Lions beat ‘Canes in thriller

Team scores with two seconds left to end regular season with 10-0 record

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Lions went into the game undefeated and as the NFC Central Division Champions of the East Coast Football Association. They were in second place in the NFC, just under the also undefeated South Jersey Generals, who won the tiebreaker under the strength of schedule clause of the tiebreaking rules. The Generals were the team that put the Lions out of the second round of playoffs last year.

The outcome of the May 30 game would have no bearing anywhere in the standings and nothing would change the Lions' playoff picture. However, to be undefeated, to be able to say 10-0, meant a lot to the Lions.

This game turned out to be the most exciting one this year as it was won in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter as the Lions eked out a 35-34 victory.

With the Lions trailing 34-28 late in regulation, the Hurricanes kicked the ball to the goal line and Lions defensive back Devonte Williams returned it 31 yards to start the drive.

After an incomplete pass, Lions quarterback Tyler McConnell was forced out of the pocket and had a 13-yard gain, then threw to Dwight Savoy for eight yards, Greg Bowman for 17 yards, Travis Savoy for 15 yards, Bowman again for 22 yards and finally Travis Savoy for four yards, who also got out of bounds to stop the clock.

McConnell threw another pass which was incomplete but it also briefly stopped the clock.

The Lions were on the 2-yard line and there were 10 seconds left in the game when McConnell threw the ball to Bowman in the end zone for the touchdown to tie the game. There was two seconds left.

Kiante Webb kicked the ball for the extra point and, while the crowd held its breath, the kick was good.

The sidelines went wild, the fans went wild, but the Lions still had two seconds and they had to kick the ball back to the Hurricanes, who had proven they were perfectly capable of scoring.

The Lions kicked the ball out of bounds on purpose and the Hurricanes got one more play from their own 40. Quarterback Marcus Parham threw a Hail Mary pass to a Lions prevent defense and Derrick Manning intercepted the ball to end the game.

The game began with a 10-yard kickoff return by Dwight Savoy and the Lions started on their own 38. This began a 62-yard drive for the end zone, which included 25 yards rushing by Dwight Savoy, a 15-yard pass to Curtis Harris and a 21-yard pass to Bowman for the touchdown. Webb kicked the extra point to put the Lions up, 7-0.

The Hurricanes started on their 40 after the kick went out of bounds and rushed for four yards before throwing an interception to the Lions' Averill Butler, who ran it 10 yards before he was taken down.

Later, the Hurricanes snapped the ball wild and Justin Kelly picked it up and ran it 35 yards to the 13 to set up the next Lions touchdown early in the second quarter.

A 3-yard pass to Arturo Gabbedon and a 10-yard run by Dwight Savoy yielded the Lions their second touchdown and, after another Webb extra point, the Lions led, 14-0.

The Hurricanes returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards, setting them up on the 48. They had one good run of 16 yards before throwing another interception to Manning, who ran the ball 43 yards to leave his team 15 yards to go for the touchdown.

A 15-yard pass from McConnell to Bowman gave the Lions their third score of the day and, with the extra point by Webb, the score was 21-0.

Later, the Hurricanes got the ball back on their own 20. On second down and 8, Parham threw the ball to Makiha Cooper 78 yards for the Hurricanes' first touchdown of the day. They went for the two-point conversion, but were stopped by the Lions defense, leaving the score at 21-6.

Courteney Knight received the next kickoff and ran it 32 yards to start the Lions on the 48. Dwight Savoy ran the ball eight yards and McConnell threw a 40-yard pass to Gabbedon to answer the Hurricanes' score with a Lions touchdown.

The Hurricanes got the ball back on the 46. Three plays later, Parham threw a 47-yard pass to Malcolm Smith for their second score of the game. The two-point conversion was good and the score going into the half still had the Lions in front, 28-14.

The Hurricanes took over on downs on their own 37 for their second drive of the second half.

They drove down the field 59 yards, then Elliott Wright ran the ball nine yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good and the score was 28-20.

The Hurricanes' defense held the Lions to a net of four yards and the Lions punted back to the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes ended a 39-yard drive with a 10-yard run by running back Eric Johnson for their fourth touchdown of the day. The two-point conversion was stopped by the Lions defense and the Lions still led, 28-26.

The Lions got the ball back on their own 40 after the Hurricanes kicked it out of bounds, but the Lions could only move the ball six yards and punted it back to the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes drove the ball 31 yards to the 21 and the Lions helped them out with a late hit penalty, putting the ball on the 5.

The Lions defense held them there for three plays. But, on the fourth, Parham ran the ball in for the go-ahead touchdown and the Hurricanes were ahead for the first time in the game. The two-point conversion was good and the Hurricanes led 34-28 with 3 minutes 20 seconds left in the game.

But the Lions would have the final say with the final touchdown late to pull out the win.

The Lions have a bye this week. Their first playoff game will be at 1 p.m., June 13 at Chaney Field, also known as The Lion's Den. They will play the Atlantic City Devils if the Devils win their first round playoff game. If they don't, the Lions will play the winner of the New Castle Saints versus Baltimore Hurricanes game.