Webb, Thomas and Whitlock Bring Home POW Honors On Tuesday, the Southern Indoor Football League recognized Greenville Force quarterback Andrew Webb, Louisiana Swashbucklers defensive back Brandon Thomas and Greenville Force kicker Graham Whitlock as Players of the Week for Week 4. Past Friday, after being down by as much as 17 to the Swashbucklers, Greenville was forced to come from behind and do so in large night from quarterback Andrew Webb. Webb earned his second player of the week nod for his 290 passing yards and five total touchdowns. Completing 24 of 39 passes, Andrew led Greenville to a game-winning touchdown drive with less than eight seconds to spar giving the Force the 57-54 over Louisiana. Also receiving votes for their play on offense were Force fullback Titus Curry along with his teammate wide receiver Isaac West. Curry finished Friday with a pair of rushing touchdowns to go with a 54 receiving yards and one touchdown. West completed the contest against Louisiana grabbing seven receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown. Louisiana Swashbucklers defensive back Brandon Thomas scooped up his second defensive player of the week nod after collecting an SIFL record four interceptions. Thomas also wrapped up four tackles and currently is tops in the SIFL with seven interceptions. Garnering consideration for week five on defense was Swashbucklers teammate Mike English. English may not have gained the POTW, but he managed to go down in the SIFL record books after gathering a league record 10.5 tackles. For special teams, Greenville Force Graham Whitlock earned the award after nailing six extra points and going 1 for 2 in field goal attempts providing Greenville with nine points. This is the second time a member of the Force has received for the 2010 season as returner Octavious Love got the award for his play back in Week 1. This weekend marks the first full action of SIFL football with all five clubs battling it out on the field. On Saturday, the Louisiana Swashbucklers (1-2) will try to exact some revenge from this past weekend as they host the Greenville Force (2-0). The Columbus Lions (1-1) return to action against the North Georgia Bulldogs and the now Skip Foster led Lafayette Wildcatters (0-1) return to action this Saturday as they travel to take on the Albany Panthers (1-0). Fans can follow this week's full slate of SIFL action by logging on to www.southernifl.com and following the live twitter feed.
Bucs Look For Revenge Against Force For the second time in as many weeks, the Louisiana Swashbucklers (1-2) and the Greenville Force (2-0) of the Southern Indoor Football League will square off with the Bucs looking to exact some revenge from last Friday's 57-54 loss to the Force. Despite being up by as much as 17 points, the Swashbucklers squandered their lead through costly missed field goal opportunities (0 for 5) and failed extra point opportunities (3 for 7). For the past two games, Louisiana has been without All-SIFL kicker Tommy Hebert thanks to a leg injury suffered in their season opener against North Texas. In spite of turning the ball over six times, Greenville racked up 366 yards of total offense while controlling the clock for almost half the game. Behind quarterback Andrew Webb's 24 of 39 passing to go with four touchdowns, the Force strung together 23 first downs. Webb earned the SIFL's Week 4 Offensive Player the Week nod, his second garner for the 2010 season. After having the previous week off, both clubs returned to field a bit sloppy committing a combined 24 penalties. Louisiana failed to capitalize on Defensive Player of the Week Brandon Thomas four interceptions to go with a 55 yard kickoff return by Raymond Harris. Coupled with their woes on special teams, the offensive line failed to once again protect their quarterback allowing for Greenville to collect two sacks. Defensively, Greenville has posted solid numbers allowing quarterbacks a completion percentage of only 42.4% and holding opposing offenses to just barely over 50% in the red zone. Even with throwing for 279 yards, For Louisiana to exact some revenge Bartie will have to improve upon his passing performance from Friday night in which he completed just 50% of his passes. The Swashbucklers defense will have the formable challenge of keeping the record-setting Force quarterback, Andrew Webb, contained as defender have been only able sack him once in 79 passing attempts. Webb tagged with the receiving duo of Isaac West and Willie Idlette, Greenville has the SIFL's number one total offense (326 Yds/game). This weekend marks the first full action of SIFL football with all five clubs battling it out on the field. On Saturday, the Louisiana Swashbucklers (1-2) will look to exact a 57-54 loss from this past weekend as they host the Greenville Force (2-0). The Columbus Lions (1-1) return to action as the North Georgia Bulldogs try to bite their way into The Jungle. After having the past two weeks off, the now Skip Foster led Lafayette Wildcatters (0-1) travel to take on the Albany Panthers (1-0) as Foster makes his Wildcatters coaching debut. Fans can follow this week's full slate of SIFL action by logging on to www.southernifl.com and following the live twitter feed.
