| By: Matthew Hester Columbus Lions Indoor Football Media Relations Director COLUMBUS, GA (April 14, 2012) – With return of two starters, the Columbus Lions (3-2) of the Professional Indoor Football League moved back to a game above .500 thanks to their 75-61 raiding of the Louisiana Swashbucklers (1-3). It was the first time these two clubs had gotten together since the 2010 July SIFL Championship Game and much like in that meeting Saturday’s contest was never seriously in doubt. The closest Louisiana ever came to staying with reach of Columbus came back in the 1st quarter when they got within 11 as kicker Blake Bercegeay nailed a 23-yard field goal for the Bucs first three points.  Much of the 1st half belonged to the Columbus Lions staking themselves to a 40-18 halftime lead in large part to five touchdown passes from quarterback Randy Hippeard with both Landon Crawford and Maurice Dupree hauling in two apiece. For the third consecutive week, the Swashbucklers started a different quarterback with Sammy Knight getting the nod on Saturday. Knight struggled early in the first half was even pulled in favor for back-up Freddie Harrison who managed to lead the Bucs to their lone two 1st half touchdowns. In the 2nd half, Knight would resume his duties back under center appearing to be more poised guiding Louisiana to 43 second half points. In his Swashbucklers debut, receiver Immanuel Friddle pulled in three touchdown passes while fullback Kendrick Perry accounted for two rushing touchdowns and one receiving TD. Much of the damage had already been done as Columbus kept their scoring barrage on par with their first half performance scoring on two squib kicks from Louisiana with first returned by Jeff Lemon and the latter by Gerald Gales. Quarterback Randy Hippeard improved on his league-leading touchdown total throwing for another eight touchdowns while receiver Maurice Dupree also expanded his league-lead yanking in another four TD receptions on Saturday. The biggest impact on Saturday’s game really came from the re-addition of kicker Trey Crum and defensive lineman Derrick Crawford. Crum made his 2012 debut notching 13 points behind three Uno’s, one field goal (21 yards), and seven PAT’s. Early on, the Lions defense made some key improvements from past weeks coming away with three turnovers including a 3rd quarter interception by Crawford. Next Saturday April 21st, Columbus will take on their undefeated cross-state rivals in the Albany Panthers (4-0) as it will also be the first the Lions face former teammates Damian Daniels and Ryan Babb. To watch and hear all of next week’s meeting, log on to www.columbuslions.net and click on the Listen Live icon. |
 |
|
|
