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NAL Jacksonville Sharks

Sharks Fall to Columbus Lions on the Road

April 22, 2018 - National Arena League (NAL)
Jacksonville Sharks News Release


COLUMBUS- The Jacksonville Sharks (1-2) lose to the Columbus Lions (2-0) 41-51 in Saturday night's game on the road in Columbus, Georgia. The Lions who suffered their first home loss in 2017 to the Sharks continue to be undefeated in 2018 and earn their first home victory of the season.

Things got interesting very early in the game, as Brandon Behr kicked off for Jacksonville. The kickoff deflected off of a Lions player's foot and was recovered by Behr to give Jacksonville the ball early in the game. Quarterback Ryan Walker was looking to drive down the field, but failed to get points up on the board. The Lions defense intercepted Walker's pass and ran it down the field. Columbus would later take a 7-0 lead over Jacksonville.

On the first play of the second quarter, the Lions threw their second touchdown pass, making it a 14-0 lead over the Sharks. Walker connects to Wide Receiver Antonio Vaughan for a seven yard touchdown to give the Sharks life with just over 10 minutes to go, with the score being 7-14. The Jacksonville defense on the next drive would bend, but wouldn't break, as they allowed a 54-yard field goal from Lions Kicker Lindsey Wolfe to put them up 17-7. The Sharks would start to pick up the momentum from here until the end of the half, scoring two touchdowns and allowing one touchdown. The score at halftime is 21-24 with the Sharks trailing.

To start the second half, the Sharks received the ball and took advantage of it. Wide Receiver Chris Gilchrist couldn't hold onto a pass and it was ruled a fumble and a Columbus recovery. Jacksonville would then block the Columbus Field goal, take over at the Lions 10 yard line, then score and get their first lead of the night from a pass from Walker to Jamar Howard with a 28-24 score. The Lions would score a touchdown to put them back up. On the following kickoff, the ball hit the goal post and Columbus recovered the ball and would take over from the Jacksonville two yard line. From there, the Lions rushed it in for a touchdown to put the Lions up 37-28. Exchanged touchdowns would put the score at 35-44 with the Lions on top coming into the fourth quarter.

At this point, it was all Columbus. In the final minutes of the game, the Lions milked the clock, backing the ball back to their own five yard line on 3rd and 30. After the Lions couldn't get a first down later in the drive, the Sharks took over with less than a minute to go. The Sharks scored a quick touchdown, failed on the two point conversion, and then recovered the onside kick. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to come back and score 10 points to tie the game. The final score of the game was 41-51 with the Columbus Lions getting the win, which makes the Sharks fall to 1-2.

The next Sharks game is in Jacksonville as they take on the Carolina Cobras (2-1) in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena at 7:00 pm (ET) for 90's night.



National Arena League Stories from April 22, 2018


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