Cobras Continue Road Series with Monday Night Game Against Sharks
GREENSBORO, NC – The (5-3) Carolina Cobras are ready to close out their long three game road series as the travel ready team experienced a massive win in West Texas with their largest scoring performance 86-59 against the Warbirds and a crushing loss on their mid-road stop to Orlando 59-54 against the Predators. To come out of this journey victorious the Cobras will have to pull off one of their toughest games of the year on Monday Night Arena Football as the team travels back to Florida to face the Jacksonville Sharks (6-2) at the Vystar Memorial Arena. Their opponent is well rested and on a four-game win streak. The team also announced the return of their All-NAL wide receiver Devin Wilson back to their lineup.
Going into this week Carolina looks forward to the challenge as the game has many benefits to the team beyond slowing down the Jacksonville Sharks a Cobras victory would tie the two teams to 6-3 at second place in the NAL. With only four teams making the postseason and only two teams to host a playoff games Carolina will need to fight to make that top two placement as the Cobras are one of the top teams in the NAL when it comes to home field advantage with a 3-1 record at home even the Sharks are on 2-2 at home.
Coach Fuller’s game plans this season have led to tremendous success and he will lean on his players in harder for a marquee game like this as Jacksonville is not a frequent opponent on the teams schedule in fact the final week of the regular season pin both of these two teams together before the playoffs are officially finalized. This game could be a benchmark on which team's succeed or fail. If Jacksonville plans to roll over Carolina like they did with Fayetteville that’ll be a severe mistake based on caliber of veteran players the Cobras have this season.
Players that need to rise to the occasion, there is no doubt that Ironman FB/LB Zack Brown, a former Jacksonville Shark playmaker now Carolina captain and All-NAL Cobra will rise to the spotlight for Monday Night Football. Quarterback Malik Henry, a young star in the NAL gets to go head to head with a NAL Champion MVP with Jacksonville’s Sam Castronova Monday. This will be a great measure to compare Malik to NAL champion caliber players in his position as Malik has had a career high season in the NAL already at 28 touchdown passes this season (3rd in the NAL) with a cannon arm producing an average of 13-yards per pass (1st in the NAL) this rising Cobras star can immortalize his name in Cobra nation history with a pivotal victory this week that may change the trajectory of two franchises in the league in one single night. The pressure does not need to rest on the quarterback, the dominate rushing game between Brown and FB/DL Kevin Voyles needs to be factor in this game as the Sharks are loaded in the secondary as are the Cobras with All-NAL players like Kenny Veal and Kerion Jones. Being a run and gun team has paid off big for the Cobras this year down or up keeping the running game against a pass heavy Jacksonville team will be key. The Sharks like to boast about their receiving core but Carolina deserves to be on that topic with a double digital receiving touchdown athlete in Lance Evans and WR/DB Adam Smith who has nine receiving touchdowns and three kick return touchdowns (most in the NAL). Defensive Back Kenny Veal is off to a All-NAL season leading the team and ranked #2 in the NAL for interceptions with 5 in 8 games with fellow defensive back Mike Green who leads the team in tackles (18) and six pass breakups (2nd in the NAL).
On special teams, the Sharks are looking for solutions week to week while the Cobras have had their All-NAL solution in kicker TC Stevens who already has seven deuces in eight games this season (2nd in the NAL). Fans can view the game online by going to carolinacobras.com or by going to the National Arena League’s YouTube Channel.
ABOUT THE CAROLINA COBRAS
The Carolina Cobras are members of the National Arena League (NAL). Founded in 2017, the Carolina Cobras are starting their sixth season in 2023 and were the 2018 National Arena League Champions. The Cobras play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum. Cobra Season Ticket Memberships are on sale now call (336) 445-7232 or visit carolinacobras.com. Follow the Cobras on Facebook at facebook.com/carcobras, twitter.com/carcobras and instagram.com/carcobras.