Columbus Rallies Past Wheeling To Capture AAL Championship
WHEELING - Columbus and Wheeling met twice during the regular season of the American Arena League with the Lions prevailing by a total of three points.
Saturday night inside WesBanco Arena, the Georgia-based outfit defeated the Miners, 49-46, to capture the AAL championship.
Wheeling (6-3) led 14-0 near the end of the first half, but Columbus (9-0) used the Gold Ball - which doubles the points when down by 14 - to its advantage, tying the game and then took a 16-14 lead on a safety.
However, the Miners grabbed a 20-16 lead at the half, but were outscored 20-0 in the third quarter as penalties and turnovers were costly.
"Even with their scoring with the Gold Ball we still had the game in hand," Wheeling head coach Chris McKinney said. "The safety was a real bad gut shot. To make a mistake like that in the heat of the moment put us down, but we made up for it. God gave us a reprieve. We got back up, but penalties and turnovers really hurt in the second half.
"It was all on us. It wasn't anyone's fault but ours," he added. "The team that makes the most mistakes loses the game. That's what happened."
The Lions scored on a 6-yard run by Marco Lee and Mekall Yancie scooped up a fumble and rumbled 15 yards to make it 29-20 in favor of the visitors. Following another Miners' fumble, quarterback Blaine Espinosa connected with Jarmon Fortson from 8 yards out and the lead grew to 36-20.
Trailing 43-20 in the fourth quarter, Wheeling used the Gold Ball to close to within 43-32 on a 16-yard scoring connection from Darryll Clark to Alex Coleman. Clark made it 43-40 with a 1-yard TD run and Brandon Munoz bulled in for the two points.
However, Espinosa's short TD plunge made it 49-40 before Clark and Ranius Daramola teamed up on a 40-yard scoring play as time expired.
Clark, the former Penn State signal caller, passed for 206 yards and four touchdowns on 13-of-24 while also running for 41 yards and two more scores in a gutsy performance.
"He had to play through injury because our backup (Kahlil Trotman) tore up his knee," McKinney said.
Coleman led the Miners with five catches for 70 yards and two TDs, while Daramola and Andre Cobb had four receptions each, with Daramola gaining 71 yards and Cobb 65.
Espinosa was also 13-of-24 for 147 yards and three TDs. He also ran for a score. Fortson, a former Florida State wideout, caught six passes for 41 yards and a pair of scores.
Peach State Wins
The Peach State Cats (10-0) capped an unbeaten season Saturday afternoon with a 44-12 victory over the Steel City Stampede inside WesBanco Arena to capture the AAL2 Championship Bowl.
Leading 15-6 at the half, the Cats' defense and special teams took over in the second half. Peach State returned a trio of interceptions for touchdowns and also returned a kickoff for another six points.
James Gray (48 yds.), Marquis Robinson (30) and Dante Leggett (46) all had a pick-6, while Antonio Turner ran a kickoff back 40 yards.