Lions beat Raiders
April 6, 2014 - Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Columbus Lions News Release
COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Lions evened their record on Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center, defeating the Richmond Raiders 42-21. As with last week, the QB-running back tandem of Antwon Young and Kendrick Perry provided the bulk of the offense for the Lions.
After a T.C. Stevens field goal to open the scoring in the game in favor of Richmond, Young threw a pair of first-quarter touchdowns to Gerald Gales for 15 yards and Perry for two yards to open up a 14-3 lead at the end of the first. Rare by indoor football standards, the two teams played a scoreless second quarter and entered the locker room with Columbus holding a 14-3 lead.
The Lions furthered their lead in the third quarter with a safety in the opening minute and a 28-yard touchdown strike from Young to Earl Alexander to take a 22-3 lead with less than three minutes gone by in the second half. The Raiders made a change at quarterback, going from starter Malik White to Steffan Colon, which energized the club. Colon threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Hakim Moore in the third quarter and found Derrick Hector in the end zone for a 6-yard TD grab in the first minute of the fourth quarter to pull to 22-15 (both T.C. Stevens extra point attempts failed).
The 22-15 score was the closest the Raiders would get, however. Columbus then scored three unanswered touchdowns - one through the air on a Young 8-yard pass to Jarmon Fortson, one on the ground on a 9-yard Kendrick Perry run, and one on special teams with an interception returned from the Columbus end zone to the Richmond end zone by former Raider Roshawn Marshall. Marshall was named the Lions' Defensive Player of the Game for his pick-six to ice the game. Moore scored a late touchdown for the Raiders with one tick left on the clock to provide the final 42-21 score.
The game was noteworthy in that there were no kickoff returns. Both Stevens and Lions kicker Craig Camay booted their respective kickoffs out of the back of the end zone for touchbacks. Stevens actually split the uprights on a kickoff that would have been good for an uno had the Raiders not given up a safety on the previous play. Camay earned the
Perry was named the Offensive Player of the Game for his touchdown on the ground and through the air. He's earned the nickname "Beast Mode" because of his running prowess and similar game to Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch; in fact, Perry wears #24 in his honor.
"That's one of the reasons I wore #24 this year because of the big game he had in the NFL last year; I kind of want to compare my game to his this season," said Perry.
The PIFL's all-time leading rusher is among one of the leaders early this season in passing receptions, already scoring three receiving touchdowns.
"I look at the defense...if I see everybody going, I look back to see if [Young's] in trouble, and I just give him a release because I don't want to see him take any big hits," said Perry.
Young had an excellent game as well playing against his former club.
"I thought they were going to scheme it up pretty well, and I thought they did a decent job. I just tried to play within myself and execute the plays that Coach called," said Young.
Head coach Jason Gibson will take the win despite the low-scoring affair by indoor football standards.
"It's better to win ugly than lose playing well," said Gibson. "We've got great parity in this league. Richmond's a great team...we've always played them tough. Their defense is as good as any in the league and they stalled us a lot tonight."
The Lions return to the turf at the Jungle on Friday night at 7:00 PM EDT to face the new intrastate rival Georgia Fire from Rome. Plenty of great seats are still available. Contact the Lions office at 706.322.3336 for more information.
Professional Indoor Football League Stories from April 6, 2014
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