Wildcatters travel to face the Albany Panthers After three bye weeks in a row, the Lafayette Wildcatters begin a vital two-game road-game stretch in the state of Georgia. First up is the Albany Panthers. Lead by head coach Lucious Davis, the Panthers scored an early season 54-41 bragging rights victory over its in-state rivals, the Columbus Lions. In doing so, they also garnered Player of the Week honors on both Offense and Defense. Quarterback Cecil Lester threw for 311 yards and seven touchdowns hooking up in the endzone with John Harris twice and three times with Clenton Rafe. Rafe quickly became Lester's favorite target finishing the evening with nine catches for 130 yards. Alton Pettway, a high motor defensive lineman who was an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Rams in 2007, contributed a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the win. Arena Football League veteran head coach, Skip Foster, inherits the Lafayette Wildcatters following its opening week 43-29 road game loss to the Greenville Force. No stranger to transitions or expansion campaigns, Foster once led the Tulsa Talons of the AF2 to a championship before becoming the head coach of the Austin Wranglers. Following a three year stint in Texas, Foster went on to serve as Offensive Coordinator with both the Arizona Rattlers and the Columbus Destroyers. "The biggest challenge for the Wildcatters will be getting back in sync after the layoff," said Foster. "Albany is a really good football team that played in the AFL 2 last year, and they played really well together in an opening week victory versus Columbus." The Wildcatters were led in its week one loss by quarterback Bo Bartik, who was 12 of 28 for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Receivers Clarence Cotton (6-84-1), Ryan Scott (3-45-1) and Clyde Edwards (2-44-1) all had touchdown receptions. After this week's game, the Wildcatters will hit the road again on the road on Saturday, April 24 to take on the Columbus Lions. The Wildcatters will open up its home schedule on Saturday, May 1 at the Cajundome against its rival Louisiana Swashbucklers. The home opener will feature a performance by the "Bag of Donuts" band one hour before the game, at halftime and one hour after the game. Practice Clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWqCX-1sT5s
Bulldogs Take To New Heights By Aiming At Lions After the Houston Lightning could not reach an agreement with the Reliant Arena, the Columbus Lions of the Southern Indoor Football League decided to fill that vacant home game with the North Georgia Bulldogs thanks to the advice of a former player. Following much discussion with filling the open date left vacant by the Houston Lightning with possibly the 2011 expansion Augusta Mavericks or a team based out of Florida, the Columbus Lions decided to fill the date with the North Georgia Bulldogs located in Calhoun, GA thanks to the accreditation by former two-year Lions member, Darin Damron. Head Coach Jason Gibson originally placed a call to Darin because he was on the search for some additional offensive lineman. Damron turned Coach Gibson down but the two quickly began talking about what an opportunity it would be for Damron's North Georgia Bulldogs to come down and play the Lions. A number of Bulldogs besides Darin have made the jump to the arena/indoor game including quite a few who were slated to play for the Augusta Mavericks before the franchise decided to wait another year before starting up. "Damron was such a competitor for us the past two seasons he was one of the first names I thought of when it came to helping out on our line," says Columbus Lions Head Coach Jason Gibson. "When he came up with the idea of having the Bulldogs play us instead I quickly got on the horn and made the necessary calls." Once the idea was crossed between both Columbus Lions principal owner John Hargrove and North Georgia Bulldogs founder and co-owner Kacee Smith, the two mapped out a plan that would not only fill this Saturday night's game but formed a partnership that will stand for the next two years. Located in Calhoun, GA, the Bulldogs are a non-profit organization that was