Columbus Lions Upset Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 52-50 to Advance to NAL Championship Game

The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks hosted the Columbus Lions at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA Friday night. Both teams were facing off in the first of two National Arena League playoff semifinals. The winner would advance to the first ever NAL title game.

Lehigh Valley took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the game when quarterback Warren Smith Jr found Darius Prince for a wide open touchdown. Wyeaz Bradley scored a one yard rushing touchdown to give the Steelhawks a 14-0 lead. They kept their 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Smith Jr hooked up with Prince for the second time in the first half to give the Steelhawks a 21-0 lead.

Columbus would make a comeback, trailing 21-9, the Lions blocked a field goal attempt from Lehigh Valley. They couldn’t capitalize, however, and Lehigh Valley led 21-9 at the half.

Columbus made a strong second half comeback. Once trailing by 22, a Tristan Purifoy touchdown gave the Lions a 44-43 lead, their first of the night. Following a touchdown to make it 50-43, Lindsey Wolfe kicked a deuce to give Columbus a 52-43 with under a minute left.

Lehigh Valley would not be able to complete a comeback of their own. The Lions pulled off the upset by a final score of . They will face the winner of the Jacksonville Sharks-Monterrey Steel game tomorrow night in the NAL title game.

2016 Arena Football American Conference Championship Game Preview: Soul vs Sharks

At 0-1, fans were curious. At 2-4, fans were worried. At 5-9, fans were vindicated. Now, at 8-9, fans of the Jacksonville Sharks are excited. For the second straight year, they travel to face the 14-3 Philadelphia Soul for the American Conference championship, and the right to play in the ArenaBowl.

Interim head coach Bob Landsee is 3-0, but he knows after last week’s 69-68 overtime win, the first such win in franchise history, even he knows there’s some work to do. These two teams are miles apart from their two regular season meetings in Week 2 and Week 10, but thanks to those three straight wins, the Sharks are playing with house money, a dangerous mentality for any opponent in the playoffs.

The Sharks showed the same problems that have plagued them since the start of 2015: they’re vulnerable to the snowball. Jacksonville needed a pick-six from linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson halfway through the second quarter to avoid getting into a blowout, and a missed extra point on the last play of the game to force overtime.

However, this team showed the dynamite offense that the league has expected from them all season. Tommy Grady completed 32 of 42 passes for five scores, and the offensive line only allowed Grady to be hit twice the entire game. As for their defense, they matched Orlando for scores and stops, gaining an advantage when David Hyland sacked Bernard Morris in overtime. But, the Predators still scored on that drive, forcing the eventual touchdown and winning two-point conversion.

Looking at the two teams, it’s almost a mirror image. The Soul lead the overall series 7-6. Jacksonville won on the road by 18, then Philadelphia won on the road by 14. As far as the playoffs, these two teams will meet for the fourth time in five years for the conference title, with the Sharks looking to even the series at two apiece while steadily trending upward each year. Yes, the Soul won big the first two times (89-34 in ’12 and 75-58 in ’13), but the Sharks won last year’s tilt by five points (61-56), meaning Jacksonville has allowed fewer points each year, while scoring more in the process.

Neither team gives up a lot of sacks, both quarterbacks are up for some sort of award (be it All-Arena, MVP, or Offensive Player of the Year), and both teams have dynamic receivers (Joe Hills, Shaun Kauleinamoku, and Tiger Jones to name a few). So what is the key? What should fans watch for to decide who wins this game? Two things: special teams and late downs.

Lindsey Wolfe has had a sub-par season to say the very least, missing two extra points in Orlando, bringing his total to eleven misses in six games. In comparison, Tommy Frevert missed eleven extra points this season. Every kick will matter yet again this week, as the Sharks were lucky to get a two-point conversion of their own near the end of regulation to better their chances. Also, as of note, Wolfe has yet to attempt a field goal in 2016. This could also be a factor in end-of-game tactics.

