Vipers bring hard-hitting defense to town

The Tennessee Valley Vipers do a lot of things right. A glance at their stats shows efficiency on offense, few penalties, a healthy edge in turnover ratio and they’re stellar on both sides of the football in the red zone.

But the Vipers are best known for one thing – a stingy defense.

Tennessee Valley has marched through the arenafootball2playoffs by allowing three opponents 33, 30 and 35 points, respectively. That point-deprived list includes American Conference top seed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“They’ve done what we asked them to do,” Vipers first-year coach Dean Cokinos said. “We’ve seized control of the game at certain times, we’re playing well (defensively) right now and we’re playing good playoff football. We’ve made the other team drive it, we’re making big plays, and offensively we’re eating up the clock.”

It all starts up front for the Vipers (13-6), who will take on Spokane (18-1) for af2’s biggest prize, the ArenaCup, Monday night at the Arena. Linemen Eric Scott, Terrance Ford and Rico Reese and linebacker Rajohn Myles helped Tennessee Valley make 45 regular-season sacks, third in af2. The Vipers have 14 postseason sacks, 10 more than the Shock.

“They really get after the quarterback,” said Quad City head coach Troy Biladeau, who was Spokane’s defensive coordinator when it won the ArenaCup in 2006. “The offense isn’t quite as explosive, but it’s ball control, and the quarterback (Kevin Eakin) makes really good decisions. They have the best defensive line we’ve seen.”

Biladeau’s Steamwheelers lost 55-35 at home to Tennessee Valley on June 20 and 78-50 to the home-standing Shock a month later. (Against common opponents Quad City, Green Bay, Stockton and South Georgia, Spokane is 5-1 while Tennessee Valley is 2-4). Quad City was breaking in two new offensive linemen against the Vipers, who registered six sacks.

“Their nose guard (Ford) is a big guy, but he gets sacks and Scott is a man-child,” Biladeau said. “He’s quick and he can bull you.”

Biladeau boiled down Monday’s matchup.

“It seems like Spokane is more explosive on offense and scores more points and in the playoffs they’ve really been scoring a lot,” said Biladeau, who expects to attend the game, along with former Shock head coach Chris Siegfried. “If Spokane is going to win, it’ll be with their offense. If Tennessee Valley is going to win, it’s with their defense. That’s going to be the battle.”

Shock head coach Adam Shackleford is impressed with the Vipers’ team speed, but he knows this game, like most, figures to be decided at the line of scrimmage.

“Our line has protected all year and we’re going against a great defensive line,” Shackleford said. “I really think this is a game of big guys, the two fronts, both sides. Can they protect their quarterback and can we protect ours?”

Shackleford said Ford is a “Ted Washington-type.” The 375-pound Washington was a four-time Pro Bowl lineman in the NFL. Ford is listed at 320 pounds, but “he looks more like 345. It’s hard to get him out of the way,” the Shock coach said. “It should be a great battle between him and (Shock center) Rico (Ochoa).”

Scott had 17.5 sacks in the regular season and earned American Conference first-team All-af2 honors. Ford finished with 10 sacks and was second-team. Myles picked up 8.5 sacks and Reese chipped in four.

“They work so well together it’s hard to pinpoint one guy,” Cokinos said. “They’re so tough to handle because they play so well together and create space for each other.”

The Vipers, who play out of Huntsville, Ala., needed to stick together to survive a 0-3 start against eventual playoff teams South Georgia, Green Bay and Florida. They traded quarterback Andy Hall, who went on to earn All-af2 honors with Austin, and inserted Brent Dearmon as the starter. In week six, Eakin replaced an ineffective Dearmon and sparked a comeback win over Albany. Eakin followed that up by leading the Vipers past South Georgia, which later become the only team to defeat Spokane this season.

Eakin, a graduate of Fordham, has had brief stints with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, and spent some time in the CFL and NFL Europe. He had 51 touchdown passes and seven interceptions in the regular season, but he’s already been intercepted five times in the playoffs.

“He’s allowed us to play the type of offense we want,” Cokinos said. “With any good arena offense, you have to get the ball out fast and be accurate. That’s what he’s best at.”

Other key Vipers are receivers Alonzo Nix (10 receptions, three for touchdowns in last week’s win over Manchester) and Maurice Brown, who has been battling an ankle injury; Travis Blanchard, who does a little of everything as a receiver, runner, linebacker, defensive back and kick returner; defensive back Demetrius Derico, who had nine interceptions in the regular season; and kicker Nick Hayes, a second-team All-Af2 selection who made 87.9 percent of his PATs and 13 field goals.

“I’m not surprised (the Vipers are in the ArenaCup),” Cokinos said. “We thought we had a pretty good team in camp and if we just stopped beating ourselves we’d be OK.”