Glorified practice or not, the Alabama Steeldogs brought in their new name with a bang defeating the South Georgia Wildcats in Albany, Ga. on Saturday night by a score of 48-24.

Both teams played their full rosters at some point during the scrimmage.  A full four-quarter game was played in Albany with both teams playing fearless football.  Both teams had players ejected.  Heated arguments took place throughout the game, never escalating into a scene like last seasons bench-clearing brawl between the two teams, however.

The Steeldogs took control of the opening drive and took advantage of two Wildcats penalties to score on the ground with Clifford Browning for the game’s first points.  The Nick Hayes kick sailed through to put the Steeldogs ahead, 7-0. 

On the enduing drive, South Georgia took advantage of two Alabama penalties and scored on a Cecil Lester touchdown throw to James Robinson, tying the game at seven.

Alabama scored before the end of the first quarter on a Robert Kent touchdown pass, taking a 14-7 lead into the second stanza. 

Defense was the name of the game during the second quarter as the Steeldogs forced two turnovers on downs and gave up just a field goal. 

For South Georgia, D. Bryant played the role of quarterback during the second.  Bryant played the entire period and a few minutes during the fourth.  Finishing his night 14-of-20 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Mitch Tanney stepped under center for the Steeldogs in his first game-type action in arena football.  Tanney never got the ball into the end zone during the first half.

The halftime score was 14-10 in favor of the Steeldogs.

After the break, Alabama successfully converted an onside kick to regain possession.  Kent returned as quarterback for the Steeldogs.  On first and ten from his own 20, Kent took a draw play to the right and was hemmed up quickly, he eluded the tackles, however and outran the Wildcats to the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown run.

Julian Reese then came in for the Wildcats and fumbled his first three snaps.  Reese did get the Wildcats on the board again during the period though after the Steeldogs had a 27-10 lead with a strike to Chavis McCollister.

Defense was again the story for the Steeldogs during the final chapter.  An interception off Bryant was returned for a score, and the ball was then lightly punted into the stands…okay punted well into the stands.

Bryant then found Tavaris Capers all alone in the end zone for a score, cutting the lead to 34-24 after a successful two-point conversion.

The Steeldogs rounded out the scoring with two rushing touchdowns before the game ended.

Only one South Georgia player was seriously injured, no official report has been released however.

Both teams will benefit a great deal from the scrimmage, and the season looks bright for the two squads.

Kent was satisfied with not only his performance, but the teams saying, “We all did a good job tonight.”

The first offense looked as gelled as a team that had been playing together for years, while the defense wasn’t far behind. 

“It’s just one game, but I believe we have a legitimate chance to be very good this season,” said Steeldogs head coach Ron Selesky.