In the first National Arena League (NAL) Playoff game, the Columbus Lions upset Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, making a trip to the first NAL championship game. The Lions pulling away 52-50 makes them go to their league championship for the third year in a row.
Columbus Lions Upset Lehigh Valley Steelhawks
In a game much like the first match-up between these two, Columbus Lions seal the deal and have the final word in Allentown, PA.
Early In the Game
The game started really slow for Columbus, allowing 14 points in the first eight minutes of the game, before finally scoring in the second quarter. The Lions defense could not do anything to stop the Lehigh Valley offense as the half ended, as the score was 21-9 Steelhawks going into halftime.
The second quarter is where Columbus got serious and played like they wanted a shot at this championship game.
It was a decent third quarter, as Columbus scored 29 points and Lehigh Valley scored 22 points. Things were looking a little closer with the score being 43-29 with the Steelhawks on top still, but things started to look promising for the Steelhawks.
It was a battle of defenses up until this point. The Steel defense went out of the picture in the fourth quarter as they almost gave up more points in just the fourth quarter than they have in the first three. The Lions stood strong in the fourth quarter, both offensively and defensively, holding the Steelhawks to only seven points and scoring 23 points.
An Interesting Second Half
The game was looking a lot like the first meeting between the two teams this season. Columbus did the same exact thing they did last time, allowing a quick touchdown with under a minute left, but fortunately for them, they were still ahead by two.
Instead of going for the deuce, Lehigh Valley went with the squib kick with 44 seconds left and two touchdowns, one of which was used before the first play was even snapped. The window was closing more and more as time progressed until finally, the game came to an end, this time, the #3 Columbus Lions upsetting the #2 Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.
The Columbus Lions will either travel to Jacksonville to face the Jacksonville Sharks in the championship game or the Lions will host the championship game in Columbus, GA if Monterrey can pull the upset against Jacksonville on Saturday, June 24.
