SIFL: Albany Panthers rally to shock Louisiana Swashbucklers, 30-27

Albany Panthers wide receiver Antwone Savage (6) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Louisiana Swashbucklers in Southern Indoor Football League action at the Albany Civic Center on Saturday, March 19, 2011.

by Walter L. Johnson II

The Albany Panthers proved the old adage of  ‘it’s not how you start, but how you finish.’

A 39-yard field goal by Wes Virgilio as time expired capped an improbable comeback, as the Panthers began their second season in the Southern Indoor Football League on a winning note, stunning the Louisiana Swashbucklers, 30-27, at the Albany Civic Center Saturday night.

“Those (missed) extra points, and the field goal, I hit the pole every time,” Virgilio said. “They weren’t bad kicks, they just missed.

“We had a good talking at the halftime,” Virgilio added, “and we all came back, and we did it all together. I just had to put the icing on the top.”

The road to that so-called ‘icing on the top’ began in the second half, with the Panthers trailing 27-7.  Albany (1-0) started the rally just three minutes into the third quarter, as back-up quarterback Cecil Lester threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to John Harris, pulling the Panthers to within two scores at 27-13.

“Just take it one play at a time,” Lester said after the game. “Like (the coaches) said at halftime, there are no 20-point plays in football, so we had to take it one play at a time.”

Albany head coach Lucious Davis echoed the reaction of Lester in making the comeback, saying that the Panthers had to compose themselves to play better in the second half.

“We weren’t playing that bad, we were just doing a lot of things wrong,” Davis said. “So, I just told them, just calm down, and settle down and play.

“I think a lot of guys were just all excited about the game, and wanted to beat (the Swashbucklers) bad,” added Davis, “instead of just doing their job, and taking it one play at a time.”

Albany scored the first points of the game almost three minutes into the contest, as starting quarterback A.J. McKenna connected with wide receiver Antwone Savage for a 6-0 lead. A rouge by Virgilio on the kickoff gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

But Louisiana (0-1) dominated the rest of the first half, scoring 27 unanswered points to take the lead into the locker room at halftime.

Still, Albany fought back in the second half, as the defense forced two Swashbuckler turnovers to help to swing the momentum in the Panthers favor.

“The defense played a lot better in the second half,” Davis said. “It was just a lot of little that we (weren’t) doing.  Once we corrected the little things that we were doing, (we) got the pressure that we needed, and everything else came through.”

As the Panthers prepare for their first road game of the season against the Carolina Speed Friday, Davis knows his team must get off to a better start to have a chance to win.

“We can’t slow start (like) we did (Saturday),” explained Davis. “If we start this slow, it’s going to be a long night again. 

“We just have to capitalize.  We dropped four touchdowns, and we blew some protection assignments.  If we eliminate that, then we’ll be fine.  We have a lot of improvement to do.”