The Story of the WildCatters Football Team in Lafayette Louisiana

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  If home is where the heart is; the Lafayette Wildcatters (5-4) hearts are all in the Cajundome as the Wildcatters remained undefeated at home last Saturday, with a 48-46 win over the Albany Panthers (7-2).

Coach Skip Foster continues to be pleased with the Wildcatters performance, “There’s no doubt that we’re playing good football right now. But playing good football was our expectation.”

With last Saturday’s victory the Wildcatters have clinched a playoff berth, but now they are hungry for more, and that is a home playoff game. A win this week versus the Columbus Lions (6-3) would pull the Wildcatters in to a tie for second place in the league. The top two teams in the league host the opening round playoff games.

When the two teams met on April 24, 2010, the Wildcatters played one of their worse games of the season, a 54-26 loss. Coach Foster was quick to point out that the Lions and there Coach Jason Gibson had a hand in the Wildcatters poor performance. “Coach Gibson is a good football coach. He schemes very well, and they had a good plan in that game. This week we will have to be ready for some new looks on both offense and defense as Coach Gibson will change things up.”

The Lions got out to a 21-3 first quarter lead and never looked back. Columbus’ domination included 4 sacks and 4 interceptions. Lions’ quarterback Chris McCoy had a good game throwing the ball, going 19 of 37 for 257 yards and 5 touchdowns. Four different receivers caught touchdown passes, lead by Tirone Morris who had 2 touchdown catches.

This week’s game will match the two leaders in interceptions in the Southern Indoor Football League, in Columbus’ cornerback, Damian “Nighthawk” Daniels, who has 11 interceptions, and Wildcatter’s middle safety and current SIFL Defensive Player of the Week, Clarence Pendleton. Pendleton has 9 interceptions, 2 returned for touchdowns, and 151 yards in return yardage. “Nighthawk” Daniels moved in to an elite category on Saturday, June 5th, as he intercepted his 50th pass in indoor football.

Kickoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. but Wildcatter management encourages everyone to get to the Cajundome early for the pyrotechnics show before the game. The Wildcatters close out their season next Saturday on the road at the Louisiana Swashbucklers. Tickets are available at the Cajundome box office.

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If the conference calls among Southern Indoor Football League coaches and owners are any indication, the Columbus Lions’ first season in the league has been a success. Rather than crunching budget numbers and dealing .

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  In what proved to be the last home game for the Lafayette Wildcatters this season, it came down to a last gasp 53-yard field goal by former UL placekicker Sean Comiskey.

But the kick would fall short, and so would the Wildcatters' comeback attempt as Columbus escaped with a 58-55 victory in Southern Indoor Football League action Saturday night in the Cajundome.

In losing their first home game after five victories, Lafayette fell to 5-5 on the season and Columbus improved to 7-3. Lafayette will not finish in the top two in the league standings and won't be able to host a potential playoff game.

Columbus clinched the two seed and Albany will be the No. 1 seed.

Lafayette will play next week in Lake Charles when it takes on the Louisiana Swashbucklers. The Wildcatters have beaten the Swashbucklers twice this season — 59-52 and 63-47.

But for the second time this season, the Wildcatters were unable to defeat the Columbus Lions, although this game was a lot closer than the earlier 54-26 loss.

Even though the game ended 58-55, the only time the Wildcatters led was early on when they used a point on the opening kickoff and a field goal by Comiskey to take a 4-0 lead.

Columbus came right back and took only five plays for their first score, a 29-yard pass from quarterback Chris McCoy to receiver Lonnell DeWalt for a 7-4 lead. It would turn out to be a lead they would not relinquish.

The 6-foot-7 DeWalt, who played collegiately at Kentucky, would continue to haunt the Wildcatters throughout the game, finishing with 10 catches for 190 yards and four touchdowns.

Lafayette was without its top defensive back, middle safety Clarence Pendleton, and Columbus was able to use it to their advantage.

