Phantoms try to bring Florence a championship

FLORENCE—On Thursday, Florence coach Tavares Bowens and Wyoming coach Dan Maciejczak stood side by side along the sidelines at an empty Florence Civic Center.

Tonight, the pair will be on opposite sidelines directing their teams as the Phantoms and Cavalry butt heads for the American Indoor Football Association championship.

“I did a lot of research, and I know Florence has a lot of guys who won a title with Lakeland last year,” Maciejczak said. “The Eastern Conference is so tough, it was a matter of who would be the last team standing. And Florence turned out to be that team.”

“We have a good coaching staff and a good ownership group in place,” Bowens said. “Plus we have guys that want to win a championship and have a championship mindset.”

While the Phantoms are relative newcomers on this stage, Wyoming comes into the contest with championship game experience. The Cavalry faced Fayetteville in last year’s National Indoor Football League title game. And although they fell to the Guard, the experience gained from that game has helped them in the first AIFA campaign.

“I don’t deserve much of the credit for the way our team has played this season. Our guys are really focused,” Maciejczak said. “Most of the season, we’ve been experimenting on offense and defense to see what would work in this league.”

Florence’s defense, while formidable, will face one of the most potent offenses to ever take the field in the AIFA. Led by quarterback Matt Strand, Wyoming lit up the scoreboard this season, scoring over 90 points twice and once topping the century mark.

Strand enters the game with 3,351 yards through the air with 87 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions. B.J. Charlton and Dante Dudley are his go-to receivers, combining for 41 of those scoring strikes.

As terrifying as the Cavalry’s passing attack has been throughout the season, Wyoming can also be dangerous on the ground. James Jones racked up more than 600 yards and 23 TDs this season.

“We’re expecting a (heck) of a game (tonight). We’ve waited all season for this,” Phantoms linebacker Rob Potochney said. “This is a battle between the east and the west.”

Despite the lofty offensive numbers, Maciejczak said looks could be deceiving.

“We score as much as we can as fast as we can,” he said. “We started the season off with a lot of experience from last year. We also played a lot of expansion teams which resulted in the high scoring numbers.”

Florence has a lethal offensive attack as well. In his first season of indoor football, Omar Jacobs has thrown for 3,599 yards, 66 TDs and 13 picks. High school teammates A.J. Bennett and Tres Moses have combined for 1,986 yards and 41 scores.

Former South Florence standout Torrey Pettigrew, Reggie Glover and Citadel product C.J. Washington have also contributed to the offense in a big way this season.

Jacobs, however, will have to throw into the territory of two of the best defensive backs in the league. Corey Roberson and Tanney Tetrault racked up 10 and nine interceptions, respectively, with three TDs to lead Wyoming.

“With the caliber of players we have here, I’m not surprised we’re here,” Jacobs said. “Wyoming is a good opponent, and they’ll be a great matchup in the championship game.“

“When you look at both teams on film, you see two great quarterbacks,” Maciejczak said. “Matt’s played the indoor game for awhile, but Omar has learned the game quickly.

“It’s going to be fun to see our offenses against our respective defenses.“

Nevertheless, Florence is confident with its chances and what a win would mean to the team.

“We’re not going to settle for anything less,” Potochney said. “When we came here, we expected to play in the championship game. I had no doubts, personally.“

“This win would mean a lot to me because in Lakeland, we had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs,” Phantoms general manager Bennie King said. “This year, the Phantoms had to win (the conference title) in Reading. No one gave us a chance to win there.

“But we beat them and now we’re back home looking to win a title.”