By Tim Blasco

Central Penn Capitals lose 37-27 in their home opener to Lehigh Valley

In the grand scheme of things you really have to look at Professional Indoor Football as a rookie league. Especially at the AIF level. Most of the players for both squads were new to indoor football. As Central Penn hosted the Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks, the game left a lot to be desired. Both teams dropped passes at key moments, and looked sloppy. There were a lot of flashes that made it worth watching though. Especially in the early parts of the game.

Capitols coach Rick Marsilio always looks calm and collected. In 2015 he took a team of rookies to the AIF Championships. His roster was rounded out with QB E.J. Nemeth who during one game just smiled at him and ran the exact play they were both thinking of. Its not a stretch to say things have changed. For starters the venue is different. The Capitals no longer play in the same city of York, they play at the Harrisburg Farm Show. As for thei starters they only have 2 players back this year from last year. That’s exactly what Coach Marsilio wanted though. In fact he was once quoted as saying that this league is an improvement league. Its fun to win, sure. The main goal is to bring home trophies but these young men also want to improve into ultimately the AFL, CFL, or NFL.

The Capitals are far from their lofty heights of 2015 AIF Champs. They showed promise tonight on Kickoff Returns and a few drop plays. Their biggest threat was WR Rob Wright who looked spectacular tonight. He returned several deep kicks for major yardage and added a few quick grabs for over 70 yds receiving. The offense scored a lot of points on the ground which points out the flaw in their game. If you can’t pass, it’s awfully hard to win in indoor football. The fast paced short field makes run place quick and unforgiving.

Tonights game was not the greatest effort. Coach Marsilio looked as excited at post game as my dog before a bath. He wanted more from the game but he has a whole new roster. Luckily there is a 22 day break between tonight and the next Capitals game. Several if not all positions showed promise but will need to improve. Middle defense linebackers, and Offensive Line need better coordination and less drop passes would have made the game closer. The little mistakes though were all a bit to much tonight.

The Capitals will be ready next month. If there is one thing they don’t lack its planning. They had an amazing arena and team ready to play but just couldn’t bring it together tonight. The next game is Sunday April 3 against the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets at a time to be determined. The games are played in the small arena of the Farm Show Complex.