Sports

Wildcats suffer a bad case of road rage

• The South Georgia Wildcats fail to take advantage of three Florida turnovers and fall to the first-place Firecats, 48-33.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ESTERO, Fla. —  In search of the first benchmark win against a top tier af2 opponent in first-place rival Florida Firecats, the South Georgia Wildcats were presented a chance to accomplish something they hadn’t all year.

Instead stumbling through a sloppy, penalty-flag littered compilation of mistakes, the Wildcats did exactly what they have done all year.

An opportunity to reopen the South Division race and potential for a home playoff game ended in a frustrating 48-33 loss to Florida on Saturday at Germain Arena.

“That seems like the story of the whole first half of the season: taking advantage of opportunities,” coach Derek Stingley said. “When can we take advantage of them?”

The typically error-free Firecats (7-1) served up three turnovers and a gift-wrapped chance for the Wildcats (5-4) to pull within a half-game of first place.

But repeated offsides, nine untimely penalties and a failed

fourth-and-inches conversion in the final minute left a palpable gloom over team entering its bye week.

“Don’t push the panic button,” said receiver Buchie Ibeh, who shined offensively in catching seven passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. “We still can comeback and make the playoffs and make a run. But now there has to be a sense of urgency coming off that bye.”

The urgency appeared to be in the house Saturday as Ibeh broke hitches off for impressive touchdown runs on the first two possessions, but that would be the last sign of a consistent offensive attack on this night.

Quarterback Andrico Hines was 16-of-29 with three TD passes, but his two interceptions acted as momentum killers in the Wildcats night.

This was the Wildcats lowest point total of the season and that includes a fumble return for a touchdown by Alvin Ray Jackson.

The Wildcats strung together three consecutive empty possessions in the second quarter and were stopped on two of four possessions in the second half.

“There was times I was thinking about kicking it,” Stingley said. “But I would listen to the play call and it is the perfect play call. But something goes wrong. Missed blocking assignment, poorly thrown ball, missed pass.”

For all the mistakes a opportunistic Wildcats defense kept the game close.

Trailing by one possession in the fourth quarter, twice South Georgia thwarted Florida drives with turnovers.

The first was Jackson’s second fumble recovery of the game and the second an interception by Roland Cola in the end zone as a the ball rolled off the back of the Firecats receiver.

The fumble was followed by a James McCoy pick of Andrico Hines.

Ibeh broke loose for his longest TD reception of the season over the top of the defense following Cola’s play.

When Scott Hode’s PAT hooked left, the Wildcats trailed 34-33 with 7:16 remaining.

The Wildcats were already in what is known as the offsides bonus penalty where because off too many offsides penalties the yardage jumps from the standard five to 10, but on the ensuing Florida drive penalties cast one final frustrating twinge into the comeback attempt.

Upon forcing a fourth-and-five, James Harris was flagged for roughing the passer.

After a missed tackle on third-and-13 converted another first down, James Gibson ran in the from the 2 for a touchdown.

“Penalties are drowning this team,” Stingley said. “The reason we lost four games this year is because of penalties.”

They also lost this one because of one final offensive failure. Driving for the game-tying score, the Wildcats were in the situation of fourth-and-inches with 30 seconds remaining.

They ran an attempt at a quick hit to Ibeh against the wall, but a Firecats defender swatted Hines’ pass down to all but seal the win.

Stingley says he thought about sneaking it, but had the correct play called. “We are trying to keep them off balance as well,” he said. “We were going to snap ball quick. We didn’t get the pass rush we wanted and he was in the passing lane. We had the opening we wanted.”

After this week’s bye the Wildcats return home to play Daytona Beach on June 7, then have a third game with the Firecats on June 14.

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