Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Lions sleep tonight

Lions fanThe local indoor football team, the Columbus Lions, had their home opener tonight. And it turned out sour for the home team. The Erie (PA) River Rats beat the Lions, 54-48.

A small crowd ... this is Columbus, Georgia, after all ... turned out. But at times they made some noise for the home team.

The guy with the blue and silver face paint, beating on his drum, helped the crowd sound, at times, louder than it had a right to.

Wasn't first game jitters -- the Lions won their season opener on the road against Augusta last week -- but mistakes made a difference in the game.

Defensive penalties on the Lions gave Erie five first downs in their first two possessions. Erie also scored two defensive touchdowns on turnovers. And the Lions quarterback fumbled three times in the final five minutes.

Lions gameTake away any one of those 10 plays, and the Lions could have won their second game of the season.

Only, you can't take away any of those plays.

And the Lions didn't win.

Still, despite the mistakes, the Lions didn't quit. And that means a lot.

You see, several years ago, Columbus had an area team ... in af2 ... called the Wardogs. They were awful. In 2001, they went 0-16. They lost their games by an average of 33 points. While some of the players on that team had some talent, they weren't a good team.

The Lions, on the other hand, made some mistakes, but fought back. They played like a team.

They have to cut down on the mental mistakes -- they had several illegal defense penalties -- to stay competitive. They have to stay awake and alert ... and hold on to the ball. You know. Basic football.

And I think they'll be able to. I'll be back at the Civic Center watching them play again in a couple of weeks.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to see your game report. In Erie we didn't get much more than the box score. The team had a LONG drive home. Usual Erie starting QB David Dinkins couldn't get out of work and missed the trip.

    Hope more people in the Columbus area take in a game. The quality of football is pretty good and the games are entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The season may be young, but Erie looks like they may be one of the teams to beat in the AIFA. When Columbus got a turnover late in the game, you could feel the momentum switch. The Lions were prepared to take the lead, but the Erie defense forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. I mentioned that the Lions didn't let events get them down. Neither did Erie, much to the Lion's displeasure.

    Oh, at least you did have some stats. Nothing was available when I got home from the game last night. I had to rely on my memory of events. I hope I got it right.

    ReplyDelete

Please choose a Profile in "Comment as" or sign your name to Anonymous comments. Comment policy