PIFL Lehigh Valley Steelhawks

Steelhawks Fall Three Yards Short

Published on July 2, 2013 under Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Lehigh Valley Steelhawks News Release


Bethlehem, PA: The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks finish the season 7-6 after suffering a heart breaking loss in an intense game with the Richmond Raiders (8-5). The Raiders will be moving on to play in the PIFL championship next weekend. They will face the Abmer who defeated the Albany Panthers last evening as well.

The Steelhawks jumped out to an early lead after QB Adam Bednarik hit WR Troy Pascley on the opening play from scrimmage for a 40 yd touchdown. Not to be left out, Lehigh Valley's defensive leader LB Terence Thomas sacked the Richmond quarterback in the end zone for the safety; making the Steelhawks early lead to 8-0. The lead was extended after DB John Kennedy came up with an interception on the next Richmond possession. The Hawks capitalized on the forced turnover when Bednarik found WR Torieal Gibson for the touchdown. But the Raider's began to battle back, creating stops and forcing low percentage field goal attempts.

Lehigh Valley regained some of the momentum to start the second quarter- K Jon Striefsky connected on a 51 yard field goal, and the defense stepped up on the next series, getting a big fourth down stop. The teams traded scores until DB Chris Johnson got an interception with 4 seconds remaining in the half. The score at half time was Steelhawks 28, Raiders 21.

The third quarter kicked off with some more fireworks as Thomas made another big play, coming up with a sack on third down. When Richmond attempted a long field goal on the next play, Kennedy had a great return as the kick fell short, returning the ball to the Richmond 15 yard line. The game became more of a back and forth battle after that. The Raiders kept battling and by the end of the third quarter the score was tied at 28.

The end of the contest created an edge of your seat type of moments. With 1:53 remaining and the Raiders needing to convert the fourth down, the Steelhawk defense came up huge when DL Eddie Smith sacked QB Warren Smith. Lehigh Valley's Bednarik found WR Tom Gilson, who made a great bobbling catch in the end zone on the next possession; making the score in the Steelhawks favor, 40-36 and leaving 54 seconds left in the game.

As Richmond attempted their go ahead scoring drive, DB Alex Ajayi broke up a potential touchdown catch on second down. But the Raiders would not be denied. They took the lead when WR Hakeem Moore made a spectacular diving catch in the end zone for a 43-40 lead. Richmonds kicker T.C. Stevens put the lead to four when his uno attempt on the ensuing kickoff was successful. This left just 30 seconds on the clock for the Steelhawks to drive the length of the field, needing a touchdown to win. The game would come down to the last play. With one second left on the clock and the ball on the Raiders 17 yard line, Bednarik completed a short pass to Tom Gilson who began breaking for the end zone. He would make it all the way to the three yard line before a Raider defender brought him down and the final whistle on the Steelhawks fantastic 2013 season sounded.

The organization could not be more proud of this team, and look forward to building towards the 2014 PIFL season. "It was a disappointing way to end the season," stated Steelhawks General Manager Mike Clark. "We truly thought we had them, but I even with the disappointment of coming up three yards short, I am beaming with pride. Our team fought hard, and I want to thank these players, our coaching staff, the media back home, our partners, fantastic fans who have supported us all year, and especially would like to thank the ENTIRE Lehigh Valley. We will be back with a vengeance in 2014!"

Fans are reminded that 2014 season ticket deposits are now being accepted. You can reserve your seats by calling the Steelhawks front office at 610-282-3100. For more information on the Steelhawks please visit the teams website at www.lvsteelhawks.com.

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Professional Indoor Football League Stories from July 2, 2013


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