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Tennessee Valley outscores Firecats by 30 points
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ESTERO — With just under seven minutes remaining and Florida trailing Tennessee Valley by 37 points, John Mellencamp’s “Crumblin’ Down” blared over the Germain Arena sound system.
It was right on cue.
This isn’t exactly what Kevin Bouis had in mind when he said this week that Florida needed to be much more offensive. The fourth-year Firecats coach had been searching for answers to his team’s poor production while losing four of its previous five games.
After Saturday night’s 58-28 loss against af2 South Division rival Tennessee Valley in front of 4,058 fans, Bouis is still looking for solutions.
The setback ensures that the Firecats (9-6) will not win the division and gave the Vipers (10-5) the tiebreaker against Florida. Division-leading South Georgia (10-4 heading into Saturday night’s late game at Peoria) plays at Tennessee Valley next weekend, while Florida finishes the regular season at home against Daytona Beach (2-13).
“This is as bad as it’s ever been,” said Bouis, his head shaking.
Fortunately for the Firecats, who also didn’t exactly burn it up defensively against Tennessee Valley, Green Bay’s 33-20 win against Louisville on Friday night assured them a playoff berth. But Florida definitely is backing into the postseason.
“The positive thing is we’re in the postseason,” Bouis said. “That took a little pressure off. But we were playing to host a postseason game, and this didn’t help us at all.”
Led by rookie quarterback Kevin Eakin, Tennessee Valley scored Saturday night’s first 16 points and stopped the Firecats’ first two possessions.
Chris Wallace’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Greg Walls with 11 seconds left trimmed this to 30-21 at the half, and the Firecats got the ball first in the second half.
However, Florida would get no closer. Wallace threw incomplete on fourth-and-seven from the Tennessee Valley 18, and Eakin hit Alonzo Nix on a slant from the Florida 9 to make it 37-21 with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
Florida sputtered on its own 12 the following possession, and Tennessee Valley parlayed the field position into a 2-yard Benji McDowell touchdown run to make it 44-21. The drive was aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Jon Williams, who hit Eakin late on the right wall after a second-down incompletion, giving the Vipers a first down on the Florida 6.
Ethenic Sands fumbled the kickoff return and McDowell pounced on it at the Florida 9, effectively ending this one. Eakin made sure, though, hitting Michael Johnson with a 12-yard TD zinger on fourth-and-goal, the 55-21 deficit with 13:35 left to play causing Bouis to slam his right hand into the cushioned wall in front of his bench.
Wallace was just 22-of-42 for 256 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Florida’s Magic Benton led all receivers with 131 yards and two TDs. Florida rushed for 17 yards on six carries.
“I can’t put my finger on it,” Bouis said of the offensive woes. “We had a good week of practice and seemed to be turning around. But this was our worst outing all year long.
“And we didn’t stop ’em at all.”
Eakin was an efficient 14-of-20 for 124 yards and four TDs. The Vipers ground out 82 rushing yards on 13 carries.
With just 53 seconds left in the first half, the Vipers had struck for a 30-14 lead as Eakin tossed two touchdown passes and Tennessee Valley pounded out TD runs of 2 and 5 yards.
Florida countered with a 48-yard march, keyed by Chris Wallace’s 44-yard strike to Benton over the middle. With 11 seconds remaining before intermission, Wallace hit Walls, an offensive lineman all alone to whittle it to 30-21 at the half.
Bouis had been concerned about the Vipers’ pass rush, and rightly so. Rico Reese’s fourth-down sack of Wallace killed the Firecats first drive. Wallace was sacked on third down of the Firecats’ next possession, then fired incomplete on fourth-and-two attempt from the Tennessee Valley 12.
Demons next door? Your neighbor’s Great Dane took a nap in your flower bed and mistook the front lawn for a loo — and this was on a good day. The music next door may as well be under your bed. You’re wondering why the fruit is disappearing off your trees near someone else’s kitchen window. You have — or have had — neighbors from hell? Tell us about them. We’d like to know what neighbors drove you to the limits, and what — if it was possible with neighbors like that — solved the problem. You don’t need to give us your neighbor’s names, but we do want to hear your experiences for a story on the demons next door, and how to deal with them. Email 
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