The second key is who wins third and fourth down. In these two situations last week, the Sharks were only 50% (5 of 10) on offense and only stopped Orlando twice on defense (both on third down, but gave up first downs on the subsequent fourth downs). While the Soul were 4 of 7 combined on offense, they had four defensive third-down stops (5 of 9 allowed), then followed up with four defensive fourth-down stops (in four attempts against).

This means the Sharks have to get off the field on third and fourth down on defense, and keep the Soul’s defense on the field if they need to match scores and keep the tempo going throughout the game. Whoever blinks first could easily lose.

Kickoff is Sunday, Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Sharks Upset Predators in Playoffs…Again

Sixty-nine minutes, ten seconds, four missed extra points, two missed reviews, one yard. These were just some of the magic numbers the Jacksonville Sharks (8-9) needed to defeat the Orlando Predators (12-5), 69-68, in the American Conference Semifinals on Saturday night.

In what was mostly a seesaw affair all night, Orlando appeared to have the game won when Bernard Morris scored as time expired. However, Mark Lewis, who came into the game 111/123 on extra points this season, missed his second of the night to force overtime.

After the Predators scored on their possession, Jacksonville got a big boost thanks to a 30-yard return from “Big Play” Reggie Gray. After Derrick Ross sealed the drive with a one-yard score, the Sharks opted to go for the win rather than risk losing on another Predators score. The game seemed over when Joe Hills couldn’t haul in the pass, but Orlando defensive back Varmah Sonie committed pass interference, giving Ross one more crack for the winning run.

The game started off as a track meet, with teams trading scores on their opening drives. However, after the Predators took a 14-7 lead, things got ugly for the Sharks. A penalty-ridden drive ended with Terence Moore picking off Tommy Grady and returning the ball 42 yards for a touchdown and a two-score lead early in the second quarter.

Following a Ross fumble at the goal line, Orlando was set to go up three touchdowns when a tipped Bernard Morris pass found the hands of JLB Alvin Ray Jackson, who needed only five yards to find the end zone and give Jacksonville life.

The Predators kept the Sharks at arm’s reach for a couple possessions, but when DB LaRoche “Action” Jackson forced a Larry Brackins fumble with seven seconds left, Jacksonville had a shot to go into the locker room tied at 28. Tommy Grady found Joe Hills for 12 yards, then Tiger Jones caught a 27-yard Hail Mary off the net to complete the hard part of the comeback. However, kicker Lindsey Wolfe, who missed nine extra points in just five games, missed the extra point, and the ball stuck in the post signifying the Sharks’ season up to that point.

Down 28-27, Jacksonville took advantage of the first drive of the second half, and Grady continued Hills’ touchdown streak thanks to consecutive 14-yard completions. But, Wolfe missed again, and the lead was only five.

Both teams again traded scores, with Morris using his legs and finding room on option plays that turned to touchdown runs. In what proved to be somewhat crucial towards the end of the game, Jacksonville went for two after they scored their second touchdown of the third quarter. Grady missed his receiver, and the lead was a mere four points at 39-35.

Orlando and Jacksonville still held serve, but the kicking game started to turn against the Predators as normally reliable Mark Lewis missed his first kick of the night to keep what would’ve been a field goal lead at just two points, 48-46.

Gray, already a dominant receiver on the night, displayed his kick return talents that brought him to Jacksonville with a key 36-yard return to set up a short field and a Ross one-yard touchdown run.

Up 53-48 with 4:24 left in regulation, the onside kick chess match began. The Sharks failed, the Predators scored 12 seconds later. Orlando failed, but a high kick landing out of bounds meant the Sharks had to travel nearly half the field to score. They did, and did again thanks to Joe Hills. Hills caught the touchdown pass and the two-point conversion to restore a six-point lead. However, replays showed Hills bobbled the ball at the goal line, and the ball hit the ground. The referees could not see the replay in time to review the call.

