JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was far from a thing of beauty but the Jacksonville Sharks beat the Columbus Lions 27-21 on Monday night as they claimed the inaugural National Arena League Championship.

Close games have been rare for the Sharks in their first season in the National Arena League. Outside of a loss to the Monterrey Steel the only team that’s given Jacksonville much trouble was Columbus. Although the Sharks won both regular season meetings the final score was decided by two scores or less on both occasions. There would be more drama in their championship meeting.

Columbus entered the NAL Championship on a seven game winning streak. The Sharks got on the board first and led 7-0 when fullback Derrick Ross closed out their first offensive drive of the game with a short touchdown run. On the Lions first drive of the game they were a couple yards away from tying the game when Sharks defensive back Micheaux Robinson made a diving interception off a tipped ball.

A pair of Sharks fumbles kept the score 7-0 Jacksonville until midway through the second quarter. The Sharks dialed up a trick play for their second touchdown of the night. Wide receiver Maurice Williams took a pitch from quarterback Damien Fleming, but instead of running he caught the Lions off guard and threw a touchdown to offensive lineman Mo Ruffins in the corner of the end zone.

Columbus finally found the end-zone on their first possession of the second half. A blown coverage led to a long touchdown cutting the Sharks lead to 13-7.

On the Sharks next possession they received a scare when starting QB Damien Fleming limped off the field with a leg injury. Backup QB Jason Boltus stepped right in and fired a TD pass to Maurice Williams, giving the Sharks a 20-7 lead with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

After Columbus scored a touchdown, Boltus returned to the field and led a scoring drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Devin Wilson. The Lions responded quickly with a touchdown that made the score 27-21 with 6:25 left to play.

A Sharks interception in the end zone gave the Lions another chance. Columbus drove down the field and got deep in Jacksonville territory. But they fumbled the snap and the Sharks recovered with four seconds remaining.

"It's a special group of young men and told them that all year," said Sharks head coach Siaha Burley. "I'm just happy to be a part of what they started and help them stay focused and understand what it takes to finish what they started. They didn't really experience a lot of adversity at the beginning of the year. So at the end we had to experience adversity in this game. We had to understand that it was going to be a tough battle and sure enough they came through."