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PIFL Lehigh Valley Steelhawks

Steelhawks Head to Trenton for National Conference Championship

July 2, 2014 - Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL)
Lehigh Valley Steelhawks News Release


Bethlehem, PA: The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (6-6) will make their third straight playoff appearance this weekend when they make the short trip to New Jersey to take on the Trenton Freedom (8-4) in the 2014 PIFL Semi-Finals/National Conference Finals. This will be the fourth time these teams will meet this season - the Steelhawks won the two games played in the Lehigh Valley, while the Freedom took the game in Trenton.

The Steelhawks are coming off an exciting comeback victory over the Richmond Raiders in which they exploded for a franchise high 37 points in the fourth quarter (previous quarter scoring high of 35 points in 2012 win over Reading). QB Shane McSweeny has proven he is a dual threat out of the backfield. In just three starts, and limited time under center, he has thrown for 692 yards on 63 of 95 attempts (66% completion rate) and 16 touchdowns. On the ground he has accumulated 183 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Lehigh Valley's offense struggled early in the season with a rotating cycle of wide outs. But McSweeny has found a more consistent receiving core with Brandon Renford (49 catches for 567 yds, 13 tds), Richie Martin (44 catches for 482 yds, 10 tds), and Chris Schubert (20 catches for 214 yds, 4 tds) all having played the last four games. With this consistency the Steelhawks have scored at least 50 points in the past three games after not having scored more than 49 points up to that point.

Defensively the Steelhawks are led by DB Dwayne Hollis (66 tackles, 9 ints, 12 pbus), who has been dangerous on special teams as well (639 all purpose yds, 3 tds on fg returns, 1 kr td). The Hawks other special team weapon has been K Michael Barnard, Week 14 Vidswap.com Special Teams Player of the Week. In last week's win over Richmond, Barnard scored 21 points - including the teams first 14 points. He went 5 for 5 on PAT attempts, 4 of 6 on field goal attempts, and also hit four Uno's.

The Steelhawks defense will be up against an offense that is used to producing yards. Trenton relies on a strong rushing attack that has put up league best numbers in several categories (yds/rush, rush yds, rushing tds). QB Warren Smith (364 rush yds, 13 tds) and FB Melik Brown (361 rush yds, 15 tds) are second and third respectively in the league in total rush yards. Smith has also thrown for 2,589 yards on a 64% completion rate and 46 touchdowns. Containing these backfield threats will be key for Lehigh Valley.

The Freedom's defense leaders include LB Jefferey Morgan (46 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tfl, 1 int) and DL Gerrard Bryant (18.5 tfl, 28.5 tackles). Trenton's 33 sacks on the year is third best in the league, Bryant's 10.5 sacks is good for fourth. The Steelhawks offensive line has been much more solid the past couple weeks. Against a Richmond team that leads the league in sacks, they didn't give up a single sack.

While Trenton has the better record coming into the game, they have lost their last two games and their other two losses on the year have come at the hands of the Steelhawks. Lehigh Valley picked up a huge win over rival Richmond Raiders, a matchup that always creates an intense game, to get into the playoffs. The Steelhawks are the only team repeating from last season's PIFL playoffs.

This weekend's game is Saturday night at 7:00pm EST. Check for score updates on the Steelhawks Facebook and Twitter accounts. The PIFL website and Facebook page should also have updates. The winner will advance to the PIFL Championship game to face the winner of the other Semi-Final game featuring the Nashville Venom and Columbus Lions. The game will be played the weekend of July 10th in the city of the team with the best record.

Keep checking for the latest news and events from the Steelhawks! For further information please call Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Clark at (610) 282-3100, or visit our website at www.LVSteelhawks.com for the latest Steelhawks news! Tickets for the last regular season home game are available! Reserve your seat now by calling the Steelhawks office at 610-282-310.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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