FLORENCE — When the Florence Phantoms roll into the Sovereign Center tonight to face Reading for the American Indoor Football Association Eastern Conference championship, the game might have a league championship feel.
In the minds of most Reading fans, they’re seeing the same team that defeated them for the AIFA title at Florence Civic Center a year ago. After all, 10 players, coaches and front-office personnel with the Phantoms have migrated from Lakeland.
But this team is not the Lakeland Thunderbolts. Not even close.
“We’ve played long enough to establish our own identity,” Florence coach Tavares Bowens said. “We are the Florence Phantoms and we will go into Reading as the Florence Phantoms.”
With five scoring passes in a 55-9 first-round win over Huntington on Monday, Florence quarterback Omar Jacobs has now fired 61 touchdowns this season.
Before Monday’s game, offensive coordinator Aso Pogi said Jacobs facilitated his maturation as an indoor football quarterback by perfecting a simple passing route that’s crucial to any team’s success.
“The seven-route is a universal route in both indoor and outdoor football,” said Pogi, who defeated Reading in last year’s AIFA title game as Lakeland’s quarterback. “We’re dealing with a quarterback that played the outdoor game but is new to the indoor game.
“He needed to learn when to throw it and how to throw it.”
With Reading drawing a league-best 4,200 fans a game at the Sovereign Center, the Phantoms have taken steps to quiet what can be a loud and unruly crowd.
“It will be a raucous atmosphere,” Bowens said. “We had the speakers blasting (at the Civic Center) and a bullhorn going off behind Omar. We should be ready for this game.”
The Phantoms are 11-4 and riding an eight-game winning streak.
In the last meeting between Florence and Reading on April 25 at the Sovereign Center, the Express got five TDs from quarterback Rob Flowers and handed the Phantoms their worst loss of the season, 66-30.
Since then, additions at almost every position have pushed Florence into the upper echelon of the league.
Should the new mix bring an AIFA title to Florence, it would be the city’s first pro championship since the Florence Blue Jays defeated Greensboro for the South Atlantic League title in 1985.
“(Reading) is a well-coached team. We’re going to match up our receivers against their defensive backs,” Bowens said. “We’re going to match up our defensive line against their offensive line and get solid pressure on their quarterback.
“Erie got solid pressure on Rob Flowers (in the Express’ first-round playoff win), but they were unable to sustain it. We need to keep him in the pocket if we’re going to win.”
The Phantoms used a two-week layoff to prepare for their first-round beating of Huntington. They’ve only had five days to prepare for the Express.
“I think (the short week) is a good thing for us,” Bowens said. “We came out of the Huntington game fairly healthy.
“We’ve played (Reading) before, and we know them very well.”
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