Sports

No drama

• The Tennessee Valley Vipers aggressively stole revenge for a last-second Wildcats win early in the season, overpowering South Georgia, 65-51, on Saturday in Albany.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY - There would be no miracle finish this time -the Tennessee Valley Vipers made sure of that.

Amidst unabashed violence and trash talk following every play, this South Division grudge match played out more like a street fight at the Albany Civic Center. And when the dust finally cleared,the South Georgia Wildcats were left battered, bruised and bloodied by a 65-51 defeat.

"We got our (butt) whooped," Wildcats defensive back Roland Cola said.

The beating began at the line of scrimmage as the South Georgia offensive line acted more like a speed bump than a road block to quarterback Andrico Hines.

He was only sacked three times, but spent the second half running for his life and was forced into two interceptions and a fumble.

The interceptions came on back-to-back possessions at the beginning of the fourth quarter and both were returned for Tennessee touchdowns.

A bad night turned ugly for South Georgia as a three point-deficit turned into an eventually insurmountable 55-39 disadvantage with 12:14 remaining.

"Tennessee did a great job creating those turnovers," South Georgia coach Derek Stingley said. "It's a credit to them. They are a different team than what we faced earlier and they showed it tonight We got outplayed in the second half."

In the last meeting between South Georgia (4-3) and Tennessee Valley (4-3) Wildcats quarterback Cecil Lester accepted a lateral from wideout Alvin Ray Jackson on the final play of the game to provide a shocking 59-55 victory.

It was apparent the Vipers hadn't forgotten the heartbreak. They bulled over Wildcats center Donald Usry for a penalty to set the tone on the opening snap and rushed with hostility in the face of the Wildcats after every play.

"They felt we had a greasy little victory," said Wildcats receiver Buchie Ibeh, who broke out of a recent slump for his first 100-yard game of the year, adding two touchdowns. "They came out with their chests out. They talked trash and that got me started. It was a pit fight from then on."

The Vipers have now won four games in a row since beginning the year 0-3 and jump into a second-place tie with the Wildcats. Both still sit 2 1/2 games behind Florida, which stayed undefeated with a win against Manchester on Saturday.

Tennessee's turnaround has come with the insertion of new quarterback Kevin Eakin. He was strong again Saturday going 21-of-30 for 216 yards and five touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing).

His favorite target was Maurice Brown, who torched South Georgia for 144 yards and three touchdowns on 11 receptions.

Still, South Georgia could have recovered from those big plays if not for its struggles against the Vipers defensive front.

Eric Scott, who leads the af2 in sacks lived in the backfield and ended most plays on top of Hines. The Wildcats QB finished 18-of-38 for 260 yards and six touchdowns.

"I thought that (the offensive line) was the strong part of my team...tonight we couldn't protect at all," Stingley said. "We were trying to do three steps and they were hitting Hines. So many things went wrong, especially up front, that is my main concern. We played a terrible game up front."

It rubbed off on the Wildcats' talented quartet of receivers who continuously ran open downfield without sniffing the ball. The league leader in all-purpose yardage, P.J. Berry, only caught two passes for 19 yards and Antowne Savage caught four passes.

"We came in thinking they had an outstanding group of receivers," Tennessee coach Dean Cokinos said. "To slow them down we had to rush the quarterback.

Our defensive line took over the game and really helped us out in the second half."

The two teams will meet to decide the season series in the final week of the season. Next week the Wildcats hope to regroup when they host Corpus Christi on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

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