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Jacob Murphree
Trent Spruell | Trent S. Photography
33
Winner West Georgia UWG 5-3 , 3-2
17
West Alabama UWA 4-4 , 1-4
Winner
West Georgia UWG
5-3 , 3-2
33
Final
17
West Alabama UWA
4-4 , 1-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UWG West Georgia 13 6 7 7 33
UWA West Alabama 0 7 10 0 17

Game Recap: #17 Football |

West Georgia Handles Tigers, 33-17, at Home

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Georgia all but put an end to almost any playoff hopes for West Alabama by defeating the Tigers, 33-17, in Gulf South Conference football Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
 
The win improved the Wolves to 5-3, 3-2 in GSC play, and kept postseason dreams afloat for UWG with three games to play. West Alabama dropped to 4-4 and 1-4.
 
Until Saturday, UWA had not lost two consecutive games since the beginning of the 2016 season, 24-23 at North Greenville and 30-24 at Stephen F Austin. The Tigers hadn't lost back-to-back conference games since the 2015 season, 32-14 to West Georgia and 24-13 at Florida Tech.
 
The Wolves and Tigers combined for 907 yards, with West Georgia ringing up 491, including 220 on the ground.
 
West Alabama threw for 373 yards, but managed just 43 rushing yards, finishing with 70 yards on the ground or less for the second consecutive week.
 
The Wolves may have won the game on third down, converting 6-of-16 while limiting West Alabama to just 2-of-12. West Alabama completed just 1-of-10 passing attempts on third down and was 0-of-3 on third and 9-plus yards and 0-of-3 on 1-4 yards, while UWG converted 4-of-6 in the same situations.
 
"It is very frustrating because we didn't make plays when we had a chance," UWA head coach Brett Gilliland said. "There were so many plays we could have made. Evidently it wasn't our day.
 
"The scoreboard doesn't define us as a program. It defines me as a coach," Gilliland said. "What defines this program are our core values and how that ends up defining these young men when they are through playing here."
 
West Georgia opened the scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run by LaPerion Perry, capping a drive that covered 75 yards on seven plays in 3:04 to open the game. The PAT was no good and the Wolves led 6-0 with just 3:04 gone in the  game.
 
After recovering a muffed Tiger punt, Willie Candler hooked up with Perry on a 14-yard TD pass  to give West Georgia a 13-0 lead with 2:03 left in the first quarter. The 25-yard drive took six plays.
 
West Alabama got on the scoreboard at 10:06 in the second quarter when Jacob Murphree connected with Bayley Blanchard on a 2-yard scoring pass. Murphree went 4-for-4 for 69 of the 83 yards on the scoring drive, cutting the UWG lead to 13-7.
 
Blanchard led all receivers with seven catches for 71 yards, moving him to ninth on the UWA career list with 97 receptions. Tyriq Martin caught four passes for a career-best 139 yards Derrick Underwood carried five times for 27 yards to lead UWA rushers.
 
After taking over for starter Jack McDaniels in the second quarter Murphree completed 21-of-40 for a career-high 330 yards, two TDs and an interception. McDaniels was 4-for-9 for 43 yards.
 
Omar Cervantes extended West Georgia's lead to 16-7 with a 49-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the second quarter. Cervantes drilled a 28-yard field goal after West Georgia's Nasier Currie-Sudler picked Murphree off on the next possession to give the Wolves a 19-7 lead at the half.
 
West Alabama opened the second half by driving eight plays to set up a 36-yard field goal by Tre Jackson, shaving the UWG lead to 19-10 with just 2:38 gone in the third period. West Georgia answered with a 2-yard TD run by Chauncey Williams after Candler ran for 17 yards on fourth down and 14 to keep the drive alive.
 
A blocking in the back penalty o the ensuing kickoff negated Christian Saulsberry's return to the West Georgia 5-yard line before Jackson ended up missing a 48-yard field goal try to leave the score at 26-10 West Georgia.
 
West Alabama cut the lead to 26-17 on a 42-yard TD pass from Murphree to Deyon Hill with 2:53 left in the third period. The four-play scoring drive was set up when Shamar Lewis stuffed UWG quarterback Garrett Bass on fourth-and-1.
 
West Georgia closed the scoring when Bass found Quan Harrison for 34 yards on 3rd and 15 for the touchdown with 14:44 left in the game.
 
Lewis collected 10 tackles to lead West Alabama. Savon Parker had eight. Undraez Lilly had two tackles for loss and a half sack. Jordan Jones had 1.5 tackles for loss.
 
Bass completed 11-of-19 passes for 129 yards after coming in for an injured Candler in the second half. Candler was 12-of-23 for 142 yards. Both had a touchdown pass.
 
Eric Swinney ran for a game-high 80 yards on nine carries for UWG. Harrison caught five passes for 106 yards to lead Wolve receivers. John Hurst and Thomas Lester had five receptions apiece.
 
Javon Charleston had six tackles to lead the Wolves.
 
West Alabama travels to Florida Tech (3-5, 1-4) on Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. West Georgia is host to Mississippi College.
 
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