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Panthers beat Lions in resumption of rivalry

New father Dopita and teammates declaw Lions with suffocating defense

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 7th, 2008 issue

BOX SCORE



By quarter Final
Panthers 0 16 0 7 23
Lions 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring
2nd qtr: Panthers ? Dlouhý 2-yd run, Srp kick; Safety; Kolek 12-yd pass from Shrum, Srp kick
4th qtr: Panthers ? Dopita 5-yd run, Srp kick
Rushing
Panthers: Dlouhý 14-58, Zvada 14-48, Shrum 9-38, Dopita 7-30
Lions: Gabriel 11-23, Sotola 5-16, Petrikovič 1-2, Dundáček 1- -1, Navrátil 2- -8
Passing
Panthers: Shrum 2-9 13 yds, 1 td, 1 int
Lions: Navrátil 8-28 53 yds. 0 td, 3 int
Receiving
Panthers: Kolek 1-12, Zvada 1-1
Lions: Dundáček 5-36, Halenkovský 2-14, Hlavatý 1-3

Miroslav Dopita woke up Sunday, May 4, anticipating a big day.
At 11 a.m., his wife gave birth to their first child, a healthy boy. And, a few hours later, the Prague Panthers’ massive fullback crashed through several would-be tacklers and plunged into the end zone to cap his team’s 23-0 whitewashing of the Prague Lions in the first meeting of the two American football teams this year.
With obligations at home, Dopita didn’t linger to celebrate what had been a sloppy, defensive struggle.
The Lions managed only 85 yards against Daniel Krejbich and his hard-hitting cohorts. But the Panthers defense handed back almost 100 yards in penalties, mostly of the unnecessary “trash talking” personal foul variety.
“Discipline is the biggest problem we have,” said Panthers coach John Srholec of a team that has yet to lose a game during his tenure.
Meanwhile, a Lions defense led by linebackers Jan Šimánek (two sacks and one forced fumble) and Shaka Martin stifled the Panthers potent running game, holding the backfield trio of Dopita, Martin Dlouhý and Jan Zvada in check until midway through the fourth quarter.
“They were stacking the box,” Panthers quarterback Jake Shrum said. “They shut us down pretty good on the run.”
Unfortunately for the home squad, the offense sputtered. Quarterback Libor Navrátil was intercepted three times — twice in the red zone and once by new father Dopita, doubling as a linebacker. Even more costly was a bizarre series of bad snaps from center Lukáš Kratochvíl in the first half, costing 32 yards and a safety.
“I really don’t have much to say,” an obviously frustrated Martin Kocián, Lions head coach, said afterwards. “We didn’t execute.”
Most of the scoring occurred in a brief spurt during the second quarter. Dopita’s pick gave the Panthers decent field position for the first time and their offense responded with a 10-play drive covering 54 yards, the last two by Dlouhý, diving for the score. Moments later, the team earned two points on the safety. Soon after, in control of the ball again, Shrum hit wide receiver Jan Kolek for a 12-yard touchdown strike.
The Panthers win puts them in control of the ČLAF and provides critical momentum going into their May 11 confrontation with the Danube Dragons in EFAF Cup play.

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com


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