Vipers Show Heart, Win in Thriller
June 15, 2002 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Tennessee Valley Raptors News Release
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Tennessee Valley Vipers lost their starting quarterback, but they didn't lose their heart.
Vipers quarterback Wes Counts was sidelined on the seventh play of the game, but Tennessee Valley and backup signal-caller Tracy Kendall never quit. Even though they didn't take their first lead until the final 55 seconds of the contest, the Vipers scored a big victory here at the Von Braun Center on Saturday night, edging the Roanoke Steam 39-35.
Tennessee Valley was led by wide receiver Reggie Worthy, who caught nine passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and a defense that surrendered only seven first downs and 20 points. Two of the Roanoke touchdowns were interception returns, and the Viper offense gave up a safety, as well.
The Vipers improved to 9-1 in front of 4,854 of their fans. The Steam fell to 5-6.
Roanoke struck first, as Joaquin Bradley picked off Counts and raced 50 yards for the touchdown. Counts was injured on the play, and the early prognosis is that two bones in his left leg are broken. Josh Jones' point-after kick gave the Steam a 7-0 lead with 10:15 left in the first period.
The Vipers stumbled on their next possession, which lead to a missed 52-yard field goal attempt. But on the Steam's second play, Eugene Phillips caused and recovered Roanoke starting quarterback Sean Peterson's fumble at the Steam's 1 yard line. Kendall scored on the quarterback keeper. Todd Latourette's PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 6:16 left in the opening quarter.
After Roanoke missed a 56-yard field goal, the Vipers took over on their own 5. The Steam defense then sacked Kendall in the end zone for a safety and a 9-7 lead 2:34 left in the first quarter. A minute later, the Viper defense answered with its own safety to tie the game at 9-9 with 1:31 remaining.
The second quarter was a stalemate, with Peterson hitting Tacoma Fontaine for a 24-yard Roanoke score and Kendall finding Worthy - the game's Most Valuable Player - for a 12-yard Viper touchdown. The only difference was a PAT miss by Latourette, and the Steam led 16-15 at the half.
In the third quarter, Roanoke flexed its muscle, scoring two touchdowns in a minute. The first was a 6-yard pass from backup quarterback Michael Thomas to Fontaine, and the second was a 10-yard interception return by Charvin Clark.
But the Vipers bounced back in the final four minutes of the third quarter behind a 24-yard Latourette field goal and a 1-yard run by Kendall to cut Roanoke's lead to 29-24 at the end of three quarters.
No one scored in the first nine minutes of the fourth period. But with 5:46 left in the game, the Steam appeared to silence the Vipers for good with a 14-yard pass from Thomas to Fontaine. The PAT failed, but Roanoke still held a 35-24 lead.
Then the almost improbable happened. With the clock ticking toward finality, Kendall and Worthy found their collective grove, connecting on passes of 28 and 16 yards - the last of which was the game-tightening touchdown. Kendall then tossed the two-point conversion pass to Pat House to cut the Steam lead to only 35-32.
The Vipers defense rose to the challenge as the Steam attempted to grind out the clock. Two apparent Steam touchdowns were called back during the drive because of penalties. After being held on downs, Roanoke attempted a 33-yard field goal. But Jones' kick sailed wide left, and Tennessee Valley had one last chance.
The Vipers didn't let the fans down. Kendall hit House for a huge 38-yard gain, and three plays later Kendall ran the bootleg from 3 yards out for the lead. Latourette's kick with 55 seconds left in the game gave the Vipers their first lead of the night at 39-35.
Roanoke had one final opportunity. After the Viper defense held the Steam on the first three downs, one more play would decide the game.
On fourth-and-14, defensive specialist Kelly Snell dropped Fontaine one yard short of the first down with 10 seconds left in the contest. The Steam, upset over the called-back touchdowns, then chose to leave the field and end the game.
Tennessee Valley will play host to Quad City on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Steam will battle Carolina in Roanoke on Saturday.
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United Indoor Football Association Stories from June 15, 2002
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