A Tale of Two Cities
Eric Tabor
Friday July 6, 2007
Games against southern division opponents on the road this season for the South Georgia Wildcats have been the best of times and the worst of times. After traveling to Birmingham and loosing to the Alabama Steeldogs in week three, and besting the Tennessee Valley Vipers in week twelve, the Wildcats will make a trek to the Sunshine State and take on the Florida Firecats.
So what should fans expect from the team's only trip of the regular season to Florida, knock heads with the defending division champion Firecats? The two teams last met in week seven, at the Albany Civic Center on Cooper Tire Field and the results were pretty darn good. The Wildcats had their way with the Firecats, pillaging Florida en route to a 49-38 romp.
Oddly, things aren’t that different for the Firecats. After impressive wins to start their season, Florida has been up, down, and back up since. This game is being billed as the battle for the southern division championship, it really won’t decide the title but it will give the winner a huge leg up.
There are three keys to victory for South Georgia
1. Have short-term memories
Last week’s loss to the Wolves was the worst this season, one that showed some poor execution all around. The Wildcats will need to avoid experiencing any lingering effects from that game and come out ready to play at kickoff. If they don’t, this will be over in a hurry.
2. Sustain long, clock-killing drives
The offensive line needs to do a better job in pass protection to take some pressure of D. Bryant to throw a couple of deep balls and test that bend but don’t break Florida defense. Keeping the offense on the field with an effective running attack will also keep the defense fresher, something that becomes increasingly important as more starters are sent to the training table. The subplot will be Chavis McCollister against Levi Brown. You see, Brown leads the af2 in tackles and interceptions, and has matched-up well with some of the top receivers in the deuce (af2) this season. McCollister is second in the league at 113 receptions and averages 113 yards per game. In the last game between these two bitter rivals McCollister caught 16 passes for 178 yards.
3. Force turnovers and fourth downs
The first part of this is obvious force turnovers. That is easier said than done, Firecats quarterback Chris Wallace has not thrown an interception since the May 12th contest between the two squads and has won six straight games, the other negative, South Georgia is minus three in turnover ratio this season. The second part force field goals and forth downs is even harder, the Wildcats defense has given up a lot of yards this season, statistically speaking; they are ranked 20th in scoring defense and 24th in total defense, but they’ve employed a bend-but-don’t-break mentality of late. Should they do so on Saturday; the Firecats will be forced to settle for a less-than-automatic three. (In arena football field goals are made at about a 60% clip.)
Just a footnote
Florida announced that less than 1,000 tickets remain available for this Saturday’s game against the Wildcats, the Firecat’s final home game of the regular season.
Jockeying for playoff positions
South Georgia currently holds the number six seed in the National Conference standings. Eight teams make the post-season; the top three seeds are reserved for division champions.
1. Rio Grande Valley 11-1 ~ Current Southwest Division Leader
2. Tulsa 10-2 ~ Current Central Division Leader
3. Florida 10-3 ~ Current South Division Leader
4. Arkansas 9-3 ~ Holds head to head advantage over Bossier-Shreveport
5. Bossier-Shreveport 9-3
6. South Georgia 8-4
7. Oklahoma City 6-6 ~ Holds head to head advantage over Lubbock
8. Lubbock 6-6
9. Tennessee Valley 5-7 ~ Holds head to head advantage over Alabama
10. Alabama 5-7
This game is a showdown with huge playoff implications. The Wildcats are desperate to get back on track after struggling the last week. The Firecats are looking at keeping the momentum they have built over the last month. It will be a tough game at Germain Arena, a place South Georgia has not had any success in the past. A win would move the Cats up to number five in the playoff seeding (South Georgia owns the tiebreakers, two victories against Arkansas, and the head to head verses Bossier- Shreveport).Expect the Wildcats to want it just a little bit more as D. Bryant tries to get the bad taste of his early interception last week out of his mouth.