Vipers Dominate Rival Florida

If the Tennessee Valley Vipers and Florida Firecats were not considered rivals before this game, the argument was laid to rest in the first quarter.
Maurice Brown caught a six yard touchdown pass and was forced over the wall by two Firecats defenders and Vipers players and Firecats alike swarmed to the area with pushing and shoving. The touchdown and extra point tied the game at seven with just 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Nonetheless, the Vipers would win the fight that mattered, on the scoreboard, with a 50-34 victory at the Von Braun Center in front of 3,825 Vipers faithful.
Tennessee Valley improved to 5-3 and extended the team's winning streak to five games while handing Florida it's first setback as the Firecats sit at 6-1 on the season.
The Vipers took the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Eric Scott recorded his 10th sack of the season and second safety.
With the Vipers leading 9-7, quarterback Kevin Eakin drove the Vipers 40 yards before Travis Blanchard scored his first of three rushing touchdowns to put the Vipers up 16-7.
Florida answered with a Chris Wallace pass to Ethenic Sands cutting the lead to 16-14, but the Vipers answered and extended the lead back to nine with a pass from Eakin to Gary Elliott.
Wallace found James Panui inside the one minute mark to close in back to two points.
But Nick Hayes extended the lead to 26-21 as time expired with a 20-yard field goal.
The Vipers would score twice more before the Firecats would get back on the board, Blanchard had another rushing touchdown and Hayes knocked through another field goal.
Florida finally scored in the second half with 2:45 remaining when Chris McKinney hauled in a seven-yard pass from Wallace.
Blanchard rushed for his final score and Florida answered with Sands' second touchdown grab.
Lance Ancar finished the scoring with a 0ne-yard plunge. Nick Hayes added the extra point to give Vipers fans a nice treat--free cheesybread from Dominos!
Tennessee Valley will head into the bye week riding a five game winning streak and travel to Oklahoma City on May 31 to take on the Yard Dawgz.