Post by pking34 on Oct 15, 2007 15:28:33 GMT -5
A few fast facts about our 3rd round NAFL Playoff opponent, the Alabama Lightning:
1- The name "Alabama Lightning" is sort of a misnomer this year; they actually play out of Pensacola, FL, and 43 of their 56 players played high school football in Pensacola (in fact, 18 of them played for ONE TEAM, something we'll get back to in a minute). They are in their 4th year as an NAFL franchise (cumulative 4-year record of 38-7); they were owned in their first 3 years by Tony Goza and played out of Orange Beach, AL (just across Mobile Bay from Mobile). Goza, over the winter, sold the team to Dale Moran, who moved the team to Pensacola (only 40-45 miles away from Orange Beach).
2- They're 9-2 this year; both of their losses were at home (to the Macon Tiger Cats and the Port City Monarchs), and they avenged both of these losses by beating the Tiger Cats and the Monarchs (twice) at their place. So, like the Nashville Storm, the Lightning are undefeated as a road team this season (which should concern us, since we're playing at home).
3- 18 members of this Lightning squad played on the 2000 Pensacola Pine Forest High School team, who were the 2000 4A Florida State Football Champions; this means that not only are they talented, but that they know each other really well, as a heavy percentage of this team has played together ever since youth football.
4- One of the Pine Forest alums, #98, 6'6", 265 lb DE Seante Williams is a BEAST (albeit a well-traveled BEAST). He's played collegiately for Auburn, Coffeyville CC, Southern Mississippi and Jacksonville State. Since college, he's had cups of coffee with both the Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, played for the Colorado Crush (John Elway's Arena1 team), the Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League), and in NFL Europe for the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Hamburg Sea Devils. Seante delivered an early knockout blow to the Port City Monarchs' Baby James Mathews (#2-remember him?-had 2 long TDs against us) last weekend in the Lightning's 24-0 beatdown of the Monarchs: they had to carry Baby James off the field. Dude can play; gets there fast and in a bad humor.
5- The Lightning has 2 very good running backs; one of them, #24, Demarcus Blount (Pine Forest/North Alabama) was one of the leading rushers in University of North Alabama history; the other, #28, Paul Lawrence, played college ball here in Tennessee at Bethel with our Mario Merriweather and Taris Frederick. Lightning LB Donald Tharpe (#35), another Pine Forest alum, was the leading tackler and tackle-for-loss guy on a 13-0 North Alabama team.
WE HOPE TO BE COMPETITIVE.
NEXT HOME GAME (NAFL PLAYOFFS): NASHVILLE STORM vs. ALABAMA LIGHTNING, SATURDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 20, 7 PM, STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL, 1800 Stratford Avenue, Nashville,TN 37216.
1- The name "Alabama Lightning" is sort of a misnomer this year; they actually play out of Pensacola, FL, and 43 of their 56 players played high school football in Pensacola (in fact, 18 of them played for ONE TEAM, something we'll get back to in a minute). They are in their 4th year as an NAFL franchise (cumulative 4-year record of 38-7); they were owned in their first 3 years by Tony Goza and played out of Orange Beach, AL (just across Mobile Bay from Mobile). Goza, over the winter, sold the team to Dale Moran, who moved the team to Pensacola (only 40-45 miles away from Orange Beach).
2- They're 9-2 this year; both of their losses were at home (to the Macon Tiger Cats and the Port City Monarchs), and they avenged both of these losses by beating the Tiger Cats and the Monarchs (twice) at their place. So, like the Nashville Storm, the Lightning are undefeated as a road team this season (which should concern us, since we're playing at home).
3- 18 members of this Lightning squad played on the 2000 Pensacola Pine Forest High School team, who were the 2000 4A Florida State Football Champions; this means that not only are they talented, but that they know each other really well, as a heavy percentage of this team has played together ever since youth football.
4- One of the Pine Forest alums, #98, 6'6", 265 lb DE Seante Williams is a BEAST (albeit a well-traveled BEAST). He's played collegiately for Auburn, Coffeyville CC, Southern Mississippi and Jacksonville State. Since college, he's had cups of coffee with both the Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, played for the Colorado Crush (John Elway's Arena1 team), the Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League), and in NFL Europe for the Frankfurt Galaxy and the Hamburg Sea Devils. Seante delivered an early knockout blow to the Port City Monarchs' Baby James Mathews (#2-remember him?-had 2 long TDs against us) last weekend in the Lightning's 24-0 beatdown of the Monarchs: they had to carry Baby James off the field. Dude can play; gets there fast and in a bad humor.
5- The Lightning has 2 very good running backs; one of them, #24, Demarcus Blount (Pine Forest/North Alabama) was one of the leading rushers in University of North Alabama history; the other, #28, Paul Lawrence, played college ball here in Tennessee at Bethel with our Mario Merriweather and Taris Frederick. Lightning LB Donald Tharpe (#35), another Pine Forest alum, was the leading tackler and tackle-for-loss guy on a 13-0 North Alabama team.
WE HOPE TO BE COMPETITIVE.
NEXT HOME GAME (NAFL PLAYOFFS): NASHVILLE STORM vs. ALABAMA LIGHTNING, SATURDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 20, 7 PM, STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL, 1800 Stratford Avenue, Nashville,TN 37216.