Heavyweight tilt on tap for title

HBO and Showtime won't be there. The game won't be $49.99 on pay-per-view. Michael Buffer won't be saying, "Let's get ready to rumble!" prior to the national anthem. However, Saturday night's South Division title game between the Tennessee Valley Vipers and South Georgia Wildcats has all the makings of a heavyweight title match.
The Wildcats enter the contest with a one game lead in the division with an 11-4 record, while the Vipers sit at 10-5. A win by Tennessee Valley would give them the division due to a 2-1 head-to-head record with the Wildcats.
The road team has won each of the two previous meetings. The Vipers are just 2-4 against the Wildcats since the move to South Georgia.
South Georgia stole a win to start the season on the final play of the game with a hook-and-ladder ending in quarterback Cecil Lester falling into the end zone.
Tennessee Valley answered with a 65-51 win in South Georgia.
The Vipers win last week over Florida set up the final regular season game as the division championship. Florida is now out of the running for their fifth consecutive division title.
South Georgia enters the game on a six game winning streak. Andrico Hines will start under center for the Wildcats. Hines has played extremely well during the season. In 12 games, Hines has completed 62 percent of his passes for 59 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. Two of those interceptions were against the Vipers, however. His 62.3 percent completion percentage is good enough for ninth in the league, and his 111.4 passer rating is also ninth best in the af2.
The Wildcats main threat is all-purpose man P.J. Berry. Berry ranks in the top ten in the league in receiving yards per game and leads the league in all-purpose yards. His six kick returns for touchdowns leads the af2.
But the Vipers will counter the offensive attack with one of the af2's leading defenses. Eric Scott and Terrance Ford both rank in the top ten in sacks and tackles for loss. The team is fifth in the af2 in scoring defense, giving up just 43.1 points a contest. including a total of just 49 points in the last two games.
The offense has been on all cylinders the last two weeks and with the absence of Maurice Brown the rest of the receivers have stepped up. Alonzo Nix hauled in three touchdowns last week.
With 33 rushing touchdowns, the Vipers love to punch it in when they get close to the goal line. Travis Blanchard returned to the line up last week and once again found the end zone by the ground game. His 12 rushing scores leads the team.
Nick Hayes anchors the kicking game while being second in the league in scoring by a kicker with 9 points a game. His 48.1 percent on field goals leads the league with a minimum number of 27 attempts on the season.
The teams are in their corners and the stage is set for the biggest game in Huntsville since 2004. Let's just hope referee David Smith doesn't say, "Let's get it on!" during the coin toss.