Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 2018 Season Preview

Leigh Valley were the favorites to play in the inaugural NAL title game last season. They even held a 22-point lead over the Columbus Lions in the NAL semifinal. Unfortunately, they could not maintain that lead and didn’t get the opportunity to play in the title game.

Their road to the title this season will be a much tougher one. They will have to play their long-time rival Lions several times in both Columbus, GA and in Allentown, PA and will also have to play the defending champions Jacksonville Sharks twice – once in Jacksonville and once in Allentown, PA.

They will also face a third tough opponent in the expansion Carolina Cobras. They have several players from the Wichita Falls Nighthawks team, including 2016 and 2017 Indoor Football League MVP quarterback Charles McCullum and two receivers in Tyron Laughinghouse and Jordan Jolly. Carolina will also be coached by former Nighthawks head coach Billy Back.

Not only do their opponents propose a challenge. Their roster does, as well. Wide receiver Darius Prince, who was named ArenaBowl XXX MVP with the Philadelphia Soul, will remain with the Soul in 2018. Another star receiver in Warren Oliver Jr. signed with the Duke City Gladiators of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). On defense, Eddie Davis III, who recorded seven interceptions in four games, is with the Sharks.

The biggest blow of all comes at the quarterback position. 2017 NAL MVP and Steelhawks quarterback Warren Smith Jr is with the Washington Valor or the Arena Football League (AFL).

Not all is lost, however. They did sign a talented running back in Undra Hendrix II. In 2017 with the High Country Grizzlies, he rushed for 298 yards and 12 touchdowns, both second in the league behind Derrick Ross. Wide receiver Brandon Renford, who recorded 546 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2017,  will also be returning.

Lehigh Valley kicks off their season against the same team that ended their last, the Columbus Lions, on April 13 in Columbus, GA. Their first home game will be on April 21 when they host the expansion Maine Mammoths at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Down, But Not Out

As the upcoming 2018 season rapidly approaches, the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks will be playing without the aid of several key aspects. The Steelhawks have lost two wide receivers in Warren Oliver Jr and Darius Prince and defensive back Eddie Davis III this off-season.

The losses of those three players will affect the strength and aggressiveness of the Steelhawks moving toward the season’s beginning. Veteran Quarterback Warren Smith Jr. will be affected the most out of any player.

Smith lost two of his best wide receivers, who combined for a total of 1,270 receiving yards last season. The combined receiving yards of Oliver and Prince, made up 65 percent of Smith’s 1,953 passing yards in 2017.

As for the future careers of the three players, Oliver Jr. signed with the Duke City Gladiators of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF), Eddie Davis III signed with the Jacksonville Sharks, and Darius Prince told Inside the Arena back in  September that he will play with the Philadelphia Soul for 2018. 

“The future is with the Soul or higher,” he told Stephen Ur. “Lehigh [Valley] is a great organization, but it was a platform to get to a higher level such as the Soul or CFL/NFL.”

Warren Oliver Jr.

Warren Oliver Jr. will move on from the Steelhawks to continue his career with the Duke City Gladiators, members of the Champions Indoor Football league. He will leave the Steelhawks after having a solid 2017 campaign, appearing in all 10 of the team’s games last season.

He had a total of 552 receiving yards. He averaged 55.2 receiving yards per game and scored a total of 15 touchdowns.

Darius Prince

Prince left the Steelhawks to become a member of the Philadelphia Soul prior to ArenaBowl XXX. Prince had an incredible 2017 season with the Steelhawks, as he tacked on a total of 718 receiving yards. He compiled an average of 71.8 receiving yards per game, and had a season total of 20 touchdowns.

He also scored two touchdowns in ArenaBowl XXX for the Soul back on Aug. 26. Philadelphia won their second consecutive title and Prince was named the game’s MVP.

Eddie Davis III

Davis will move on to playing with the NAL’s Jacksonville Sharks, after only playing in four games for the Steelhawks in the 2017 season. Davis III compiled an impressive total of seven interceptions in four games with the team.

Where does the roster and team stand at now?

With the loss of Oliver, Prince, and Davis, the Steelhawks have some off-season work to complete. Even though they just lost three players, the team still has Warren Smith Jr., Brandon Renford, Tommy Dover, Rodney Hall and Undra Hendrix II.

Hendrix was signed this off-season, after he spent the  2017 season with the High Country Grizzlies, former NAL members. Hendrix played in all 10 games compiling an average of 29.8 yards a game. He also scored a total of 12 touchdowns.

Renford remains as the only star wide receiver on the Steelhawks team. He compiled a total of 552 receiving yards and a total of 14 touchdowns on the season. He averaged 55.4 receiving yards per game.

Smith will return to the team, as their veteran quarterback. Smith played in all 10 games, with 169 completed passing yards in 256 passing attempts. He had a total of eight interceptions within the 256 passing attempts. He passed for 1,953 yards, and compiled 56 touchdowns, and a bold average of 195.3 passing yards per game.

Dover and  Hall will both return to defense for the 2018 season. Hall  had seven interceptions,  two of which were returned for touchdowns, as he played all 10 games last season. Dover had eight sacks last season, and he also played in all 10 games, as well.

