Macon Turns Early Lead into Victory Over Vipers
July 27, 2002 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. â The Tennessee Valley Vipers' quest to gain home-field advantage throughout the af2 playoffs was hampered here Saturday night, as the Macon Knights took a 14-0 advantage and never surrendered their lead.
The final score: Macon 58, Tennessee Valley 48.
The Vipers will play host to Birmingham this Saturday in the first round of the playoffs. However, Tennessee Valley (13-3) needs Bakersfield to defeat Tulsa in the late game and Macon to lose sometime during the playoffs if the Vipers hope to make a championship run inside the friendly confines of the Von Braun Center. By virtue of their 10-point win, the Knights now hold the tiebreaker over Tennessee Valley.
The Knights (13-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of John Rayborn to Jacques Rumph touchdown passes of 7 and 4 yards. They never trailed, as the Vipers defense struggled to stop the Macon aerial attack and its offense never seemed to click.
Each time the Vipers closed in, Macon scored.
Vipers quarterback Jermaine Alfred hit Andy Fuller for an 8-yard scoring strike to cut the Macon lead to 14-7 after the first quarter. But Macon bounced back behind a Rayborn to Martez Wesley 5-yard pass midway through the second period. The Vipers answered when Alfred hit Reggie Worthy for a 9-yard strike.
The next 4½ minutes would prove fateful for the Vipers. Macon scored three touchdowns â two in the last 1:35 of the first half, then another in the opening three minutes of the second half. Tennessee Valley managed to score only one touchdown: a 43-yard pass from Alfred to Rodney Brown. With 11:34 left in the third quarter, Macon held a commanding 41-22 advantage.
The two teams then traded a pair of touchdowns. The Vipers scored on a 50-yard kickoff return by Kenny Bailey and a 29-yard pass from Alfred to Kelly Fields. The Knights scored on a 1-yard run by Rayborn and a 35-yard pass from Rayborn to Gabe Amey. At the end of the third quarter, Macon led 55-36.
The Knights finished their scoring at the 5:12 mark with a 43-yard field goal by Wesley Wilson. The Vipers put two touchdowns on the board after that â both scoring passes from Alfred to Calvin Hall (22 and 14 yards).
Rayborn, who completed 31 of 40 attempts for 294 yards and seven touchdowns, was named the Player of the Game. Amey caught seven of those passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a tackle and two blocked passes on defense as he was named the Ironman of the Game. Denario Smalls of Macon was named ADT Defensive Player of the Game. He had eight tackles, three pass deflections, one fumble recovery and two interceptions.
Turnovers severely damaged the Vipers, including three interceptions by Alfred and one lost fumble. Alfred completed 21 of 38 passes for 279 yards and six touchdowns. Fields led the Vipers receiving corps with 85 yards on five catches.
The game's attendance was 5,197.
United Indoor Football Association Stories from July 27, 2002
- Macon Turns Early Lead into Victory Over Vipers - Tennessee Valley Raptors
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