerrick Cooper's 20-yarder to Mo Lee with 5:35 remaining in the third and had the ball, but Canton's Rob Hannah returned a fumble 35 yards to make it a three-score game.
"That was a huge play," Olive said. "You could tell it deflated them [ Miami Valley]." Knapp had six catches for 105 yards and three scores for Canton, while Tim Smith added two scores in catching three passes for 68 yards.
Lee had 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Silverbacks.
In other AIFL action Thursday night, the conference champion Reading Express downed the Philadelphia Scorpions 74-25 to tune up for their playoff game next Thursday __________________________________________________
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