Cream, or at least South Georgia’s defense, rises to the top
Eric Tabor
Monday July 16, 2007
Wildcat QB D. Bryant was 23 of 49 passing for 300 yards and six touchdowns and he rushed three times for 19 yards. Tavaris Capers topped all South Georgia receivers with 12 catches for 143 yards and two TDs. Derrick Lloyd carried the ball five times for 12 yards and a score.
While the defensive unit shined the offense seem to stall at times.
“It wasn’t our best day offensively,” South Georgia quarterback D. Bryant said.
When the defense wasn’t putting pressure on the quarterback, errant throws and dropped passes bogged down the Copperhead offense. The trend of South Georgia’s defense coming up big continues. Texas starting quarterback Kenton Evans completed four of 14 passes for 18 yards this weekend. His replacement, Tony Eckert didn’t fair much better completing only three of 12 throws for 13 yards. Both quarterbacks were plagued by drops, off-target throws and pressure. On a side note, I think Evans and Eckert wish they had on yellow no-contact jerseys.
“We knew what they were going to run in certain parts of the field,” said South Georgia head coach Derek Stingley. “I was shocked at the outcome, but as a defensive coach it was one of those games you love to be called a defensive coach.”
The total absence of any kind of offense by the Copperheads made the job much easier for the Wildcats. Their only real scoring opportunity came early in the ballgame with a first and goal at the 7:29 mark in the first period. The Copperheads went four and out and never threatened after that. The only score of the night came on a 25-yard field goal by Nick Gatto with 1:22 left in the third period to get the Copperheads on the board.
Wildcat linebacker Greg Golden provided the biggest spark of the day, picking off an arrant pass by Kenton Evens, dancing, bobbing, and weaving until he was brought down at the one yard line, the last play of the first half.
“I thought I was going to the nearest sideline, I guess I wasn’t,” said Golden. “I was trying to make some moves to get some more room but they weren’t going for it, I tried to drop my shoulder and punch it in but he was too big.”
Cory Bailey and Daryon Brutley also picked off Copperhead passes as the defense absolutely stifled the Texas offense from start to finish. Matt Jackson had 5 tackles on the night, and Ed Wangler, Jason Null and James Harris were credited with a total of 2.0 sacks for 11 yards. The defense was also credited with the break-up of six Copperhead passes.
“Last week against Florida we stepped it up when we needed to stop their offense,” said South Georgia defensive end Ed Wangler. “We just feed off that this week, came in and put a lot of pressure on them.”
The Copperheads only amassed 10 yards of total offense and a field goal, possibly breaking the af2 record of fewest yards in a game. The old record was 36 yards in a game. Several Wildcat players say they can’t wait to see the new af2 record book.
“Oh it’s going to look good,” says Brutley. “It’s going to look real good. Especially for a South Georgia team that didn't do too well last year. They were a low-ranked team, but you can't give up on guys like that. You have to still come out and play your game, and that's what we did.”
Pass breakups, sacks, hits. The Wildcat defense did it all on Saturday night as they dominated in all areas and went on to win by a final of 47-3 in front of an announced home field crowd of 5,112.
I feel this is a good time to thank Christopher Pike and the South Georgia Marching Wildcats. The Band is an all volunteer organization consisting of interested musicians in the South Georgia community. The Marching Wildcats are thought to be the first and only arena football marching band in the world. The unit entertained and wowed the crowd during halftime and again when the power went out. Once again thanks to the greatest show on turf, the Wildcat Marching Band.
Eric Tabor is a technology consultant, a free-lance writer, mobile DJ, and a native of Albany, Georgia. He has been an af2 fan since the Wildcats moved from Cape Fear. As well as being a football enthusiast, former player, and coach, he is married with three daughters and a son.