Firecats Close Out Regular Season with a 46-40 Win Over South Georgia
Published on July 31, 2006 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release
ESTERO, Fl. - The Florida Firecats finished the regular season at 13-3 after a 46-40 road win against South Georgia Saturday night at the Albany Civic Center. The Firecats finished with a 9-1 record against the rest of the South Division and improved to 4-0 all-time against the Wildcats since the franchise moved from Fayetteville, N.C. after the 2004 season.
Florida was led by QB Chris Wallace, who finished the night 20-of-29 for 297 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Wallace set career and single season team records by throwing for 3918 yards and 100 TD's this year. Wallace became the first player in af2 history to throw for 100 TD's in 1 season, but the record was short lived as Central Valley QB Scott Rislov broke Chris' record finishing with 106 after a west coast game later Saturday night. Wallace was named the Schutt Offensive Player of the Game for his performance against the Wildcats.
WR/DB Brent Burnside led the Firecats receivers with 97 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Wallace and Burnside connected for a 48-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game. The Duo also hooked up for a score as time expired in the 2nd quarter to give Florida the lead. OS Magic Benton added six catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns and WR/DB Brittany Tellis caught five passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns. The game was back and forth in the first half and had Florida leading by 1, 27-26 at the break despite a pair of turnovers and the ejection of FB/LB Clenton Crossley.
Florida came out firing in the 3rd quarter scoring on their 1st 3 possessions to take a commanding 46-26 lead early in the 4th. Albany scored the games final 2 TD's to pull within 6 late, but failed to convert an onside kick and Florida was able to run out the clock at the end.
OL/DL Alfred Petterson guided the Firecats defense with seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one blocked kick and 2 sacks. Petterson earned the ADT Defensive Player of the Game.
WR/DB Levy Brown and DS Cory Bailey each had 9.5 tackles on the evening. Bailey set a new team record finishing the season with 117.5 tackles, 3rd most in af2 history. DS Quincy Sorrell also broke a career high with 102 tackles on the year, surpassing his previous team record of 100.5. (2004) Bailey and Sorrell also made league history becoming the first teammates to finish a season with 100 plus tackles.
South Georgia Wildcats WR/LB Chris McKinney was named the U.S Army Ironman of the Game as he led all receivers with 15 receptions for 150 yards with two touchdowns and registered four tackles.
After winning the South Division for the 3rd straight year the Firecats will enjoy a bye week in the 1st round of the playoffs as the American Conference's #1 seed. Florida will host the lowest seeded team to advance out of the 1st round. #3 Memphis hosts #6 Louisville Saturday August 5th while #4 Manchester hosts #5 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday August 4th.
Tickets for the Firecats 2nd round playoff game are on sale now. Call 390-CATS (2287) to purchase tickets.
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