Post by Banana Cat on Jun 3, 2011 12:56:33 GMT -5
The two best teams in the SIFL go at it for round three (round four will be in the playoffs, but should be the title game).
From Oursportscentral:
From Oursportscentral:
Lions Square Off With Panthers For Southern Division Crown
June 3, 2011
COLUMBUS, GA (June 3, 2011) - In arguably the biggest game of the indoor season, this Saturday the 2010 SIFL Champion Columbus Lions (9-1) play host to the Albany Panthers (9-1) with the winner taking home the Southern Division championship along with clinch the top-seed in the eastern conference playoffs.
Both the Albany Panthers and Columbus Lions have handed each other their lone loss of the season. Back April 2nd the Panthers took the first meeting 46-26 thanks to a five touchdown passing performance from quarterback Cecil Lester. Just three weeks ago, Columbus evened up the season series with five passing and two rushing touchdowns from Chris McCoy in route to a 60-56 victory over Albany.
Having already both clinched playoff spots, Albany and Columbus are playing for the right to take home the Southern Division crown and an all-important top-seed in the SIFL's playoffs set to begin in two weeks. For Albany, a win this Saturday will give them their second consecutive division championship while the Lions are hoping to ensure that the winner of the 2011 SIFL Championship must come thru Columbus.
Albany is in the mist of three-game road trip that will conclude this Saturday in Columbus. Last weekend, the Panthers defeated the Richmond Raiders 48-42 on 15-yard touchdown pass from Cecil Lester to Antwone Savage with just 1:58 left ending any hopes of a playoff run for the Raiders.
Columbus comes into the game against Albany after completing a three-game sweep of the Alabama Hammers with 62-27 back on May 26th. 2010 Offensive MVP Chris McCoy grabbed another six touchdowns with three passing touchdowns hauled in by Gerald Gales. Lion's defense held Alabama to just 13 second half points behind seven sacks and two interceptions.
"You can't put it any simpler than this, we don't like them they don't like us," says Columbus Lions Head Coach Jason Gibson. "From a fans perspective this is a game that I wouldn't miss and could potential be a Eastern Conference championship preview."
A couple of key defenders will return for Albany that were either not in uniform and sustained in injury in the last meeting against Columbus, most notably defensive back Levance Richmond. In five quarters of play against Columbus, Richmond has come up with three interceptions including two in the last meeting three weeks ago but mid-way thru that game he suffered a concussion forcing him to miss the rest of that game along with the last two games.
This weekend, Columbus will be without a couple of key defenders. After a leap over the wall that saw him land on the concrete, defensive back Guesly Dervil will miss the rest of the season with a broken bone in his foot. In his place, defensive back and five-year member of the Lions Ramone Nickerson will make his fourth start of the season. Also missing in action will be defensive lineman Chris Bradwell and his sacks, Bradwell signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts late last week.
"They're going to sit there and tell you they didn't have their defensive players the last game we played," Gibson continues. "I'm going to tell you I didn't have our offensive line the first time we played them. So, there's a lot of we-didn't-have/we-didn't have kind of nonsense.
"But we'll find out Saturday. That's usually how it plays out in the field. If you play somebody three times and win two of them, that's the team with the bragging rights."
Columbus and Albany will tee it off at 7:30 p.m.
June 3, 2011
COLUMBUS, GA (June 3, 2011) - In arguably the biggest game of the indoor season, this Saturday the 2010 SIFL Champion Columbus Lions (9-1) play host to the Albany Panthers (9-1) with the winner taking home the Southern Division championship along with clinch the top-seed in the eastern conference playoffs.
Both the Albany Panthers and Columbus Lions have handed each other their lone loss of the season. Back April 2nd the Panthers took the first meeting 46-26 thanks to a five touchdown passing performance from quarterback Cecil Lester. Just three weeks ago, Columbus evened up the season series with five passing and two rushing touchdowns from Chris McCoy in route to a 60-56 victory over Albany.
Having already both clinched playoff spots, Albany and Columbus are playing for the right to take home the Southern Division crown and an all-important top-seed in the SIFL's playoffs set to begin in two weeks. For Albany, a win this Saturday will give them their second consecutive division championship while the Lions are hoping to ensure that the winner of the 2011 SIFL Championship must come thru Columbus.
Albany is in the mist of three-game road trip that will conclude this Saturday in Columbus. Last weekend, the Panthers defeated the Richmond Raiders 48-42 on 15-yard touchdown pass from Cecil Lester to Antwone Savage with just 1:58 left ending any hopes of a playoff run for the Raiders.
Columbus comes into the game against Albany after completing a three-game sweep of the Alabama Hammers with 62-27 back on May 26th. 2010 Offensive MVP Chris McCoy grabbed another six touchdowns with three passing touchdowns hauled in by Gerald Gales. Lion's defense held Alabama to just 13 second half points behind seven sacks and two interceptions.
"You can't put it any simpler than this, we don't like them they don't like us," says Columbus Lions Head Coach Jason Gibson. "From a fans perspective this is a game that I wouldn't miss and could potential be a Eastern Conference championship preview."
A couple of key defenders will return for Albany that were either not in uniform and sustained in injury in the last meeting against Columbus, most notably defensive back Levance Richmond. In five quarters of play against Columbus, Richmond has come up with three interceptions including two in the last meeting three weeks ago but mid-way thru that game he suffered a concussion forcing him to miss the rest of that game along with the last two games.
This weekend, Columbus will be without a couple of key defenders. After a leap over the wall that saw him land on the concrete, defensive back Guesly Dervil will miss the rest of the season with a broken bone in his foot. In his place, defensive back and five-year member of the Lions Ramone Nickerson will make his fourth start of the season. Also missing in action will be defensive lineman Chris Bradwell and his sacks, Bradwell signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts late last week.
"They're going to sit there and tell you they didn't have their defensive players the last game we played," Gibson continues. "I'm going to tell you I didn't have our offensive line the first time we played them. So, there's a lot of we-didn't-have/we-didn't have kind of nonsense.
"But we'll find out Saturday. That's usually how it plays out in the field. If you play somebody three times and win two of them, that's the team with the bragging rights."
Columbus and Albany will tee it off at 7:30 p.m.