started up by founder Kacee Smith when he was just 19 years old. After suffering an injury during a high school all-star game, Smith's chances at collegiate career were pretty much over due to the lack of opportunities. He started the North Georgia Bulldogs in order to help others get an extended chance at potentially having a collegiate career. Four years later, the Bulldogs have become one of the most highly respected semi-pro organizations around the state of Georgia. "Everything we do is for the continuous growth of our program," says North Georgia Bulldogs owner Kacee Smith. "This is a huge deal for us and could potentially separate us from other programs as this will give potential players a chance to look towards the next level." As part of the deal, both organizations have agreed to play an exhibition game in both 2011 and 2012 with a mutually agreed upon date discussed later on down the road. The Lions will also personally notify all players and coaches of the Bulldogs and invite them as guests to all tryouts. Saturday night is "Black-Out Night" as the Lions are trying to raise awareness on domestic violence. Lions players will be donning special black jersey's to be donated immediately following the game. All proceeds from the auction will directly go to Hope Harbour. Be sure to come out early as the CSU theatre department will be bringing the children's book "Junie B. Jones A Monkey Business" to life in the Chattahoochee Suite. The play begins at 5:30 pm and will end promptly by 6:45 pm just in time for Saturday night's kickoff between the North Georgia Bulldogs and the Columbus Lions at 7:30pm. For more information contact the Lions front office at 706-322-3336
Swashbucklers defeat Greenville Force In a seesaw battle between two high flying offenses, the Louisiana Swashbucklers (2-2) of the Southern Indoor Football League defeated the Greenville Force (2-1) 79-52. The Swashbucklers pulled back to .500 thanks in large part to seven passing touchdowns by quarterback Alvin Bartie and two kickoff returns (40, 49) for touchdowns by Raymond Harris. Harris was the all-purpose leader in yards on Saturday collecting 178 yards and four touchdowns. In a quarterback duel, Greenville Force's Andrew Webb and Bucs Bartie combined to throw 13 touchdowns along with 446 passing yards. Webb played a near flawless game completing 20 of 46 passes without throwing an interception. The dynamic quarterback wide receiving duo of Webb and Issac West were back at connecting eight times for 142 yards and five touchdowns. In three games, the pair has hooked up ten touchdowns. Despite only completing 10 of 26 passes, Bartie seemed to knife through the Greenville defense with the long ball with five of his touchdowns coming from 20 yards out or further while finishing the game with an average per completion of 19.7 yards. Throughout the night, Alvin spread the ball evenly as no receiver gathered more than 70 yards receiving. Receiver Marcus Wildridge brought down the most passes grabbing four catches along with three touchdowns. Greenville fell behind early 14-0 after failing to score due to missed field goal, a fumble, and a turnover on downs on three of their first four drives. The Force offense began hitting in high gear midway through the second quarter beginning a string of five consecutive touchdown drives with the final touchdown giving them a 46-41 lead midway through the third. After taking the lead, costly fumbles would stall the Greenville offense for the rest of the evening as the Force only found the end-zone one more time. The Swashbucklers took full advantage of those Force fumbles scoring a touchdown on the ensuing drive on three of the four fumble recoveries. Louisiana's special teams made a dramatic recovery from last week as the club brought in Whitney Hillen to handle the clubs kicking duty. Hillen finished the night 10 of 11 on PAT kicks in addition to nailing a 26 yard field goal. Next week, Louisiana will enjoy a bye-week while the Force get back on the road to take on the Albany Panthers on Sunday April 25th at 5:00 pm. Fans can follow all the league action by following the live twitter feed on www.southernifl.com.
