Raiders defeat Swashbucklers, advance to championship game

The Richmond Raiders jumped out to a big lead, but special teams misadventures helped Louisiana get back in the game, and in a frantic fight to the finish the Raider defense held on beyond the final buzzer to secure the 56-50 win and a berth in the inaugural PIFL Championship Game.

Off the opening kickoff, the Raiders traveled 32 yards in four plays and started the scoring on an 11 yard pass from Antwon Young to Jason Lovett.  T.C. Stevens missed the extra point, conjuring flashbacks to last week when missed PATs nearly doomed the Raiders, but he would go on to convert seven of eight such kicks.  After the Swashbucklers got to the Raider nine, the defense snuffed out a screen pass and forced a field goal attempt.  Michael Woodhouse got a clean rush and blocked the kick, and Roshawn Marshall returned it to the Louisiana 15.  On the next play, Young found Antwun Williams wide open in the end zone to make it 13-0.  Buc QB Chris Mayabb snuck into the end zone, but Young answered with a four yard scoring run early in the second quarter.

Again the Raider defense stood tall, with some help from Mayabb as he consistently overthrew his receivers all night.  A 49 yard field goal made it 20-9, but the Raider offense, showing deadly efficiency in the first half, engineered a six play, 30 yard drive ending with Lovett's second TD catch.  Kendrick Perry, the league's leading rusher, had only three carries in the first half, and on his last he turned the corner from four yards out to bring Louisiana within 11.  Antwon Young found Herb Jones streaking down the sideline and dropped a beautiful pass right in his hands, and only a lunging Eric Jackson could nudge Jones out of bounds before he could score.  With the ball at the one yard line at the one minute warning, the Raiders could not inch the ball forward without scoring, so when Young extended the ball over the goal line there were still 32 seconds left, giving the Swashbucklers a chance for back to back touchdowns across the halves.  Brandon Sutton had other ideas, as he sacked Mayabb on second down, then forced an intentional grounding penalty on third down, making the field a little longer for the last play of the half, which fell incomplete.

Leading 34-16 at halftime, the Raiders had built up a little margin for error, which they nearly used up.  The teams traded touchdowns to start the second half, and after Immanuel Friddle's second score of the third quarter, the Swashbuckler defense finally stepped up and got their first stop of the game.  Aided by a personal foul penalty that put the Raiders in a third and 21, the Bucs forced a 55 yard field goal attempt which the Raiders tried to pooch and recover for a fresh set of downs.  The short kick landed nowhere near any Raider players, and Damien Huren scooped it up and ran it in to quickly turn an 18 point deficit into just a four point margin at 41-37.  The Raiders established a little more breathing room with a 23 yard strike from Young to Williams.

As the Swashbuckler offense tried to keep pace, the Raiders again got big plays from the defensive line.  A third down sack forced Louisiana to try a 26 yard field goal to get within eight, but once again Woodhouse rejected it, giving him five blocked kicks in the three games against the Bucs.  A six play, 35 yard drive culminated in a bruising four yard scoring run by Young, and after the PAT and an uno, the Raiders had their biggest lead of the game, 56-37, with 7:59 remaining.  Desperate, the Swashbucklers inserted Alvin Bartie -- their season-starting quarterback who missed nine games with injuries -- and he proved to be the spark they needed.  Stepping through the minefield of a sloppy, penalty-filled drive, he moved his team 45 yards for a touchdown to shrink the margin to 13, but in doing so took almost five and a half minutes, giving the advantage to the Raider offense as long as they could recover the onside kick.  The bouncing ball went right to Antwun Williams, and the Raiders sought to bleed some clock and move the ball.

Unfortunately, they accomplished little on either front.  An Antwon Young scamper on third down ended a yard shy of the sticks, and Stevens was called on for a 22 yard field goal.  Willie Pritchett tipped it, and Louisiana was still alive.  Bartie wasted no time, heaving a 45 yard bomb to Jordan Rideaux, and the Swashbucklers got to within a mere six points with 44 seconds and two timeouts left.  Another onside kick was called, and again it bounced to the Raiders with Maurice Thorne making a nice catch off a strange hop.  If the Raiders could get a first down, they would ice the game, but Louisiana's defense wasn't ready for their season to end.  Young was tackled for a loss, stopping the clock, on second down, and when he ran on third down his lunge for the sticks ended about two feet short.  Rather than risk another negative play, the Raiders opted for a 26 yard field goal to make the lead nine points and force everything to go right just for the Swashbucklers to tie.  But a high snap threw off the timing, and Stevens yanked it well left.  Starting from his own 20 with 16 seconds left, Bartie had the chance to be the hero.  Against a deep zone defense, he completed an underneath pass to the Raider 14, but the now-raucous crowd forced a delay of game.  Bartie threw into the end zone, too high for his receiver, and was fortunate that the clock operator's quick finger left him with one second and one more play.  After another delay of game, Bartie was picked off by Maurice Thorne, who returned it 50 yards for an apparent touchdown, but it was all waved off by an illegal defense.  Given one untimed down, Bartie again threw to for a score, but Roshawn Marshall stepped in front of Friddle and knocked the ball away.

Player of the Game: Antwon Young, who threw for five TDs and ran for three.

Offensive Stars: Antwun Williams caught seven passes for 98 yards and three scores; Jason Lovett scored on two of his four receptions.

