Lions romp Dayton 77-0 in front of record crowd

Indoor football is a sport built for fast-paced, high-octane scoring.

That’s what makes the Columbus Lions’ 77-0 victory over the Wolfpack on Saturday night at the Columbus Civic Center that much more astounding.

Never mind the fact the game was played in front of a raucous announced crowd of 6,425. It marked a Lions franchise record for attendance, fueled by the annual Military Appreciation Night and a few thousand soldiers from Fort Benning.

Not only did Columbus keep the Wolfpack off the scoreboard the entire night, the first shutout in the National Arena League’s brief history, but they also held them to negative yardage. The Wolfpack, who are playing a travel-only schedule this season, finished the night with negative 21 yards, compared to a tidy 179 yards for Columbus.

“They have a good defense, but their offense just couldn’t get out of their own way,” said Lions head coach Jason Gibson. “That’s been their issue all year long. They’ll regroup. They have players on that team, they’re just in a bad situation.

“I give them all the credit in the world. They fight the whole time. They fought all year long. They continue to show up. There’s some guys on that team we’re looking at and wondering ‘Wow, what are they going to do next year?’ ”

Despite the offensive woes, the swarming Columbus defense did their part to keep the Wolfpack off the scoreboard. The Wolfpack were 0 for 12 on third- and fourth-down conversions and turned the ball over a whopping nine times, four by interception and five by fumble.

“We want to start trending upward this time of year,” defensive coordinator Rayshun Reed said of his unit. “We had a lot of different guys rotating in and out and feel out their positions, so it’s good to see that. Tonight, (the Wolfpack) came out and competed hard. If you’re not ready, they can put some points on you and move the ball. We were ready, had a great atmosphere tonight, and we stood up to the challenge.”

The upward trend comes at the right time towards the end of the NAL season. Columbus has now held its last three consecutive opponents – Jacksonville, Monterrey, and the Wolfpack – to their season low in scoring.

“They’re really starting to click,” Gibson said. “You add Sears, you add Larry (Edwards), (Kyle) Griswould’s playing really well, Leron (Furr) is playing well. Martez (Sears) comes right in and figures it out. Chris Smith is back healthy. We didn’t even play (Chris) Pickett tonight. There’s no weak link on that defense all of a sudden.

“Larry is the best linebacker in the league, I don’t care what anyone says. We didn’t have Corey Crawford tonight. Julian Young stepped it up many times tonight; he’s been great for us. He’s going to be a player for us two or three years down the road that may be another Kendrick Washington-type player.”

The emergence of the defense also took some time this year because while the Lions had gifted athletes on the defensive side of the ball, they were used to the 100-yard outdoor football field, not the much smaller dimensions and tighter angles of attack the indoor game requires.

“That’s what took us a little while to get rolling,” Reed said. “We had one veteran and two rookie guys in the secondary. We were still trying to establish the linebacker position, we needed depth on the defensive line...we were a work in progress. We weren’t as good as we knew we’d be at the end of the year, but we were still trying to get wins and knew it was going to be a process. We’re looking forward to taking these guys to the end.”

Reed is used to the transition. The Russell County grad is a former standout cornerback at Troy and also has experience in the NFL. He made the transition to the Arena Football League prior to coming back home to Columbus.

“It takes a lot,” he said of the switch to the indoor game. “The concepts are different with a lot more underneath players and coverages you can go to. In the indoor game, it’s more like three-on-three basketball. You have to play man to man. You can’t double team because you’ll leave someone open. As a defensive back coach and a former player, I knew that, and we have to match up well. You have to get pressure on the quarterback, because the wide receiver has the advantage being one on one.”

Two weeks ago against Monterrey, the Lions only scored seven second half points in their win over the Steel. Against the Wolfpack on Saturday night, they made sure to play a complete 60-minute game.

“We started fast and said at halftime that we can’t let up,” Griswould said. “When you play an opponent not on the same level as you, sometimes you end up playing at their level, but we kept the foot on the gas.”

“We got caught up in the fights and name calling and all that against Monterrey, but this week, I told our guys you have to be a pro and walk away,” Gibson said. “We learned. We got a little bit better.”

Four games remain on the schedule, all against teams Columbus has previously beaten this season. After traveling to High Country on Saturday, the Lions host winless Corpus Christi in the final home game of the regular season. They close out with trips to Monterrey on June 12 and Albany to face the Georgia Firebirds on June 17.

If the season were to end today, the Lions would be the third seed and would travel to second-seeded Lehigh Valley, a team Columbus lost to on the last play of the game earlier this season.

If that game or either of the other two losses, both against Jacksonville, were played again, Reed is more confident in the outcome.

“I’d like our chances,” he said. “The first game (of the season, a home loss to Jacksonville) was the only game where we felt we were at a real disadvantage. We didn’t have any film on Jacksonville. Ever since then, I feel like we had a fighting chance every game.

“I think we’re a team on the rise and will have a chance at the end.”

Saturday at Columbus Civic Center

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 2:02 AM with the headline "Lions romp Dayton 77-0 in front of record crowd."