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November 4, 2009

Lions back in semifinals

Shooting for a GFCFL crown

By Larry Fleming

In studying film of Dominion Christian, Christian Heritage coach Mike Vaden quickly noticed something about his Glory For Christ Football League semifinal playoff opponent — the Knights have shown significant improvement since the two teams played on Sept. 4.

The second-seeded Lions (8-1), the defending league champion, play the third-seeded Knights (7-2) at 3:45 p.m. in the second semifinal game at Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs on Saturday. Georgia Force plays the North Georgia Falcons in the other semifinal at 1 p.m.

The league championship is scheduled for Nov. 14.

“We played Dominion earlier in the season and the film I watched on them Monday when they played the Force, it’s clear they’re a much better team now,” Vaden said. “They had a very difficult end of their season. They beat the Force (26-20) and lost to North Georgia (11-8). So, they played the first- and fourth-place teams in our playoffs very close. I think we’ll be in a real dogfight with these guys.”

While the Knights were locked into competitive games down the stretch, the Lions simply rolled past their last three opponents, so much so they were able to give eighth-grade players game experience in each contest. The Lions shelled Horizon Christian, 59-14, Cumber-land Christian, 48-0, and walloped the Bartow Generals, 56-8, in the first round of the GFCFL playoffs last week.

“That is something that you’re concerned with as a coach,” Vaden said. “The primary responsibility for getting the team ready to play is mine. We have stressed this the past few days. We showed them tape of our first game with Dominion and reminded them what a struggle that was. They saw how we played, how Dominion played. And we’ve told them about how much improvement Dominion has made since we played.

“But we think we’ve im-proved as well.”

Vaden said he was supportive of the league adding the first-round playoff game, but each one a week ago was one-sided contests. Still, Vaden said the opener has more positives than negatives.

“It’s a good idea,” he said. “It gives everyone an extra game and a chance to tune up for the tougher games ahead. Each team won handily last week. We won big and Dominion won 31-0, so they had an experience similar to ours.

“Now the games will become much tougher, but that’s what the playoffs are about. The best teams are supposed to be there.”

The Lions are led offensively by fullback Terrell Wilson and quarterback Daniel Pierce. Wilson has rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season. Pierce and Wilson have also made solid impacts on defense.

Christian Heritage has outscored its nine opponents, 418-83 this season and is averaging 46.4 points per game heading into Saturday’s semifinals.

The Lions probably have more balance in their offensive attack, Vaden said, but like Dominion like to run the ball at every opportunity. The coach said Dominion’s speed at most every skill position is of concern to him.

“Now they don’t have a speedster who can’t be caught if he breaks into the open,” Vaden said, “but their quickness across the board is a major concern to us. Their skilled kids are skilled. To be successful defensively, we have to stop their run. They don’t throw the ball well enough to win ballgames. They have to run and so do we. We’ll throw it enough to loosen up their defense.”

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