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Cats change guard at top of the South

Colin Chmielewski

ESTERO, Fla. — Just three weeks remain in the af2’s season. For the South Georgia Wildcats, that season has been three months filled with ups and downs.

There was the season-ending knee injury to quarterback Julian Reese. Then, there were the career numbers for D. Bryant.There were the frustrating early-season road losses to Alabama and Rio Grande Valley. Then there were the exhilarating home wins over Tennessee Valley and Florida.There was the death of Derek Stingley’s father, Darryl, in April. Then, Saturday, there was the Wildcats’ coach standing in the bowels of Germain Arena with a much-deserved smile on his face.

South Georgia’s 47-40 win against the Florida Firecats not only gave the Wildcats control of their South Division title and playoff destiny, it also was the highest of highs during the 2007 season.

Consider why:   

• The Wildcats had never beaten Florida since moving to Albany. Now, South Georgia has swept the three-time defending division champions.
• The Wildcats had gone 6-26 in their two previous seasons here. Now, a team that averaged three lousy wins a year has tripled that with its 9-4 record.

Florida had been the model for consistency and success during its reign at the top of the division. But it was clear during the Wildcats’ second win against the Firecats that South Georgia is the determined veteran bunch of the two teams.

The Wildcats had every reason to tuck their tails for Saturday’s trip to southwest Florida. Everyone on the Florida side — from players to radio guys to writers — assumed that the Firecats would be walking away with another division title.

And coming off a disappointing 80-57 throttling at the hands of Manchester, it was hard to imagine that same group of players keeping up with a Florida team that had won six consecutive games.

Surely the Firecats would be aching to exact some revenge for their 49-38 loss in Albany. But then a crazy thing happened: the Wildcats charged out to a 20-0 lead and seemingly took the air out of Florida. While the Firecats fought back to make it a close contest, the end result is all that matters.

The South Georgia Wildcats — a team that had been a gimme on other teams’ schedules for the previous two years — have three games standing between them and their first division title in Albany and their first home playoff game. I won’t even mention the fact that Saturday’s win secured the Wildcats’ first winning season since coming to Albany, because with this team, nine wins seem like an unfinished piece of work.

South Georgia has bigger plans and larger potential — and that’s why Stingley has tried to quell the highs and lows of each win and loss.

Stingley has had high expectations for this group of players he assembled in March. But after what they had seen the last two seasons, it was too hard for fans in Albany to believe that a winner was being molded. Hopefully now though — after a huge victory on the road in Florida — everyone can stop waiting for the other shoe to drop on this season.

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