Post by fwp on Mar 25, 2010 20:56:30 GMT -5
www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/89084357.html
ALBANY — Well, the Albany Panthers now know what it feels like to be up against the wall.
Literally.
Albany’s newest arena football league team is so young that many of the players had never played indoors before -- that is, until Wednesday night when the Panthers held a scrimmage that was open to the public at the Albany Civic Center.
Wham!
That was the sound of some of the new Panthers smacking into the walls that line the 50-yard field and serve as the out-of-bounds markers.
“The biggest thing I got from this (scrimmage) was us being inside to get the feel of the turf and the walls,’’ Panthers coach Lucious Davis said. “For most of our guys, this was their first time (playing football) indoors.’’
The Panthers, leading up to Wednesday, had been practicing outside at Albany State.
“You can paint the field, but it’s not like the walls,’’ Davis said. “I wish we could have gotten in here sooner.’’
The Panthers have been on the run, scrambling to get ready for their April 3 season and home opener in the Southern Indoor Football League against Columbus, so the scrimmage had significance for many reasons.
The Panthers needed to take a look at what they have, and they wanted to give Southwest Georgia a look as well. So they opened the doors to the public to take a peek. A small crowd showed up — maybe 300 fans, or so — to watch the scrimmage that started almost an hour behind schedule.
Still, the fans who were there like the idea of bringing arena football back to Albany, where the Wildcats played a year ago and then left town.
“I’m glad we have a team again,’’ Albany native Antwan Clay said. “I’m a football fan and I love this. I think the team has a chance to make it here if they just would stop changing the name. If they had the same team here two, three years then they would draw big crowds to every game. They would probably need a bigger place to play.’’
The Panthers feel the fan base is here.
“I’m not worried about (Wednesday’s small crowd). This was a scrimmage,’’ said Davis who was the defensive coordinator for the now-defunct South Georgia Wildcats last year. “I know from being here last year that the fans are here, and they will support us.”
The fans who were in attendance enjoyed the scrimmage, which included six touchdowns and three interceptions — all by Isaiah Gay.
“I’ve been an arena football fan for many years, so I’m real happy to have a team again,’’ said Les Martin of Lee County. “I’ll definitely support this team. If they stay, I’ll be even happier. We just need to give a team a chance.’’
The Panthers used both of their quarterbacks and Cecil Lester had some impressive moments, completing 15 of 25 for 224 yards with one interception and four TDs. John Harris caught two of those, one for 36 yards and another for 45 yards.
“The biggest difference in this team and the Wildcats is the age difference,’’ said Lester, who was mostly a backup QB with the Wildcats. “This team is a lot younger. We had more veterans last year. It was good to get these guys inside to get the feel of the game indoors.’’
Lester’s fellow QB, Jeffrey Aaron, completed 10 of 19 for 121 yards. He was picked off twice but threw two TDs.
“I was pretty pleased,’’ said Davis, who is still waiting for players to add to the team, “We had only a month to get ready and it was the shortest month of the year. Once we get all our people here next week, we’ll have a good team. I’m not worried about that.’
ALBANY — Well, the Albany Panthers now know what it feels like to be up against the wall.
Literally.
Albany’s newest arena football league team is so young that many of the players had never played indoors before -- that is, until Wednesday night when the Panthers held a scrimmage that was open to the public at the Albany Civic Center.
Wham!
That was the sound of some of the new Panthers smacking into the walls that line the 50-yard field and serve as the out-of-bounds markers.
“The biggest thing I got from this (scrimmage) was us being inside to get the feel of the turf and the walls,’’ Panthers coach Lucious Davis said. “For most of our guys, this was their first time (playing football) indoors.’’
The Panthers, leading up to Wednesday, had been practicing outside at Albany State.
“You can paint the field, but it’s not like the walls,’’ Davis said. “I wish we could have gotten in here sooner.’’
The Panthers have been on the run, scrambling to get ready for their April 3 season and home opener in the Southern Indoor Football League against Columbus, so the scrimmage had significance for many reasons.
The Panthers needed to take a look at what they have, and they wanted to give Southwest Georgia a look as well. So they opened the doors to the public to take a peek. A small crowd showed up — maybe 300 fans, or so — to watch the scrimmage that started almost an hour behind schedule.
Still, the fans who were there like the idea of bringing arena football back to Albany, where the Wildcats played a year ago and then left town.
“I’m glad we have a team again,’’ Albany native Antwan Clay said. “I’m a football fan and I love this. I think the team has a chance to make it here if they just would stop changing the name. If they had the same team here two, three years then they would draw big crowds to every game. They would probably need a bigger place to play.’’
The Panthers feel the fan base is here.
“I’m not worried about (Wednesday’s small crowd). This was a scrimmage,’’ said Davis who was the defensive coordinator for the now-defunct South Georgia Wildcats last year. “I know from being here last year that the fans are here, and they will support us.”
The fans who were in attendance enjoyed the scrimmage, which included six touchdowns and three interceptions — all by Isaiah Gay.
“I’ve been an arena football fan for many years, so I’m real happy to have a team again,’’ said Les Martin of Lee County. “I’ll definitely support this team. If they stay, I’ll be even happier. We just need to give a team a chance.’’
The Panthers used both of their quarterbacks and Cecil Lester had some impressive moments, completing 15 of 25 for 224 yards with one interception and four TDs. John Harris caught two of those, one for 36 yards and another for 45 yards.
“The biggest difference in this team and the Wildcats is the age difference,’’ said Lester, who was mostly a backup QB with the Wildcats. “This team is a lot younger. We had more veterans last year. It was good to get these guys inside to get the feel of the game indoors.’’
Lester’s fellow QB, Jeffrey Aaron, completed 10 of 19 for 121 yards. He was picked off twice but threw two TDs.
“I was pretty pleased,’’ said Davis, who is still waiting for players to add to the team, “We had only a month to get ready and it was the shortest month of the year. Once we get all our people here next week, we’ll have a good team. I’m not worried about that.’