Banged up but still on a roll

Eric Tabor
Thursday June 21, 2007

The South Georgia Wildcats and the Tennessee Valley Vipers have so many injured players, Wildcat Fan Edward “Junebug” Dyson joked that Saturday’s game between the two teams amounted to a junior varsity game.

Considering how Tennessee Valley played Saturday night, the Vipers owe an apology to JV teams everywhere.

Vipers quarterback Ryan Porter is out four weeks because of ankle and knee injuries.

South Georgia Nose Tackle Joe Woolridge has two pulled groins and a strained lower abdomen that forced him to sit out this game. Coaches are hoping that this week off and the bye next week will have him set to travel to Manchester on June 30th.

With one of South Georgia’s best pass rushers sidelined, Head Caoch Derek Stingley will move defensive end Courtney Young to nose guard and move linebacker James Harris to end. Linebackers Derrick Lloyd and Jason Null may also play some end.

“It’s going to be a different look,” Stingley said. “Hopefully with their athleticism and their speed, we can still get that same pass rush.”

Darion Brutley has a separated shoulder but played, James Robinson has an injured wrist and sat out the contest.

The Wildcats, playing with a lineup even more battered than Tennessee’s, scored on their first eight possessions and beat the Vipers 68-65 at Von Braun Arena. The 3-point margin of defeat is not as close as the statistics show.

The Cats converted 21 first downs to the Vipers eleven. South Georgia rushed for 42 yards while Tennessee gained only thirteen.

While the Vipers did not look tight, the Wildcats unleashed its aerial assault to jump out to a 42-31 half time lead. Overall, Wildcats quarterback D. Bryant went 29 of 39 for 314 yards and eight touchdowns (Another ho hum day at the office).

While South Georgia's offense was solid in the first half, the Wildcat defense came up big with two defensive stops, a field goal and a missed field goal, as the offense continued to roll along. 

With South Georgia leading 55-44, on the first drive of the fourth quarter Tennessee Valley defender James Gibson forced South Georgia running back Jason Null to fumble. 

The Vipers quickly scored on a Chris Gunn touchdown pass to Joel Babb to cut the lead to 55-52 with the two-point conversion. 

And then it happened again as South Georgia turned the ball over on downs on its next possession. 

Chris Gunn found Travis Blanchard for a 22-yard strike to give the Vipers their first lead at 59-55. 

But directly after, it all fell apart for Tennessee Valley. The ensuing kickoff was returned by Matt Jackson for a touchdown to give the Wildcats the 62-59 lead. 

The Vipers fell deeper into a hole when Gunn was intercepted by Darion Brutley on the next drive. 

“They have a lot of great athletes and their (offensive) scheme against our defense was pretty good,” said Wildcats coach Derek Stingley. “Gunn had time to throw to his deepest guy because we weren’t getting any pressure on him. We changed things a little bit in the second half and played a little more zone, but he wasn’t looking off (his receivers) and that helped with the interception.”

Three plays later South Georgia QB D. Bryant hit Tavaris Capers for a touchdown to give the Cats a 68-59 advantage that got the fat lady up from her chair to the podium.

Rapper Lil Flip had a hit song called “Game Over”.

A few South Georgia Wildcat fans made the trip to Huntsville and heard the fat lady sing.