Why the Sharks Will Lift the Trophy

On Monday night, the Jacksonville Sharks (12-1) and the Columbus Lions (10-3) will play in the inaugural NAL Championship Game. While the Lions are a bit lucky to be here, the Sharks did not get to this game by accident.

First, their offense. Tommy Grady, one of two big AFL holdovers, had an MVP start to the season, completing 62.8% of his passes for 1,060 yards and 23 touchdowns in less than five games before suffering a season-ending injury against Monterrey. Damien Fleming came in relief, and finished out the season showing off a dual threat. Fleming ran for 77 yards and four scores while completing 65.2% of his passes for 1,047 yards and 18 touchdowns. During the times where Fleming’s game struggled, Jacksonville relied on MVP candidate Derrick Ross in the backfield. Ross literally ran away towards a rushing title after a 540-yard, 25-touchdown season. Despite changing coaches from Mark Stoute to AFL legend and coordinator Siaha Burley midseason, the team didn’t miss a beat as far as talent on this side of the ball.

Second, their defense. Three players registered at least six sacks during the season (Jeremiah Price 9.0, Keith Bowers 8.5, Dalyou Pierson 6.5), as there were very few quarterbacks who got comfortable in the pocket against the Sharks. When the front three weren’t completely clicking, the secondary more than did the job. Jacksonville matched their sack total with their interception total, registering 34 apiece. Marvin Ross and Charlie Hunt were the two main ball hawks, combining for 15 picks. When the two of them weren’t grabbing passes, David Hyland anchored the secondary and controlled the middle of the field breaking up a team-high nine passes of his own (yes, he did catch three interceptions for good measure). All of this led to the Sharks leading the league in scoring defense, giving up only 24.9 points per game, more than eight points fewer than their nearest opponent.

Finally, these two teams have met before. Way back on April 29, the Lions traveled to the Shark Tank in what was already considered a playoff preview. Darren Daniel started the game for Columbus, and led his team to a surprise 17-7 lead early in the second quarter.

However, Damien Fleming shook off a bad start and completed 16 of 22 passes for 190 yards and four scores. Jacksonville’s defense also forced a fumble and a crucial fourth-down stop to earn a come from behind, 37-28 win.

Even when the Sharks are down, they’re rarely ever out, and Fleming has matured quite a bit since that Week 7 meeting. Since then, Fleming’s gained a better knowledge of the offense and better control of the ball when it’s in his hands. With the powerful receiving corps in place, and a very healthy defense, Jacksonville will want to eliminate any doubt and prevent another Columbus miracle. Monday night should be title night in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Sharks Stay Unbeaten, Clinch #1 Seed

The Jacksonville Sharks, as they’ve done all season, got off to a slow start against the High Country Grizzlies. But this time, it was very short lived, as Jacksonville took the penultimate step to an undefeated regular season. At the final horn, the Sharks ran out 66-18 winners.

High Country started a new quarterback, Reed Gurchiek, and Jacksonville gave him a true Shark Tank welcome, sacking him on the first play. The drive, which featured two fumbled snaps, ended with a 38-yard field goal attempt going short.

Darien Fleming, however, had early issues of his own. His first drive ended with a Dexter Jackson interception in the end zone. The Grizzlies still struggled thanks to another fumbled snap, but Gurchiek recovered to make a deep pass to Daron Clark. The touchdown eluded them, as the drive ended with a 21-yard field goal.

It would be the last time High Country would score for more than 25 minutes.

In that time, Jacksonville rattled off 34 straight points. Derrick Ross scored twice and came up short a third time, Micheaux Robinson and Charlie Hunt netted an interceptions as part of three turnovers, and three different receivers caught a touchdown pass. Emughedi Umodu, who just signed with the team mid-week, was one of the three.

When Reed Gurchiek found Daron Clark for a 30-yard touchdown pass, and Clark handled a bad snap to run in for a two-point conversion right before halftime, the game was long over at 34-11.

Again, it would be the last time High Country would score for more than 25 minutes.

Jason Boltus came in to start the second half, and he only needed the third quarter to find his rhythm. The defense also made plays in the frame, as newly-married Dale Pierson featured on the first of consecutive sacks, and Jacksonville earned the stop on the ensuing 4th-and-24.

The Grizzlies did score for the final time of the night in the fourth quarter on a Reed Gurchiek run, but after Boltus threw his first touchdown pass as a shark to Maurice Williams. As part of the Sharks scoring the final 25 points of the night, Williams scored again. Derrick Ross also had a long, 22-yard touchdown run, extending his grip on the rushing title.

To round out the offense, Devin Wilson scampered into the end zone. On defense, another debutant, Peter Tulloch, made his mark on the scoresheet with an interception. For special teams, Nick Belcher continued his assault on the kicking record books, hitting two deuces during the scoring run.

With the win, the Sharks are now one game away from starting their NAL tenure with a perfect regular season. The last opponent standing in the way of history is the Monterrey Steel, in a game that could also serve as a semifinal preview. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, at Veterans Memorial Arena.

Grizzlies Can’t Keep Momentum, Lose to Jacksonville

The High Country Grizzlies (2-2) couldn’t capitalize on the momentum of their 94-6 win over the Dayton Wolfpack, as the Jacksonville Sharks (4-0) gave them a dose of their own medicine in a 68-21 home loss.

Jacksonville started out the same way High Country did last week, scoring early and often. Quarterback Stephen Panasuk got off to the worst possible start, as he threw an interception to Charlie Hunt, who returned it for a touchdown and the first score of the game. Not long after, Sharks quarterback Tommy Grady found Darryl Thompson in the end zone to extend the deficit to 13-0 at the end of the first qurater.

Jacksonville would not only continue the theme throughout the first half, but increase the pace in the second quarter, as the only mistake committed was the lone missed extra point. Mo Williams and Cornelius Lewis would both score through the air and on the ground, respectively, and High Country quickly found themselves down 27-0. In fact, Grady found Williams open deep again, then engineered a quick scoring drive finishing with the pair’s third scoring connection of the game, and the halftime deficit was 41-0.

Showing a small manner of fight, the Grizzlies came out and scored the first touchdown of the third quarter thanks to a combination of forcing much-needed turnovers on defense and Panasuk starting to gain a rhythm. The good news was that both Malachi Jones and Undra Hendrix found the end zone to get on the board, but the bad news is not only did the Sharks have the answer for each score, but DB/LB Darius Lipford had to be taken off the field due to injury early on in the second half.

Down 47-15 after the second score, Jacksonville went on to score 21 unanswered points despite further defensive toughness (including a Daron Clark interception, playing defense for the injured Lipford). While Hendrix scored the last touchdown of the night, his second of the game, it was too little, too late for the Grizzlies, who drop to .500 on the season. Jacksonville remains one of the two undefeated teams in the NAL, the other being Monterrey.

High Country will be able to rest up and heal from this week’s battle, as they have a bye week before traveling to Columbus to take on the Lions on Saturday, April 22.