It has been five years since the Tennessee Valley Vipers have claimed a division championship. It was Kevin Guy's last season as the head coach and the Vipers only division title not in the Southern Division.
In 2004, Tennessee Valley claimed the Mid-South Division Championship with a 14-2 record, but made a second round exit to eventual champions Florida Firecats.
Coming to derail the Vipers hopes of a sixth division championship are the South Georgia Wildcats. The Wildcats are the same team that won last year's division championship by beating the Vipers at the Von Braun Center on the last week of the af2 season. They still have the ability to do that again this season.
Granted, the Wildcats would have to not only win, but win by 22 points or more due to the tie-breaking procedures in the af2.
If the Wildcats are going to upset the Vipers, quarterback Darnell Kennedy will have to step up to play his best game during his rookie campaign.
In Kennedy's last two starts against Tennessee Valley, the Alabama State product is 40-of-52 passing, but has only five touchdowns and has thrown two interceptions. In the last contest, Kennedy went down to injury in the second quarter and did not return.
Since his return to the lineup, South Georgia is 2-2 with a two-game win streak that was extended last week with a win over 12-3 Boise.
Kennedy has been sacked 20 times this season and will face one of the league's premier pass rushes that could have another added dimension this week as well.
Helping Kennedy by catching his passes will be Clenton Rafe, a former Vipers receiver. Along with Rafe will be Alvance Robinson, the team's leading receiver with 99 catches and 28 touchdowns. The Vipers secondary could also see Antwan Savage and Kelvin Dickens.
Tennessee Valley's offense has been consistent all season long. Averaging 49.9 points per game, the Vipers' methodical offense not only keeps their offensive numbers down, but with the stifling defense, it keeps the opposing offenses out of the end zone more often. That results in the second ranked scoring defense in the league, giving up only 37.1 points a contest.
Kevin Eakin will start under center once again for the Vipers, as he has been since the second half of the Albany contest last season.
Eakin's record as a starter is 22-6, one of the best records in Vipers history. His touchdown to interception ratio is the main reason for his success in Arena Football. He has still thrown just one interception since game four of the season.
While the receivers have been plentiful, the lineup has changed consistently, a tactic that could be very helpful to the Vipers and their match ups. Jeremy Stephens filled in for injured Michael Johnson last week. However, Jeremy Grier and Larry Shipp have been staples in the line up for a few weeks now and should continue to be.
Defensively, the Vipers will attempt to continue their onslaught of opposing offenses. With the exception of two fourth down touchdowns passes last week, the Vipers were very stingy on the defensive side of the ball against the Florida Firecats.
With a plus-11 turnover ratio, Tennessee Valley has had the luxury of having many more possessions than their opponents, which anyone associated with Arena Football will tell you, will win more football games than anything else.
Saturday night, the Vipers could inch closer in the overall series against the Wildcats, as South Georgia holds a 6-4 advantage all-time.
With a win, Tennessee Valley would clinch the number two overall seed in the conference and two home games in the playoffs, assuming a first-round win.
However, with some help from Manchester on Friday night and Iowa on Saturday, the Vipers could grab the top seed in the playoffs.
Outside of all the scenarios and the numbers, Saturday night's contest will be a slobberknocker no matter what. Lest we forget that these two squads have no love-loss between them and they will bring all they've got to this contest.
Key Players:
South Georgia - QB Darnell Kennedy, WR Alvance Robinson, DB Quentin Burrell
Tennessee Valley - QB Kevin Eakin, DE Eric Scott, WR Larry Shipp
Pit Prediction:
South Georgia 41
Tennessee Valley 50
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