Lions Hope To Avoid Speed Bump
April 29, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Columbus Lions News Release
COLUMBUS, GA - Riding a three-game winning streak, the defending champion Columbus Lions (5-1) look to avoid a possible speed bump when they travel this Sunday to take on the Carolina Speed (1-4) in Charlotte, NC.
As the Lions try and keep pace with the division leading Albany Panthers (6-0), they face a former old rival from their days in the AIFA in the Carolina Speed. In the three previous matchups, Columbus holds a 2-1 edge with the last two wins taking place during the 2009 season.
For Carolina, their inaugural season in the SIFL hasn't been a smooth one as they find themselves at the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic division behind both the Richmond Raiders (4-2) and the Fayetteville Force (3-4). Coming off a bye week, they hope to rebound after surrendering 86 points against a Trenton Steel (4-3) that had their way with the Speed defense passing for 336 yards along with quarterback E.J. Nemeth passing for seven touchdowns.
It wasn't a bye week, but it will end up being 10 days in between games for the Lions as they were last in action by on a Thursday night game (4/21) against the Alabama Hammers in which the Columbus offense continued to fly for the second consecutive week. In the 80-55 win over the Hammers, quarterback Chris McCoy threw for five touchdowns along with receivers Josh Smith, Gerald Gales, and Anthony Merritt all catching at least six passes.
Over the span of the first half, eight Lions receivers have hauled in one touchdown pass and that even includes two who are currently on other SIFL clubs. Over the past two weeks, receiver Josh Smith has been the biggest beneficiary of the offensive outburst grabbing 12 receptions for 160 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sunday will mark the second half point for a Lions club that has the home field on their side, except for one last road trip to Albany on May 14th, after Sunday Columbus will have four of their final five games at home inside the Columbus Civic Center. This bodes well for an offense that has scored 186 points in the last two games, matching their output from the season's first four games combined.
Beginning at 5:00 p.m., fans can follow all of Sunday's action by logging on to www.columbuslions.net and clicking on the Listen Live icon. Facebook friends of the Columbus Lions will be able to get live game up-dates as Columbus will try and de-rail the Carolina Speed in a Sunday matinee match-up.
Southern Indoor Football League Stories from April 29, 2011
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