PIFL Names Players of the Week

The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) names Columbus Lions WR Maurice Dupree, Richmond Raiders DL Brandon Sutton, and Richmond Raiders K T.C. Stevens the Week Six Players of the Week.

Compared to his 2012 campaign the PIFL Offensive MVP WR Maurice Dupree (5'10 190, Jacksonville St.) has had a relatively quiet start to the 2013 season, until Saturday when Dupree exploded grabbing 15 receptions for 230 yards and four TD's in the Lions 45-42 victory over the Swashbucklers. Down the stretch every catch was crucial as Columbus erased a 14-point 3rd quarter deficit ending a two-game losing streak. Maurice is once again back in the mix as one the league's top receiving targets leading the PIFL in receiving yards (532) and is the only receiver to average over 100 receiving yards per game. His efforts on Saturday give him the Week 6 PIFL Offensive Player of the Week.

Richmond Raiders DL Brandon Sutton (6'2 315, Catawba) earned the Week 6 PIFL Defensive Player of the Week after being the defensive catalyst behind his team's 62-51 victory over the Steelhawks. Sutton notched seven tackles and 3.5 sacks but it was his blocked field goal on Lehigh's first drive that set the tempo for the Raiders defense. Under pressure for majority of the night, Hawks QB Adam Bednarik was sacked a total of six times in addition to throwing a couple of intentional grounding calls on consecutive drives in the 3rd quarter and 4th quarter helping the Raiders seize control of the game.

Raiders K T.C. Stevens (5'9 175, Hampden-Sydney) has the distinction of being the first repeat winner of the 2013 season receiving the Week 6 Specials Teams Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks. The 2012 PIFL Special Teams Player of the Year led all kickers on Saturday with twelve points going 7-8 on PAT attempts, 1-1 (36) on FG attempts, in addition to scoring two Uno's moving him into a first-place tie with Knoxville's Armando Cuko for the league-lead.

Week 7 of the PIFL season is chock-full of action with Saturday being another triple-header beginning with a Week 1 re-match with the Alabama Hammers (4-1) hitting the road to take on the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (2-2). In season's first meeting, Hammers needed a hook-and-ladder on the game's final play to defeat the Hawks 29-28. Then at 7:30 PM, the Raiders (3-1), winners of three straight make their first appearance in Columbus in over two years to take on the Lions (2-2). Saturday's action concludes with the idle Knoxville Nighthawks (1-4) looking to ride the momentum of their big win from two weeks ago when they face-off against the winless Louisiana Swashbucklers (0-3).