Peach Belt Southern Supremacy On The Line
May 13, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Columbus Lions News Release
COLUMBUS, GA (May 13, 2011) - In arguably the biggest indoor game of the year, the defending champion Columbus Lions (7-1) travel to Albany to take on the current SIFL Southern Division leading Albany Panthers (7-0) for a battle of first place.
Since losing to Albany one month ago, the Columbus offense has made a 180-degree turn from that game averaging 74 points/game leading to their current five-game winning streak. Getting much of the credit has been the stellar play of the offense and SIFL Week 8 Offensive Player of the Week Chris McCoy. Top five in many of the SIFL's passing categories; McCoy has once again been most impressive completing 64.9 percent of his passes along with tossing 42 touchdowns already surpassing his total from a season ago.
After letting the offense steal some of the limelight over the past month, it was the defense that re-emerged in the 81-32 victory over Fayetteville. The Lions defense forced six turnovers including three of which that were returned for touchdowns, two of which by SIFL Week 8 Defensive Player of the Week Guesly Dervil. Dervil came up with a 36-yard interception return and a 30-yard fumble recovery for touchdowns.
Thanks to some additions and subtractions, the biggest change in play that has unsurprisingly gone unnoticed for champs is the play upfront by the offensive line giving the passing and rushing game a boost. "It's an offensive game and most people forget about those guys up front," says Columbus Lions Head Coach Jason Gibson. "It has given our club a huge boost in the red-zone where running the ball becomes extremely valuable."
Going into Saturday, Albany should be well rested coming off a bye week as well as having had played six games compared to the Lions eight. Back on April 30th, the Panthers defeated the Richmond Raiders behind a big eight-touchdown passing performance from quarterback Cecil Lester.
Offensively, the 2010 SIFL MVP has enjoyed a bit of a revival as coming into the start of the season Lester had been demoted to second string behind Albany State grad A.J. McKenna. This year, Lester's numbers are on par with his MVP season from a year ago already having tossed 31 touchdowns, completing 59 percent of his passes, along with cutting his interception rate in half.
Defensively the Panthers are led by a veteran secondary holding opponents to just 35 points/game and just 170 yards through the air. Two weeks ago in their victory over the Raiders, defensive back Demetrie McCray nabbed three interceptions while defensive back mate Levance Richmond grabbed two of his own.
Saturday's game is not only crucial from a divisional standpoint for both clubs, but when looking ahead the Panthers next three games all come on the road (5/21 @ Alabama, 5/28 @Richmond, 6/4 @ Columbus) while in contrast the Lions close out the year in the Columbus Civic Center (5/26 vs. Alabama, 6/4 vs. Albany, 6/11 vs. Carolina).
If Columbus can do what only one other club has done in the past two years and escape the Albany Civic Center with a victory, if both clubs win out it may very well come down to a rubber match set for June 4th.
Fans can tune into this weekend's game by logging on to www.columbuslions.net and clicking on the Listen Live icon. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. and friends of the Lions on Facebook can follow along with live updates from the game.
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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from May 13, 2011
- Steel Streak Ends In Shootout At Erie - Trenton Steel
- Peach Belt Southern Supremacy On The Line - Columbus Lions
- Panthers Plan "Whiteout" on Toyota of Albany Night - Albany Panthers
- SIFL Preview Capsules - SIFL
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