Wildcatters lose in a Shootout The Lafayette Wildcatters (0-2) lost in a shootout to the Albany Panthers (2-0) on Saturday night, April 17, 2010, by the score of 70-64. The game was full of big plays, plenty of back and forth action, and had six lead changes. The Wildcatters opened the scoring with a Bo Bartik touchdown pass to Tony Burks the extra point was good and the Wildcatters lead 7-0. Sean Comisky added a point for the Wildcatters on the kickoff with a rouge to make the score 8-0. Albany would score the next eighteen points and then Andre Kelly sparked the Wildcatters with a kick off return for a touchdown. The Panthers would score again to increase their lead to 26-15 and were looking for more points when Clarence Pendleton intercepted a Cecil Lester pass and returned it for a touchdown to pull the Wildcatters to 22-26. Late in the second quarter the Wildcatters took a 36-32 lead only to see the Panthers score right before the half to take a 40-36 advantage into the halftime break. Bo Bartik who was only 7 of 17 for 100 yards in the first half, came out hot in the second half completing his first nine passes, three of them for touchdowns, helping the Wildcatters to a 55-40 lead. A 45-yard touchdown pass from Cecil Lester to John Harris with 2:52 left in the game pulled the Panthers to within 64-62. Then a defensive stand by the Panthers gave them the ball at the Wildcatters one yard line and Cecil Lester wasted little time putting the Panthers ahead with a one yard touchdown run. The two point conversion was good and the Panthers lead 70-64 with 45 seconds to go. The Wildcatters would drive to the Panthers 15 yard line at the end of the game but three passes into the end zone were incomplete and the Panthers earned their second win of the season. Cecil Lester finished the night 21 of 41 for 412 yards and eight touchdowns. Wildcatter Coach Skip Foster commented after the game, "They're the top team in this league. They are real talented and well coached. Albany is a great football team. We're going to have to work hard to get where they are. We had some positives that we can build on, but the bottom line is we lost the game." The Wildcatters will be back in action next Saturday at the Columbus Lions (2-1) at 6:30 cdt, before coming home for their home opener on May 1st at the Cajundome versus the Louisiana Swashbucklers.
SIFL Hands Out Week 5 Player Accolades The Southern Indoor Football League handed out its weekly player of the week awards with Albany Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester, Columbus Lions linebacker Ryan Babb, and Louisiana Swashbucklers Raymond Harris earning accolades for week five with these three combining to break or tie seven SIFL records. Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester earned his second Offensive Player of the Week award after leading Albany to a 70-64 victory behind his 297 passing yards and nine total touchdowns. Lester went on to collect 404 total yards of offense breaking the previous SIFL record along with his nine touchdowns tying a single game record. Cecil previously earned the POW award back on week three of the season. Falling short on the offensive side of the ball was Greenville Force receiver Isaac West and Louisiana Swashbucklers quarterback Alvin Bartie. Currently the SIFL receiving leader in both receptions and touchdowns, West continued his barrage on opposing defenses grabbing eight receptions for 142 yards and five touchdowns. Bartie led the Swashbucklers to a 79-52 victory over the Force 201 passing yards and eight total touchdowns. Columbus Lions linebacker Ryan Babb earned the Defensive Player of the Week nod for breaking four individual SIFL records on just two plays. Babb celebrated his first two interceptions of the season by returning both for touchdowns (50, 10). His combined 60 yards broke a league record along with taking both back for touchdowns. Earning nods but falling short on the defensive side was Lafayette Wildcatters defensive back Clarence Pendleton and Swashbucklers linebacker Ellis Mead. Pendleton also collected two interceptions as well as returning one for a touchdown. Mead helped spark a Louisiana defense by scooping up two fumbles along with taking one in for a touchdown. Taking home the Special Teams POW for week five is Swashbucklers return specialist Raymond Harris. This past Saturday, Harris took back two touchdowns for scores by combining to gain 117 yards on kickoff returns. Falling short of on special teams was Lions kicker Trey Crum and Wildcatters kicker Sean Comiskey. After winning the special teams POW for both weeks two and three, Crum topped it off by going perfect on his extra point opportunities (12-12 PAT). Comiskey tied a SIFL record already set by Crum by nailing three uno's for the Wildcatters. This weekend, all but one team will return to action as the Lafayette Wildcatters continue their trek through the state of Georgia this time visiting the Columbus Lions this Saturday night at 7:30 pm. The Albany Panthers will look to stay in first place when the Greenville Force comes riding into the Albany Civic Center for a Sunday afternoon matinee.
