Post by 50yardfan on Jun 28, 2011 21:56:33 GMT -5
Louisiana beats Houston; Albany will host SIFL title game
The Swashbucklers pull a stunner late Monday night, downing previously unbeaten Houston in the SIFL semis, meaning the Panthers will host the championship game Saturday night.
www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/Louisiana_beats_Houston_Albany_will_host_SIFL_title_game_124630894.html
ALBANY — When The Herald caught up with Albany Panthers head coach Lucious Davis early Monday afternoon, he admittedly had mixed feelings about where he wanted to play the upcoming SIFL Championship game, which was still dependant on the outcome of Monday night’s other semifinal playoff between Houston and Louisiana.
And he was torn with good reason.
You see, Davis is a native of Houston — born and raised, playing his prep ball as a receiver for John H. Reagan High School — so if the Stallions won, it meant he’d get to coach the biggest game of his career in front of countless friends and family. But if the Swashbucklers won, the game would be held in front of hometown fans at the Albany Civic Center — which Davis said the Good Life City deserved after staunchly supporting the second-year franchise so well over the past two seasons.
“I feel a little torn because, selfishly, I would love to go home and win the championship in front of all my friends and family who have supported me for so many years (during my playing and coaching career),” Davis said. “But at the same time, we owe it to the city of Albany to not only win a title, but do it right here after how much support they’ve given us this year and last year. Either way, it’s going to be a great game.”
As it turns out, it’ll be a great game in Albany.
The Swashbucklers upset the previously unbeaten Stallions late Monday night, 56-41, to set up a rematch of last year’s SIFL semifinal that Louisiana won. Had Houston won, the game would’ve been played Monday at Reliant Stadium in Texas at 7 p.m. because that was the only date Houston (13-1) could secure the arena — and because it had a better record than Albany (12-2). But since the Swashbucklers (10-4) came out on top, the championship game will be played Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Civic Center.
Davis, who said early Monday that he planned to watch the game via UStream from a friend’s cell phone camera who was attending the game Monday night, added that no matter who the Panthers played, he knew there would be plenty of support for the team.
“If we play in Houston, I’ll have so many people there cheering us on, it’ll be crazy,” he said. “And if we play in Albany, I imagine we’d set a new attendance record. The fan support we had in Columbus (this past Saturday) was amazing.”
Davis, of course, was referring to Saturday night’s mammoth 75-61 win against the instate rival Lions, which had beaten the Panthers in their last two regular-season meetings heading into the semifinal showdown at the Columbus Civic Center.
But Saturday, it was Albany’s turn for a lil’ payback.
The Panthers trailed, 30-20, at halftime, but stormed out of the gate and made up that 10-point differential quickly thanks to Cecil Lester’s razor-sharp passing, the great hands of receivers John Harris, Antwone Savage and Antwon Cutts and another masterful performance by the team’s defense.
Davis said Monday that heading into the locker room of that game down two scores, he understood it looked like a repeat of the Panthers’ last game against Columbus during which the Lions also scored just before intermission, then took the lead and never gave it back en route to a 58-39 romp.
But this time, there was one major difference.
“The difference between that game and this one was they got the ball first coming out of halftime, while this time around we got it first,” he said. “We knew it was important to score on that opening drive out of halftime (in order to keep pace and not fall too far behind) — and that’s exactly what we did.”
Lester, who finished with six touchdown passes in the win, found Harris on a short corner route a few minutes after the two teams took the field for the second half to bring Albany within three points. The game would eventually head to the fourth quarter tied, 40-40, as the Panthers’ defense did the bulk of the work from there, scoring two late defensive TDs — one by DB Corey Rue on an interception return and the other by DL Lionel Bibbins on a fumble recovery in the end zone — to seal it.
Of course, the Panthers’ offense never let up either, and there’s no one who’ll argue that Davis deserves much of the credit for that.
“I made no secret of the fact that I was the one to blame in our last loss to Columbus — I made some bad calls, put Cecil in tough situations and just didn’t adjust the way a good coach would. I was trying to run way too many plays that just weren’t working. They kicked out butts, and rightly so,” Davis said. “But I watched a lot of film from that game and I told Cecil coming into this last game that I was going to draw up plays — based on Columbus’ coverage — where every play, no matter what, we would have two guys open for him to throw to. Basically, what I did was minimize the play sheet.
