Richmond Raiders Coach Says Team Is Ahead of Last Year
March 2, 2012 - Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Richmond Raiders News Release
The Richmond Raiders will face a formidable foe in their season opener against the Columbus Lions on March 10th at the Coliseum. The Lions won their league title in 2009 and were runners up in 2011. Moreover, last year the Raiders played on the Lions home turf, and lost.
So this year the team has been working hard to prepare for meeting a tough Lions team. Head Coach James Fuller said, "We are ahead of where we were last year at this point in time. We've made improvements in some positions, which ought to help make us more successful, and last year against Columbus we had some quarterback issues that we do not anticipate this year."
Last year's quarterback at the beginning of the season was former Virginia Tech star, Bryan Randall, who was sidelined early on due to a knee injury. Fuller was not happy with the performance of Randall's backup and brought in Antwon Young with four games left to go. Young, who played college ball at Villanova, was able to get up to speed and play in the final two and a half games.
In his first appearance coming off the bench Young nearly engineered a second half comeback on the road at Carolina, but the Raiders' hopes were thwarted by a field goal on the last play of the game. After playing well in his first start against the Albany Panthers, Young led the Raiders to two straight victories, avenging the loss to the Carolina Speed at home and battering the Fayetteville Force in a season final that turned into an 88 to 6 romp in which he completed 20 of 36 passes for 266 yards and seven TDs. He also rushed for 72 yards on only four carries, scoring two touchdowns in the process. In that game the Raiders scored touchdowns on 12 of their 14 possessions and set a franchise record for points in a quarter (37), points in a half (58), and for points in a game.
Young is backed up by a strong competitor out of Moorehouse College, James Stedman, but not surprisingly is expected to start at quarterback against Columbus. Raiders' fans are hoping for a continuation of the high level performances that ended the 2011 season.
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Professional Indoor Football League Stories from March 2, 2012
- Lions Pick-Up Two More On Defense - Columbus Lions
- Richmond Raiders Coach Says Team Is Ahead of Last Year - Richmond Raiders
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