Inside the final minute, the Predators worked to burn off the clock and not score immediately, hoping to win the game. Brandon Thompkins went down at the one-yard line, and the Sharks nearly finalized a goal line stand when Bernard Morris sneaked over the goal line for the score.

However, replays showed that Morris’ momentum was stopped and he reached over the line late. But, as previously, the referees could not see a replay in time to review the call, setting up the wild and wacky finish.

Both quarterbacks had great games through the air. Grady completed 32 of 42 passes for five touchdowns and an interception. Morris matched the scoring and interception totals, but completed only 22 of 31 attempts for 277 yards in the process. Morris also matched Derrick Ross on the ground, as both scored four rushing touchdowns (Morris did it on seven carries for 22 yards, while Ross had 12 carries for 26 yards).

Reggie Gray and Joe Hills finished first and second in catches and yards (15-143 and 11-127, respectively), each with two touchdown catches. Tiger Jones also had six catches of his own for 62 yards and a score. Larry Brackins was Orlando’s leading receiver with eight catches for 122 yards and four scores. LaRoche Jackson and Varmah Sonie each surpassed ten tackles, while David Hyland came up with the lone sack of the night.

For Orlando, it’s another long offseason filled with what might have been, as they’ve lost at home in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year. For Jacksonville, they sit and await the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Storm and Philadelphia Soul. If the Soul win, it’s a repeat road trip to Philly for the conference title game. If the Storm pull off an upset, then the Sharks will host the American Conference Championship game for the first time since 2013.

Steel Shock Sharks 55-53

The Portland Steel earned their second victory of the season on Saturday evening, defeating the Jacksonville Sharks 55-53 in front of 4,793 fans in Portland’s Moda Center.

Portland (2-12) needed their second-highest point total of the season to sneak past Jacksonville (5-9), who had an opportunity to tie the game in the last seconds, but failed on a two-point conversion attempt.

Jacksonville outgained Portland in yards from scrimmage by a margin of 305 to 154. Steel quarterback Shane Austin went 17 for 27 for just 120 yards and two touchdowns, while Sharks quarterback Tommy Grady went 25 for 35 for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Both teams had four rushing touchdowns each, an anomaly in the world of arena football.

Another anomaly: zero turnovers by either team. Neither quarterback threw an interception, and while there were three fumbles in the game, none of them were recovered by the opposing team.

Portland was able to keep pace with Jacksonville thanks to a superb kick-return game. Shane Boyle began the game with a 51-yard return all the way to the Jacksonville three-yard line.

Four plays later, Portland had scored to take a 7-0 lead. On Jacksonville’s next kickoff, after Grady connected with Tiger Jones for an 18-yard touchdown pass, Boyle took the return all the way to the end zone, 54 yards from where he had initially fielded it. In two plays, Boyle had accumulated 105 yards and directly set up 14 points for the Steel.

The Steel took a 31-27 lead into halftime and, after holding Jacksonville scoreless in the third quarter, a 38-27 lead into the fourth quarter. After trading scoring drives, Portland led 52-40 with time winding down in regulation. Jacksonville scored to close the gap to 52-47.

With under a minute remaining, Ernesto Lacayo made a 19-yard field goal for Portland to extend the lead to 55-47. Grady completed four straight passes to Reggie Gray, totaling 28 yards and getting them to Portland’s one-yard line. Derrick Ross ran in the touchdown with eight seconds remaining on the clock.

Jacksonville kicker Lindsey Wolfe had missed two extra points earlier in the game, creating the two-point spread that now existed. When Grady’s pass fell incomplete, the Sharks’ fate was sealed.

Portland travels to Tampa Bay next week to take on the Storm (1-13) on the CBS Sports Network, then end the season at home against the Los Angeles KISS (7-7). Jacksonville concludes their season with two games at home: against Los Angeles on on the 23rd, then their finale against Tampa Bay on the 31st.