Defensive Stars: Michael Woodhouse blocked two field goals and was in on a sack; Brandon Sutton had a sack and numerous additional hurries.

Other Links:

• Times-Dispatch article
• Lake Charles American Press edition
• Raiders website writeup

Next: PIFL Championship, at Albany, Saturday, 7:30pm.

Raiders get revenge against Albany, claim share of title

In a showdown between the PIFL's top two teams, turnovers and special teams made the difference as T.C. Stevens made a 27 yard field goal as time expired to give the Raiders a 67-66 victory over the Albany Panthers and, in moving to 10-2 for the year, a share of the regular season league title.  A thrilling game from start to finish, the contest featured 15 lead changes and was immediately considered by many to be the best arena or indoor football game in Richmond Coliseum history.

The game started inconspicuously, with the teams trading touchdowns.  Antwon Young scored for the Raiders on a dazzling open field run on which he got huge blocks from Herb Jones and Jason Lovett, but Stevens missed the extra point to leave Albany ahead 7-6.  As Panther quarterback Darnell Kennedy, starting in place of the injured Cecil Lester, tried to run for a touchdown from the two yard line, he lost the ball near the goal line and Preston Hines recovered.  Backed up to their own one yard line, the Raiders were bailed out on offside and personal foul penalties against Tito Hannah, then went ahead on a Jason Lovett catch and run through the Albany secondary.  Stevens made the PAT and an uno, and on the first play of the ensuing drive Kennedy threw into triple coverage and was picked off by Pierre Lee.  Given a very short field, Jordan Pavlisin did all the work getting into the end zone after two runs.  The Panther offense recovered, getting a long touchdown to pull within 20-14 late in the first quarter.

Momentum continued to swing Albany's way as their defense took the field, got pressure on Antwon Young including a sack, and stopped the Raiders on a four and out.  The Panthers recaptured the lead on Clenton Rafe's second of five touchdown receptions.  The teams traded touchdowns into the final minute of the first half, but another Stevens missed PAT -- he would make only five of nine such kicks -- and a Ryan Gates uno put the Panthers up by three with 24 seconds left.  The Raiders moved into scoring position, registering a first and goal from the Panther eight yard line with time enough for three plays, but two straight incompletions forced them into calling for a field goal on the final play of the first half.  Stevens split the uprights from 23 yards to even things up, 36-36, at the break.

Though playoff seeding was locked for both teams entering the game, each squad started the second half with equal intensity.  The offenses dominated the third quarter, notching two touchdowns each.  The Raiders converted a fourth and short with a Young scramble in the midst of a nine play, 45 yard drive, then nearly had a goal line stand from the defense.  Several penalties were called, including on four consecutive would-be plays, but in between the Raiders stood tall inside their five yard line, not allowing Derrick Wimbush to get any forward progress.  But when an illegal defense gave the Panthers an automatic first down, the extra chances paid off as they eventually scored on a Kennedy sneak.

Trailing by two -- another Stevens miss and Gates uno accounted for the margin -- the Raiders got backed up by the Panther defense and were looking at fourth and long after Lovett dropped a pass.  Lovett made up for the drop by hauling in a 33 yard touchdown, but it was negated by a holding penalty, and the Panthers brought pressure again on fourth down, forcing Young to scramble and be stopped well short of the sticks.  The defense was called on to put out the fire, and that's exactly what they did on the first play.  James Carter tipped Kennedy's pass to himself and ran it back 22 yards for a touchdown.  Stevens tacked on the PAT and another uno, but the Panthers were not done yet.  Kennedy threw a 45 yard bomb to Antwontis Cutts, and Gates gave Albany a two point lead with the PAT and an uno.

The Raiders, starting from their own five midway through the fourth quarter, used a couple of completions to Lovett to flip field position, then Young notched his second rushing touchdown of the evening to put the Raiders back up by five.  Albany quickly moved into Richmond territory, then bled some clock with a couple of runs before getting Kennedy's seventh touchdown pass at the one minute warning to go up by one, 65-64.  The Panthers went for two, but the pass was intercepted by Brent Trice and nearly returned for two points for the Raiders.  Gates booted his fourth uno to extend the lead and more importantly force the Raiders to start from their own five.  Facing a third and 13 after another Lovett drop, Lovett once again redeemed himself by making the catch to move the chains.  After two plays and no yards, the Raiders faced third and long in their own territory with only 12 seconds remaining -- needing a big play to avoid a 47 yard field goal attempt.  Herb Jones was the one to rise to the occasion, getting a first down with a 13 yard catch, then making a seven yard reception to set up a 27 yard attempt.  With pressure coming from his left, Stevens made the kick heard around Richmond, sending the crowd into a frenzy and preserving the Raiders' perfect home record.

Player of the Game: T.C. Stevens, who may have gotten into his own head after his first missed PAT, but had two unos and field goals to end each half.

Offensive Stars: Antwon Young threw for four TDs and ran for two; Jason Lovett caught nine passes for 121 yards and three scores; Herb Jones had one touchdown among his eight receptions for 90 yards.

Defensive Stars: Pierre Lee had one interception and dropped another; James Carter had the momentum-swinging pick 6

Other Links: 

• Times-Dispatch article
• Albany Herald story
• Raiders website recap
• Panthers website writeup

Next: First round of PIFL playoffs, vs. Louisiana, Monday 6/25 7pm.