KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Their early season woes behind them, the Louisiana Swashbucklers are finding their way up the Pro Indoor Football League standings.

A late defensive stand Saturday night lifted the Bucs to their third straight win and second in as many weeks on the road.

The Bucs evened their record at 3-3 when the final pass of the night from Knoxville quarterback Ryan Porter fell harmlessly to the turn on the game’s last play.

That gave the Bucs a 45-37 win on the second leg of their three-game Contraband Days road trip.

“We made some big plays when we had to make them,” said Bucs head coach Darnell Lee. “We are still young, we still make mistakes but we are getting better.”

With four of the final six games on the road, the Bucs will have to make their run away from the Lake Charles Civic Center.

The win moved Louisiana into a 3-way tie for third, just a half game out of second place.

“We knew we were going to be a good team we just knew it would take some time,” said Lee. We felt all along that we were a work in progress, we just didn’t want to fall too far back before we turned the corner..The win marked the second in three weeks the Bucs have posted against Knoxville (2-6).

Without a bye week remaining, the Bucs know health will be a key to the stretch run.

“Keeping away from the big injuries is going to be important,” said Lee.

Next week the Bucs are back on the road to play the defending champions from Albany, Georgia. The Bucs lost the season opener to the Panthers 51-40 back on March 9.

In that opener, Albany quarterback Cecil Lester was 26 of 39 for 268 yards and five touchdowns against a new Bucs secondary. But the two teams will enter next week’s game tied, along with Columbus, in the standings.

(Rick Hickman / American Press)

Rick Hickman