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.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Clinch Home Playoff Game With Win Over High Country Grizzlies

The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks hosted the High Country Grizzlies at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA on Saturday night. A win for Lehigh Valley would clinch a home playoff game. A win for High Country would inch them closer to a playoff spot.

The Steelhawks would miss a long field goal on the first drive of the game, giving High Country a first and goal to start their drive. The Grizzlies would respond by turning the ball over.

The first score of the game came with 7:50 left in the second when Warren Smith Jr. found Warren Oliver Jr. for a touchdown. High Country’s first point would come in the way of a safety when the defense was able to sack Smith Jr. in the end zone.

Lehigh Valley scored two points to make it a 9-2 score after one. After the Grizzlies tied it up, Oliver Jr scored his second touchdown to give Lehigh Valley the lead back. A Malachi Jones touchdown followed by a deuce gave the Grizzlies an 18-16 lead. The Steelhawks would score the final three touchdowns of the half, including a pick-six from Rodney Hall Jr. as time expired, to make it a 39-18 halftime score.

The two teams would go back and Roth through the third quarter, but Lehigh Valley would never allow High Country to tie the game back up, leading 60-29 after three.

It was more of the same in the fourth quarter for the Steelhawks. They dominated in both sides of the ball en route to their win. They have officially clinched a home playoff game. The game will be played on Friday, June 23 with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Beat Georgia Firebirds, 56-31

The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks hosted the Georgia Firebirds at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA on Saturday night. It was the lone game of the National Arena League this weekend.

After a defensive first quarter with two missed field goals, Lehigh Valley scored the first field goal of the game with 47 seconds left in the first quarter. That would prove to be the lone score in the first frame.

Following an interception, Warren Smith Jr. rushed for a touchdown to make the score 9-0 in favor of Lehigh Valley. Georgia would close the gap with a touchdown pass from Percy Hunter to Isaiah Jupiter to make it a 9-7 game.

Brandon Renford would return the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to make it a nine point game once more. After Georgia kicked a field goal to make it a 16-10 game, Lehigh Valley scored 14 points in 24 seconds to make the halftime score 30-10.

The Steelhawks would expand their lead with Warren Oliver‘s second touchdown of the night. The two teams would go back and forth, both teams intercepting a pass, and the Steelhawks led 43-17 after three.

The two teams would go back and forth, but Georgia was not able to make a comeback. The Steelhawks won by a final score of 56-31. Smith would finish with six touchdown passes in the game. He also rushed for a touchdown. That gives him 27 passing touchdowns in the team’s first five games.

The key on defense for Lehigh Valley was Rodney Hall, Jr. He finished with seven tackles, two interceptions and a pass deflection.

They will play the Corpus Christi Rage on April 29. Georgia will play the Dayton Wolfpack the same day.