Lions defeat Wildcatters In front of 4,000 fans on "Military Appreciation Night", the Columbus Lions (3-1) of the Southern Indoor Football League defeated the Lafayette Wildcatters (0-3) 54-26 as five turnovers and four sacks proved too much to overcome. The Columbus Lions defense continued its stingy way keeping Wildcatters quarterback Bo Bartik on the run for majority of the night. The Lions defense collected four interceptions and one fumble with defense back Eddie Ravenell bringing two apiece. Bartik finished the night only completing 16 of 39 passes with only two touchdowns. Columbus also supplied lots of pressure bringing down the Wildcatters QB four times. Defensive Player of the Week Ryan Babb collected his first sack of the season on the way to collecting 4.5 tackles. Behind another strong performance from Lions quarterback Chris McCoy, the Lions offense finished their second consecutive game turnover free. McCoy concluded the night passing for 257 yards and six touchdowns while completing 19 of 37 passes. Not focusing on one main target, the receiving distribution was even with Lions receivers Gerald Gales, Tirone Morris, and Preston McGann all gathering five receptions. The Wildcatters offense never seemed to get in full rhythm in large part to the constant pressure supplied by the Lions defensive frontline. Along with four sacks, the Lafayette could only convert one red-zone opportunity in four tries while also going 1 for 8 on third down chances. Wildcatter's receiver Antonie Burks kept Lafayette within reach with his eight receptions for 95 yards, but the offense could only muster one offensive score in the second half while never getting within 15 points of the Lions. Next week, the Lions will travel to take on the Greenville Force for an early weekend matchup taking place on Friday April 30th while the Wildcatters will host their home opener against the Louisiana Swashbucklers next Saturday on May 1st. For more information, be sure to log on to www.southernifl.com.
Panthers Defeat Force In Dominating Fashion The Albany Panthers (3-0) of the Southern Indoor Football League won in dominating fashion 78-13 over the Greenville Force (2-2) maintaining their first place lead in the SIFL while the Force dropped their second straight. The highly anticipated passing battle between Greenville and Albany was really just a one man show as the Force were without top passing quarterback Andrew Webb. While Webb was out, Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester continued to mince up opposing defenses getting eight total touchdowns while completing 18 of 33 passes for 162 yards. Lester distributed the ball evenly between the receiving trio of Robert Kilow, John Harris, and Antwontis Cutts with all three grabbing six receptions apiece. Both Kilow and Cutts collected three touchdowns while Harris brought down two as well. That receiving trip received majority of the action as the club was without their top receiver Clenton Rafe and his seven touchdowns. Without Webb, quarterback Mark Logan was forced to step in and he struggled mightily as the Panthers defense accumulated four interceptions on their way to holding Logan to a 10 for 31 passing night. Despite missing his top quarterback tandem, elite Greenville wide receiver Isaac West continued to dazzle rounding up four receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. The Force offense never appeared to get in a groove with the club only reaching the end zone for the first time late in the second quarter. By that time the club was already in a 26-point hole, which ended up getting deeper as Lester knifed through the Greenville defense. Albany had an improved performance from their special teams unit. After a dismal performance from their kicking game last weekend against Lafayette, the Panthers elected to replace Andrew Jensen and hand the kicking duties to Juan Bongarra. In light of missing his first two extra point attempts, Juan rebounded nicely connecting on 8 of 11 extra point attempts and even adding two uno's. The Force will have a short upcoming week as they will re-new their rivalry between the Columbus Lions (3-1) this Friday night at Bi-Lo Center with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Albany will have the next week off before once again hosting the Lafayette Wildcatters (0-3) on Saturday May 8th. For all the action from around the Southern Indoor Football League, be sure to log on to www.southernifl.com and follow the live twitter feed as well as the newly implemented live scoreboard updated every 30 seconds.
