(Bronislaw Grala photo)
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The issue of declaring an official champion will likely be referred to the South’s collegiate league commissioner.
A check of the South’s by-laws suggests that in the event of a tie in a Matrix game, a tiebreaker system is used to determine a winner, and in this case, it would appear that points differential could be the final criterion. If that is the case, Arkansas State would be declared champs as their points diff is greater than that of Tennessee.
The Tribe and Vols were all locked up at 3-3 at halftime before Tennessee rolled off 10 unanswered points in the second half to edge in front. Arkansas State took an early 3-0 lead on a David Caswell penalty goal, which was answered by Tennessee’s Andrew Melroy.
In the second frame Kevin Hartley scored his team’s only try, while Melroy converted the score and added another penalty to put the Vols ahead. Arkansas State hit back with a Curtis Huckaby penalty, followed by a try to prop Jake Grubbs that was converted by Caswell to knot the scores.
Each team had its chances to clinch a win with late shots at goal, although neither side could dissect the uprights. The Tribe managed to do what no other team has done during the regular season, which was to destabilize Tennessee’s scrum. Arkansas State has a big pack and all eight players worked in unison.
“Both teams laid everything on the field,” Tennessee head coach Butch Robertson told ARN. “Arkansas State’s forwards really caused us a lot of problems. There were some pressure errors by both sides.”
Between them, the two sides were coming off a combined seven weeks off and both showed signs of rustiness.
“I was so proud of both teams for playing with such intensity,” Arkansas State head coach Curt Huckaby told ARN. “What the game lacked in fundamentals it was certainly made up in determination and grit.”
In the game to decide third place in the South, North Carolina got by a gutsy Florida 18-11. Tar Heels’ flyhalf Ed Perkins kicked his team to victory by going 6/6 on penalty shots.
“They came up here and gave us all we could handle,” said UNC head coach Andy Richards.
Dave Meehan scored the only try of the game for the Gators, while Matius Tettamante booted a couple of penalty goals to round out the scoring.
“We made a statement, just didn’t make as big a statement as we wanted to,” added Florida coach Ken Simmons.
Elsewhere, South Carolina clinched fourth place by beating Clemson 21-10. The Gamecocks led by 7-5 at the half. USC’s outside center Brad Kleiber was the difference maker after dotting down twice on brilliant individual plays.
“I think we really controlled the ball well,” South Carolina head coach Geoff Mason told ARN. “Clemson is a well-drilled team, but our forwards just kept grinding them down.”
South final standings (unofficial):
Arkansas State (17 pts)
Tennessee (17 pts)
North Carolina (14 pts)
South Carolina (12 pts)
Florida (10 pts)
Clemson (8 pts)
Georgia (6 pts)
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