“As a result, we stuck with the game plan, guys got open, Cecil played great, and — as a coach — I feel like I did a much better job. And it worked out.”
But Davis, who is admittedly a perfectionist, wasn’t happy about a few things he saw Monday when he looked back at this weekend’s game film, despite it being the franchise’s biggest win in its short history.
“I saw some mistakes in the secondary, up front in our blocking, a couple of wrong routes run (by our receivers) and even a few wrong reads by Cecil, who — again — played great for the most part. We know he won’t always be perfect,” he said. “This week we need to change a few things up front, work on our blocking and get Cecil to where he’s not missing touchdowns (that are there for the taking).
“We actually could’ve won by more, I think, but we missed — I want to say — three touchdowns that were right there.”
Davis also has been sneaking in some time during the past two weeks during playoff preparations for Eastern Conference foes Erie (first round) and Columbus by looking at game film of the teams on the other side of the bracket, especially Louisiana and Houston — the two teams he assumed would be vying for the Western Conference title. SIFL coaches have a special league website where they download their game film, and they also have the ability to download other teams’ film.
“To be honest, we match up well with both teams,” Davis said Monday before he knew who the Panthers were playing. “Houston won both (regular season) games against Louisiana — one by a touchdown and one game by two points when Louisiana missed a two-point conversion to tie it late — so we know it’s going to be a tough game, no matter what.”
But when asked about the possibility of facing the Swashbucklers in what would amount to a revenge game following last season’s stunning playoff defeat, Davis downplayed the significance.
“That (beef) is over with, really. We already beat them this year and that kind of made up for it,” Davis said, referring to the 30-27 come-from-behind win vs. Louisiana in the season opener March 19. “If it is them, though, it would be nice to beat them again — and do it again at home. Our fans deserve a championship, and it would be nice if we could deliver one to them in Albany.”
Looking Ahead
WHAT: SIFL Championship game.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Albany Civic Center.
RADIO: 98.1-FM.
LIVE UPDATES: Log onto: twitter.com/AlbHeraldSports.
The Swashbucklers pull a stunner late Monday night, downing previously unbeaten Houston in the SIFL semis, meaning the Panthers will host the championship game Saturday night.
www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/Louisiana_beats_Houston_Albany_will_host_SIFL_title_game_124630894.html
ALBANY — When The Herald caught up with Albany Panthers head coach Lucious Davis early Monday afternoon, he admittedly had mixed feelings about where he wanted to play the upcoming SIFL Championship game, which was still dependant on the outcome of Monday night’s other semifinal playoff between Houston and Louisiana.
And he was torn with good reason.
You see, Davis is a native of Houston — born and raised, playing his prep ball as a receiver for John H. Reagan High School — so if the Stallions won, it meant he’d get to coach the biggest game of his career in front of countless friends and family. But if the Swashbucklers won, the game would be held in front of hometown fans at the Albany Civic Center — which Davis said the Good Life City deserved after staunchly supporting the second-year franchise so well over the past two seasons.
“I feel a little torn because, selfishly, I would love to go home and win the championship in front of all my friends and family who have supported me for so many years (during my playing and coaching career),” Davis said. “But at the same time, we owe it to the city of Albany to not only win a title, but do it right here after how much support they’ve given us this year and last year. Either way, it’s going to be a great game.”
As it turns out, it’ll be a great game in Albany.
The Swashbucklers upset the previously unbeaten Stallions late Monday night, 56-41, to set up a rematch of last year’s SIFL semifinal that Louisiana won. Had Houston won, the game would’ve been played Monday at Reliant Stadium in Texas at 7 p.m. because that was the only date Houston (13-1) could secure the arena — and because it had a better record than Albany (12-2). But since the Swashbucklers (10-4) came out on top, the championship game will be played Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Civic Center.
Davis, who said early Monday that he planned to watch the game via UStream from a friend’s cell phone camera who was attending the game Monday night, added that no matter who the Panthers played, he knew there would be plenty of support for the team.