SIFL Names Week 6 Players of the Week The Southern Indoor Football League handed out its weekly Player of the Week awards with Columbus Lions quarterback Chris McCoy, Albany Panthers linebacker Steve Morrison along with his teammate kicker Juan Bongarra earning accolades for their play in Week 6. In just his second start as Lions quarterback, Chris McCoy earned the Offensive Player of the Week by leading Columbus by completing 19 of 37 passes for 257 yards and six touchdowns. Saturday's 54-26 Columbus victory over Lafayette was McCoy's second consecutive turnover free game, which happened to be in front of over 2,000 military personnel and basic trainees in on "Military Appreciation Night." The night served as great significance for Chris as he previously served and played for the Navy Academy. Others who fell by the wayside were Albany Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester and Columbus Lions wide receiver Gerald Gales. Already a two-time offensive winner, Lester continued to blossom this past weekend connecting on 18 of 37 passes for 162 yards and eight total touchdowns. Lion's wide-out Gerald Gales brought down 5 receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown in the Lions victory. Albany Panthers linebacker Steve Morrison received the Defensive Player of the Week for gathering three tackles and one interception returned for a touchdown sparking the Panthers 78-13 smashing of Greenville on Sunday. Already up by 27 at the start of the second half, Morrison picked off Force QB Mark Logan returning it easily for a Albany touchdown taking away any momentum Greenville was looking to gain on their first drive. Earning nods but falling short on defense was a pair of Lions defensive back teammates in Eddie Ravenell and Damian Daniels. In two games against both clubs from Louisiana, Ravenell has been a terror in the secondary collecting six interceptions including two from this past Saturday night against Lafayette. His teammate Damian Daniels also earned a nod by collecting four tackles and one interception. This week Special Teams Player of the Week nod belongs to Albany Panthers kicker Juan Bongarra. After going through a number of kicking difficulties to begin the season, Albany signed Juan Bongarra mid-week and on Sunday Juan pitched in with 10 points including going 8 of 10 on PAT attempts while nailing his first two uno's of the season. Also garnering attention on special teams was Lafayette Wildcatters kicker Sean Comiskey. This past weekend Comiskey set and SIFL record for the longest field goal (50) at the same time as connecting on 2-3 PATS finishing the night with a total of 8 points. The Panthers will enjoy the next week off while Columbus will travel on Friday to take on the Greenville Force (2-2). Much of this week's action will be focused on the Lafayette Wildcatters (0-3) return home for there home opener in search of their first win in the battle of "I-10" when the Louisiana Swashbucklers (2-2) come calling on Saturday night. Be sure to check out all this weekend's action by logging on to www.southernifl.com and following the live twitter feed and the newly implemented live scoreboard.
Albany Sweeps Player of the Week Awards for Week 8 The Southern Indoor Football League handed out its weekly Player of the Week honors and the Albany Panthers swept all three with Antwontis Cutts, Alton Pettway, and Juan Bongarra winning this weeks awards. Its hard to get much press in Albany when two of your receiving mates, John Harris and Clenton Raffe, rank top five in the SIFL in receptions. Added to the fact your club inked receiver Antwone Savage mid-week, but Antwontis Cutts made a name for himself earning Offensive Player of the Week with his nine receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers 42-26 victory. Earning consideration for his play was Panthers quarterback Cecil Lester and wide receiver Clenton Raffe. Already a three time POTW winner, Lester kept his stellar 2010 season going last Saturday completing 26 of 48 passes for 230 yards and six total touchdowns. Raffe added seven receptions to his team leading 26 while also finding his way into the end zone against Lafayette. Claiming this week's Defensive Player of the Week is Panthers defensive lineman Alton Pettway. This award is Pettway's second garner after getting the award in Week 2. This past Saturday, Alton brought down two sacks in the win over Lafayette bringing his season total to 4.5, just one shy of the league leader. Receiving notice but falling short were defensive backs Clarence Pendleton of the Wildcatters and Lavance Richmond of the Panthers. Pendleton was trying to defend his award after claiming to it in Week 7 with three interceptions. In the loss the Panthers, Clarence wrapped up seven tackles while Richmond was trying to cement his first award of the season by gathering team high 5.5 tackles. Taking home his second Special Teams Player of the Week award is Panthers kicker Juan Bongarra. Since making his debut for the club back in Week 6, Bongarra has solved Albany's kicking woes including another stellar performance last Saturday night of which included going 4 of 6 in PAT attempts and nailing two uno's. All five members of the Southern Indoor Football League will be in action with the week kicking off on Saturday in Greenville and Albany where the Force (2-3) will try to defend their turf against the Columbus Lions (4-1) and exert some payback while the new head coach Michael Warren of the Louisiana Swashbucklers (2-3) will try to right the ship against the first place Albany Panthers (4-0). Finishing out the week, the Lafayette Wildcatters (1-4) return home to take on the North Texas Crunch (0-1) in hopes of landing another win in their new digs, the Cajun Dome. You can track all the action by logging on to www.southernifl.com and following the live twitter feed as well as the live scoreboard feature.
