PIFL Columbus Lions

Lions, Bucs Extend Rivalry This Saturday

April 24, 2013 - Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Columbus Lions News Release


COLUMBUS, GA (April 24, 2013) - For the second time in three weeks, the Columbus Lions (3-2) of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) and Louisiana Swashbucklers (1-3) hook-up on the gridiron this time in "The Jungle" on "Stadium Cup Night."

Two weeks ago Columbus and Louisiana entered their meeting both reeling from two consecutive losses. Late in the 3rd quarter and down by 14, it appeared the Lions were headed for a third loss until the offense converted touchdowns off three straight stops by the defense to closing out a 45-42 come-from-behind victory.

"Last two weeks have created some building moments for our team," says Columbus Lions Head Coach. "We still have not played a complete game from start to finish, these last minute finishes are great but we should play like that the entire game."

Last Saturday the Swashbucklers picked up their first win of the 2013 season pulling out a 36-27 dogfight of a victory over the Knoxville Nighthawks (1-5). After starting out their first four games of the season at home, Saturday's game will mark the first time the Bucs will have ventured out on the road.

If not for a Brian Harris rally, the Lions might have been once again staring at a below .500 record again. With a little over six minutes to go the back-up quarterback rallied the troops from 15 down to upend the Richmond Raiders 48-42. Harris, who stepped in for incumbent starter Marcus Jones late in the 3rd quarter, completed 11-15 passes for 125 yards and four touchdowns leading the Lions to touchdowns on four their final five drives.

While Harris united the offense, it was total team effort on the defensive side of the ball causing three turnovers and two sacks including keeping Richmond off the board on their last three drives. Key pass break-ups down the stretch from DB Jeremy Gray and WR Jarmon Forston thwarted the Raiders last minute efforts at taking a final lead.

DB Anthony Shutt picked up two interceptions and earned the Week 7 PIFL Defensive Player of the Week award along with moving to the top of the leaderboard in INT's with five.

Since that disastrous eight touchdown performance three weeks ago against the Hammers, the Lions defense has turned it around having only surrendered two in the past two weeks combined. Overall on the season the defense has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns and opposing QB's are completing just 53.1% of their passes, a 0.1% off the leader.

Saturday's meeting serves as the seventh meeting between this two clubs since 2010. All-time Columbus is 3-0 at home versus the Bucs having out-scored them 231-106 in those previous three meetings. One of those meeting of course includes the 68-13 Lions championship win in 2010.

Despite the Bucs not having a potent passing attack, the Lions defense will have their work cut-out for them considering the dual-threat option of QB Chris Mitchell. In their last meeting Mitchell rushed for three touchdowns while accounting for 214 total yards.

"Louisiana likes to catch defenses off guard with their rushing attack," continues Gibson. "We have had some difficulty the past couple of weeks stopping those running plays, especially in the red-zone."

Columbus will still be dealing with some injuries including WR Maurice Dupree who missed last week's game with a shoulder injury and LB Ryan Babb with a sore knee. Dupree and Babb are both day-to-day while FB Gerald Harris is expected to miss his second consecutive game with cracked ribs.

Kickoff is at 7:30 and fans should get their early as the first two thousand fans in attendance will receive a 22-ounce Lions souvenir cup courtesy of Sprague's Auto Supply.

For more information about "Stadium Cup Night," log on to www.columbuslions.net and stay tuned to the Lions Facebook page for day-to-day updates.



Professional Indoor Football League Stories from April 24, 2013


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