“If we play in Houston, I’ll have so many people there cheering us on, it’ll be crazy,” he said. “And if we play in Albany, I imagine we’d set a new attendance record. The fan support we had in Columbus (this past Saturday) was amazing.”
Davis, of course, was referring to Saturday night’s mammoth 75-61 win against the instate rival Lions, which had beaten the Panthers in their last two regular-season meetings heading into the semifinal showdown at the Columbus Civic Center.
But Saturday, it was Albany’s turn for a lil’ payback.
The Panthers trailed, 30-20, at halftime, but stormed out of the gate and made up that 10-point differential quickly thanks to Cecil Lester’s razor-sharp passing, the great hands of receivers John Harris, Antwone Savage and Antwon Cutts and another masterful performance by the team’s defense.
Davis said Monday that heading into the locker room of that game down two scores, he understood it looked like a repeat of the Panthers’ last game against Columbus during which the Lions also scored just before intermission, then took the lead and never gave it back en route to a 58-39 romp.
But this time, there was one major difference.
“The difference between that game and this one was they got the ball first coming out of halftime, while this time around we got it first,” he said. “We knew it was important to score on that opening drive out of halftime (in order to keep pace and not fall too far behind) — and that’s exactly what we did.”
Lester, who finished with six touchdown passes in the win, found Harris on a short corner route a few minutes after the two teams took the field for the second half to bring Albany within three points. The game would eventually head to the fourth quarter tied, 40-40, as the Panthers’ defense did the bulk of the work from there, scoring two late defensive TDs — one by DB Corey Rue on an interception return and the other by DL Lionel Bibbins on a fumble recovery in the end zone — to seal it.
Of course, the Panthers’ offense never let up either, and there’s no one who’ll argue that Davis deserves much of the credit for that.
“I made no secret of the fact that I was the one to blame in our last loss to Columbus — I made some bad calls, put Cecil in tough situations and just didn’t adjust the way a good coach would. I was trying to run way too many plays that just weren’t working. They kicked out butts, and rightly so,” Davis said. “But I watched a lot of film from that game and I told Cecil coming into this last game that I was going to draw up plays — based on Columbus’ coverage — where every play, no matter what, we would have two guys open for him to throw to. Basically, what I did was minimize the play sheet.
“As a result, we stuck with the game plan, guys got open, Cecil played great, and — as a coach — I feel like I did a much better job. And it worked out.”
But Davis, who is admittedly a perfectionist, wasn’t happy about a few things he saw Monday when he looked back at this weekend’s game film, despite it being the franchise’s biggest win in its short history.
“I saw some mistakes in the secondary, up front in our blocking, a couple of wrong routes run (by our receivers) and even a few wrong reads by Cecil, who — again — played great for the most part. We know he won’t always be perfect,” he said. “This week we need to change a few things up front, work on our blocking and get Cecil to where he’s not missing touchdowns (that are there for the taking).
“We actually could’ve won by more, I think, but we missed — I want to say — three touchdowns that were right there.”
Davis also has been sneaking in some time during the past two weeks during playoff preparations for Eastern Conference foes Erie (first round) and Columbus by looking at game film of the teams on the other side of the bracket, especially Louisiana and Houston — the two teams he assumed would be vying for the Western Conference title. SIFL coaches have a special league website where they download their game film, and they also have the ability to download other teams’ film.
“To be honest, we match up well with both teams,” Davis said Monday before he knew who the Panthers were playing. “Houston won both (regular season) games against Louisiana — one by a touchdown and one game by two points when Louisiana missed a two-point conversion to tie it late — so we know it’s going to be a tough game, no matter what.”
But when asked about the possibility of facing the Swashbucklers in what would amount to a revenge game following last season’s stunning playoff defeat, Davis downplayed the significance.
“That (beef) is over with, really. We already beat them this year and that kind of made up for it,” Davis said, referring to the 30-27 come-from-behind win vs. Louisiana in the season opener March 19. “If it is them, though, it would be nice to beat them again — and do it again at home. Our fans deserve a championship, and it would be nice if we could deliver one to them in Albany.”
Looking Ahead
WHAT: SIFL Championship game.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Albany Civic Center.
RADIO: 98.1-FM.
LIVE UPDATES: Log onto: twitter.com/AlbHeraldSports.