The Predators march toward the Arena League playoffs has taken a slight detour over the past month. Orlando entered Saturday night’s match-up with the Georgia Force on a two game losing streak hoping to put the train back on the tracks but the Force had other plans.
Georgia has Arena Bowl aspirations as well and it showed tonight in their play. The Force blistered the Predators 64-34 to improve to 9-6 while the loss dropped the Predators to 8-6. This also served as the third worst loss in team history.
Maybe it was the gloomy Orlando weather that did the Predators in because the conditions outside mirrored the environment on the field. The Preds committed 12 penalties throughout the ballgame as their mistakes were part of their eventual undoing.
Predators offensive juggernaut Nick Hill was unusually quiet due to Georgia’s defense and Orlando’s mistake filled play. Hill finished with only 244 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Once the game was out of Orlando’s reach late in the 4th quarter Predators head coach Pat O’Hara pulled Hill from the game.
The loss drops Orlando into a tie for the very last playoff spot in their conference, which means their last four games of the season are of vital importance.
“We gotta get back to work, get some wins here soon and get ourselves into a position for the playoffs,” said O’Hara. “We’ve got a long way to go the next couple of games to fix it,” O’Hara continued.
The Predators continue their home stand next week as they face the 8-6 Pittsburgh Power at 8pm. The game is to be televised on the NFL Network.
