Zero offense spells loss, 47-3
July 14, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Texas Copperheads News Release
ALBANY, GA. - The South Georgia Wildcats and Texas Copperheads met for the first time this season at Cooper Tire Field at the Albany Civic Center in front of an announced crowd of 5, 112. The Wildcats offense ranked number two in af2 prior to Texas game entered the game at 9-4 and playoff bound. The Wildcats dominated from start to finish in a 47-3 win.
The Copperheads riding a 7-game losing streak knew this would be a tough road game to win. Entering the game, the Copperheads offense led by Todd Hammel, offensive coordinator, is last in the af2 with 30.0 points per game and 163.5 yards per game. However, the defense is ranked at number fifteen in the league out of thirty teams. If only the offense could catch up to Troy Esprit's defense this would be a different team.
The Wildcats are ranked 5th in this week's af2 Coaches Poll, and they have a 4-1 record in the National Conference South Division. South Georgia secured a playoff spot this past weekend with a win over the Florida Firecats 47-40.
The Wildcats came out strong scoring on their first drive and cruised to an easy 27-0 lead at halftime. The Copperheads got their only first down of the first half by an illegal defense by the Wildcats with only 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The team finished with zero offensive yards in the first half due to several sacks of Kenton Evans.
The Wildcats took their first drive of the third quarter and scored on a pass to Tavaris Capers with 8:17 in the third quarter to close any hopes the Copperheads had in making a comeback in the game. The touchdown made the score 34-0 and the rout was on in Georgia.
Nick Gatto would keep the Copperheads from being shut out as he nailed a 26-yard field goal late in the third quarter.
With the score 40-3 in the fourth quarter, the game was delayed about 25 minutes due to a local power outage with area storms. The Wildcats would tack on a late score for the 47-3 victory.
The Wildcats led by D Bryant would break the Wildcats all time passing yardage record and cruise to an easy win over the offensive starved Copperheads. The Copperheads set an af2 record for 10 total yards which shattered the record of 36 yards set by Iowa versus Quad City on April 21, 2001.
Director of Media Relations J. Ronald Oswalt, "Expect major shakeups in staff and personnel from top to bottom in the off season."
Director of Football Operations Ed Biles, "It's a 7-0 lead for them and George gets us the ball at their four and we can't score in four chances and it was all downhill for there."
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