The Future of the Steelhawks

Even with the loss of significant leaders, including  head coach Chris Thompson, the Steelhawks could still manage to be successful. New head coach Bob Kohler has already began the search for new players to fill in the empty roster voids.

If the right signings are made, the team could get back on the path of success. The impact Davis, Prince, and Oliver made was huge, but the team will have to overcome the painful loss of those players.

Kohler will use his 40 plus years of coaching to bring in new and experienced players, and will also rely Smith Jr. to “fly” the Steelhawks to success.

The league schedule has yet to be released, but according to multiple sources, the season will begin in April and end in August. This is a different look from last season, when the season ran from March to July.

Darius Prince, King of ArenaBowl XXX

With a 22-point lead over the Columbus Lions, the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were well on their way to the inaugural National Arena League championship game. Unfortunately, the Lions were able to come all the way back and pull off the upset in a 52-50 victory.

The loss hurt wide receiver Darius Prince. “I felt it was a game we should have won,” he said, “We played great for the first three quarters but when you can’t put a whole game together, that is what happens. Columbus wanted it more and they showed it.”

Columbus would fall to the Jacksonville Sharks in the National Arena League championship game on July 10 and the season was over. Prince wasn’t done playing football, however. The Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League brought him in for a tryout and by July 25, he was a member of the team.

Just a month and one day later, Prince and the Soul were in ArenaBowl XXX. Prince would get his  chance at a title just two months after falling short in the NAL. He wanted to be sure there would be a different result this time around.

“I was just trying to prep my mind for the biggest game in my life thus far,” he said. “I’ve never played on a stage this high before. [I] knew the atmosphere would be something I never experienced before. I just tried to calm myself, play football and have fun.

“At the end of the day that’s what we are here for so I told myself to just let the game come to me and play the game like I know how to,” he said.

Down 20-7 nearing halftime, the Soul were down, but not out. “Nobody was down. Players and coaches were just trying to stay positive and keep the spirit high,” Prince said. “Not taking anything away from [the] Tampa [Bay Storm], but at that point they scored on a missed field goal that was returned for a touchdown, a receiving touchdown and that interception.

“You take the missed field goal and interception away, it’s a 7-7 game,” he went on. “The game of arena is so fast that anything can happen. We knew we would get the ball back after that go down and score to make the game closer. We have the best defense in the league and we knew that if they could get another stop we could make it happen on offense.”

Philadelphia scored at the end of the half and found themselves down 20-14. They dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Storm 28-7. They would go on to win by a final score of 44-40, winning their second consecutive ArenaBowl title.

Due to his performance (five catches, 27 yards, two touchdowns), Prince was named ArenaBowl XXX MVP.

“It’s a surreal feeling. There were so many other teammates well deserving of this award,” Prince said. “If you told me back on July 25 when I signed I would be the Arena Bowl XXX MVP, I’d probably look at you like you were crazy.

“It’s just the craziest feeling ever to be named MVP. This may be a individual award but this wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for my coaches and teammates. They deserve a lot of credit. To take a rookie like myself and prep me for two big games at the end of the season wasn’t easy,” he went on. “Watching film with me in our off time, helping me read coverages as I’m running my routes, coaching me up at practice, talking to me on the sidelines during games. It wasn’t always the offensive guys, either. Some of our defensive backs would help me and coach me up after I run a route against them.

“That’s what makes this team special. We want to win as a team, nobody plays for themselves. We all buy into what coach is selling us. So I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have played the game I played. I wouldn’t of been prepared for it the way I was without them.”

Prince also said he wouldn’t be returning to the Steelhawks for the 2018 season. “The future is with the Soul or higher,” he said. “Lehigh [Valley] is a great organization, but it was a platform to get to a higher level such as the Soul or CFL/NFL.”

Philadelphia Soul Beat Baltimore Brigade, Advance to ArenaBowl XXX

The Philadelphia Soul hosted the Baltimore Brigade at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday night. The winner would advance to ArenaBowl XXX.

After Philadelphia got on the board, Baltimore made it a 7-6 game with a touchdown from Reggie Gray. The Soul would take a 13-6 lead with a touchdown from Dan Raudabaugh to Shaun Kauleinamoku. Gray’s second touchdown of the game tied the game at 13 at the end of one.

The Soul took the lead back when Raudabaugh found Darius Reynolds for a touchdown. Baltimore tied the game at 20 with a touchdown from Boyd to Brandon Collins. Philadelphia would take control from there.

After Raudabaugh found Darius Prince for a touchdown, the Brigade turned the ball over on downs. The would take a 34-20 lead, then James Romain intercepted a pass to end the first half.

Baltimore would make a comeback in the second half. After Collins’ second touchdown catch of the game, Varmah Somie intercepted a Raudabaugh pass. The Brigade would capitalize on a rushing touchdown from Boyd to make it a 34-33 game. A back and forth third quarter saw the Soul lead 48-40 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was more of the third, with both offenses going back and forth. With the lead, Justin Lawrence sacked Shane Boyd. Baltimore would turn the ball over on downs and another Reynolds touchdown would seal the game.

The Soul would win by a final 69-54. They will host ArenaBowl XXX on Saturday, Aug. 26. They will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between the Tampa Bay Storm and Cleveland Gladiators.