(Swashbuckler quarterback Alvin Bartie threw for eight touchdowns and 268 yards against the North Texas Crunch. Photo by Darla S. Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography, Copyright 2010, All Right Reserved)By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2010 TexSport Publications
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA (March 20, 2010) With a rousing rendition of the national anthem and the game ball delivered to the officials like the birth of a baby, the Louisiana Swashbucklers kicked off the 2010 SIFL season with a 88-6 trouncing of the North Texas Crunch at the Lake Charles Civic Center on Saturday night.
The Swashbucklers were schedule to play the Houston Lightning to begin the season but due to problems with the Lightning’s failure to secure a venue for games, they dropped out of the SIFL for the season.
The game between two different indoor league champions was not the battle of the titans that everyone expected. The Crunch is the defending IIFL champions and had beaten the East Texas Drillers 49-18 last week.
The Swashbucklers held the Crunch on their first offensive drive and took command of the ball from that point, scoring three times in the first quarter.
At the 9:08 mark, Louisiana scored on their first offensive play with a 38-yard pass from Alvin Bartie to Marcus Wilridge.
Lapeacus Celestine followed up two minutes later with a 1-yard run to make the score 14-0.
Courtney Brooks scored the third Swashbuckler touchdown in the first quarter when he snagged an interception to take the score to 21-0 after 15 minutes.
The second quarter saw the Swashbucklers score four more touchdowns without any response from the Crunch.
Bartie threw all four touchdown passes with the first going to Sammy Knight for a 50-yard score at the 12:46 mark.
Bartie then connected with Jermaine Martin with a 20-yard touchdown pass and came back on the next set of down with a 24-yard pass to Wilridge to add to the score.
He finished out the half with another scoring pass to Knight to take the score to 49-0.
(The Swashbuckler mascot was handing out doubloons to the loyal fans of the home team. Photo by Darla S. Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography, Copyright 2010, All Right Reserved)
The Crunch finally got on the board in the third quarter with an 18-yard pass from Josh Booker to Jarred Perryman. The one-point conversion failed, to make the score 56-6.
Prior to the Crunch score, the Swashbucklers scored another touchdown when Bartie again found Martin in the end zone with a 5-yard pass.
The Swashbucklers then put Jermaine Davis in at quarterback and he promptly scored with an 11-yard pass to Davis. Bartie returned to the game after Davis hyper-extended his knee and handed the ball off to Celestine. He quickly ran in for the first rushing score of the game to close out the third quarter with a 68-6 score.
The fourth quarter saw Louisiana score three more times. At the 13:57 mark, Bartie again connected with Wilridge on a 48-yard pass.
The Crunch took control of the ball after that, but could not get their offense to put the points on the board.
The Swashbucklers came back to score twice in the final two minutes. With 1:21 left in the game Celestine run from the 8-yard line to score, followed by the two-point conversion.
Bartie closed out the game with 24-seconds left on a 17-yard pass to Knight.
The Swashbucklers had a total of 307 yards of offense, with 279 in the air. The Crunch could only manage 75 yards of total offense and a mere 18 minutes on offense.
Bartie went 10 for 24 and 268 yards in the air while Knight had 121 yards receiving.
Louisiana will return to the field on March 27 when they travel to Georgia to face the Columbus Lions with a 7:30pm start.
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