Columbus Lions fall to Jacksonville Sharks in playoff opener
Through three quarters Tuesday, the no. 4 playoff seed Columbus Lions hung close to the no. 1 Jacksonville Sharks in a National Arena League playoff semifinal game, until one of this year’s sticking points, the missed extra-point kick, seemed to deflate them and prevent a 4th-quarter push.
The Sharks pulled away from a one-score lead to prevail, 67-43, advancing to host the NAL title game against the Carolina Cobras next Saturday. Jacksonville, 14-1, faces 10-5 Carolina, while the Lions finish the season at 6-9.
“I thought we had a real chance, that we held up really well against the top defensive line in the league,” said Lions coach Jason Gibson. “Protection for our quarterback has been an issue all year, but Jacksonville eventually wore us down. Bryan Hicks did the best he could, all banged up, but the pressure forced interceptions (four by Jacksonville) and the missed PAT’s added up, forcing us to play from behind pretty much all night.”
Columbus actually scored first at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on the strangest of starts. Blake Erickson’s opening line-drive kickoff was barely returned before the Lions’ Marte Sears, in his first game action this season, recovered a fumble inside the Jacksonville 5-yard line. It looked like the Lions gave the ball right back on its first running play, but it was ruled the Sharks’ “Jack” linebacker lined up illegally out of “the box.”
Hicks then barreled through for a 6-0 lead, but Erickson’s missed extra point seemed to set a tone for the evening.
Two minutes later, former Lions receiver Durron Neal caught a touchdown pass from Mike Fafaul, and Sharks kicker Bill Behr made his first of nine consecutive PAT’s, to take the lead, 7-6.
Behr, having a sensational season, enhanced the Sharks offensive attack with two kickoffs through the goalposts from his own goal line, totaling 13 points on the night.
Erickson, meanwhile, tallied just five points, converting two-out-of-five PAT’s and one-of-two field goals, hitting from 17 yards late in the first quarter. Those three points drew the Lions back from 10 to seven points down after a full-field interception return by Jacksonville’s Markus Smith. Jacksonville led, 16-9 at the break.
In the second quarter, the teams traded touchdowns, with Columbus’ coming on an Ulric Jones fumble recovery in the end zone and a second Hicks sneak. However, they were more than matched by a score set up by another Smith interception, a 12-yard TD reception by former Lion Jarmon Fortson and another by Devin Wilson, the 18th straight game in which the Jacksonville receiver has scored.
By then, the Sharks had substituted season-starting QB Jonathan Bane, who threw a perfect twelve-out-of-twelve for 136 yards and three touchdowns.
Columbus won the third quarter, scoring twice on a 30-yard pass to Paris Mack and a Desmond Reese end-around, but the key missed PAT left the Lions nine points behind, 44-35, entering the 4thquarter.
Jacksonville’s Wilson grabbed a 5-yard touchdown pass from Bane as the final quarter started, then Bane’s second deuce quickly doubled the Lions’ deficit. Though fullback Corey Crawford (Carver High School, Clemson) scored on a 1-yard run with Bones Bagaunte grabbing the two-point conversion, the Sharks offset those points with two powerful scoring runs by fullback Sam Brown.
The final minutes were choppy and mini-fights broke out, triggered by a Sharks fan who was ejected and arrested for spitting on a Lions player. Frustrations boiled over, but police arena officials quickly restored order so the game could end.
The Lions have been unable to win on Jacksonville home turf in three NAL seasons playing together, including the 2017 league championship game.
“We’ve got to get back to not only clinching, but hosting playoff games,” Gibson said. “We’ll work harder than ever and figure it out — cut down on our turnovers and hope we can avoid being injury-plagued late in the year, though our guys battled back with plenty of heart.”
Columbus is 117-64 in 13 seasons for an all-time winning percentage of .646. The Lions have appeared in six league title games since 2007, winning half of them. This was only the team’s second losing season in franchise history.
League meetings tied in with next weekend’s championship game are expected to result in expansion for the 2020 season, which will be the NAL’s fourth.
Rick Jacobson is co-owner and vice president of sales and marketing for the Columbus Lions.