The Lions opened up their biggest lead of the game at 33-12 and maintained a comfortable 36-19 lead by halftime.

The Wildcatters were able to cut it to three points twice in the second half, but could never grab back the lead.

Despite the loss, Lafayette quarterback Juan Joseph had a stellar performance. The 6-2, 195-pounder from Millsaps College threw five touchdown passes and also ran one in from seven yards out. Clyde Edwards from Grambling was his main target, catching 10 passes for 132 yards and three scores.

Columbus finished with 338 yards total offense to Lafayette's 241. The game was also a sloppy affair throughout as the two teams combined for 23 penalties for 208 yards.

WIldcatters Press

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In what proved to be the last home game for the Lafayette Wildcatters this season, it came down to a last gasp 53-yard field goal by former UL placekicker Sean Comiskey. But the kick would fall short, and so would the .

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LAKE CHARLES, LA (JUNE 22, 2010) - The Southern Indoor Football League enters its final weekend of the regular season with its top two teams, the Albany Panthers (8-2) and the Columbus Lions (7-3), pitted against one .

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Columbus Lions wide receiver Lonnell Dewalt, Albany Panthers linebacker Larry Edwards, and Columbus Lions kicker Trey Crum have been named as the Southern Indoor Football Leagues Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams .

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LAKE CHARLES - With both clubs having qualified for the 2010 playoffs, the Lafayette Wildcatters (5-5) and the Louisiana Swashbucklers (5-5) of the Southern Indoor Football League will clash in the .

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LAKE CHARLES — The Lafayette Wildcatters and Louisiana Swashbucklers have both qualified for the SIFL playoffs that begin on Saturday, July 10. The question now becomes who is going to Albany, and who is going to .

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LAKE CHARLES — The Lafayette Wildcatters used an improbable fourth quarter comeback here Saturday night and defeated the Louisiana Swashbucklers 31-30 in Southern Indoor Football League action at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

In a fourth quarter where the Wildcatters converted on big play after big play, they needed some help from the Swashbucklers at the end of the game to seal the win.

Louisiana kicker Blake Bercegeay then gave the visitors that much-needed help when he missed from only 19 yards away. Lafayette then ran out the clock for the win.

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Thanks for following the Wildcatters on WildCatters.WS

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LAKE CHARLES, LA (JUNE 27, 2010) - The Southern Indoor Football League would like to have all their fans get ready for the 2010 playoffs by joining them this Monday night, June 28th for a Fan Zone Chat beginning at 8:00 .

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Columbus Lions receiver Gerald Gales has been named the SIFL Offensive Player of the Week, marking the third consecutive time a Lions receiver has won the award. Gales had seven receptions for 139 yards and two .

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Eric Phillips (6’8 320 Southern Miss) if this week's Defensive Player of the Week. On Saturday, his sack and fumble recovery was the deciding factor in the Wildcatters thrilling 31-30 win over their ‘I-10’ rivals. The win gave Lafayette the sweep over the Swashbucklers and more importantly the overall number third seed in the SIFL 2010 setting up a rematch between his club and the Lions on July 8th.

Earning his second nod as the Special Teams Player of the Week is Lafayette Wildcatters kicker Sean Comiskey (5’9 170, UL-Lafayette). In the Wildcatters season finale game against the Swashbucklers, Comiskey notched seven points, including a perfect 4 for 4 in PAT attempts as well as a 35-yard field goal. After winning the award back in Week 12, this is Sean’s second SIFL honor.

The Lions host the Wildcatters on July 8 in a first-round playoff game. The winner will advance to play the winner of that week's Albany-Louisiana game in the SIFL championship.

By: Matthew Hester
Southern Indoor Football League

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ALBANY — Stealth Panthers? Invisible offense? Call it what you like but through no fault (or planning) of their own, the Panthers might have the biggest edge against their playoff opponent by simply giving the .

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