Sports

Road warriors

• After opening with a win on the road and then following it with a loss at home, the Wildcats stay true to form thus far in 2008 by beating the Thunderbirds on Monday in Daytona Beach.

Randy Rorrer
Daytona Beach News Journal

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— During the first two games of the season, the Daytona Beach Thunderbirds made enough mistakes to beat themselves.

But on Monday night, hometown boy Walter Washington was largely responsible for beating them at the Ocean Center.

Washington, a Mainland High (Fla.) graduate, replaced starter Cecil Lester and took over as quarterback for the South Georgia (2-1) in the second half and accounted for four touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 41-32 victory.

It was Daytona Beach’s (0-3) third consecutive loss — having been outscored 116-26 in its first two defeats — but Monday did mark the first time the first-year expansion Thunderbirds were in contention through four quarters.

“It feels great to come in here and get a chance to play and to win,” Washington said. “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to play all season, and it was good to do it at home.”

Washington ran for a 6-yard touchdown and passed for touchdowns of 13, 29 and 34 yards.

 Washington’s final touchdown pass hit former Westover star Antwone Savage in stride while T’birds defensive back George Williams was draped all over him to put the Wildcats up, 41-26, and all but put the game away.

Washington was elated, while surprisingly Daytona Beach’s new head coach Gary Compton wasn’t much different.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” said Compton, who coached his first game of the season Monday after being hired last week. “We had some miscues, but we fought hard and had a chance to win in the fourth quarter.

“This gives us something to build on. This should give us some confidence. We were very minute on defense. We haven’t put much in yet, and we should have a lot more to work with next week.”

Washington said he was recruited by the Thunderbirds in the offseason, but his agent swayed him to take the job with coach Derek Stingley and the Wildcats.

“I thought about playing (in Daytona), but with a first-year team I expected them to take their bumps and bruises,” said Washington, who was swarmed at midfield after the game by a dozen friends. “I really didn’t want to take the bumps and bruises with them.

“I might have made a mistake. These guys will probably end up being really good this season. You can tell they have a lot of talent.”

Overall, Washington completed 6-of-9 pass attempts for 140 yards and three TDs. He also ran twice for eight yards.

“I’ve always been a versatile quarterback,” said Washington, a former quarterback for Temple University who was once named Big East Player of the Year by Collegefootballnews.com.

P.J. Berry was the Wildcats’ top receivers with 109 yards and two TDs on five catches. Savage also caught two TDs.

Daytona Beach quarterback Scott Jefferies connected on 23-of-45 pass attempts for 252 yards and two touchdowns.

Daytona Beach grabbed its first lead of the season on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jefferies to a diving Lamont Finnie with 7:50 left in the first quarter.

But the Wildcats stormed back with two touchdown passes by Cecil Lester to grab a 13-7 lead. His first strike was to Buchie Ibeh — Ibeh’s first TD of the season — and Lester’s second touchdown was a 30-yard strike to Berry — the Wildcats’ leading receiver — as time expired in the first quarter.

Lester was replaced by Washington in the second half.

The Wildcats returned to South Georgia late Monday and will play again Saturday at home against the Green Bay Blizzard at 7:30 p.m.

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