CLINTON, Miss. – West Alabama football's winning streak continues after defeating Mississippi College 31-28 in its first conference matchup of the 2021 season. UWA improves to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Choctaws fall to 1-2 and 0-1.
"GSC games are not easy," said head coach Brett Gilliland. "Hats off to Mississippi College. They played a hard-fought game. The biggest thing was we had adversity as a team, and it was the first time we had that. We came back and rallied and found a way to win the game."
Demetrius Battle led the offensive charge on the ground, rushing for 109 yards on 19 carries inside Robinson – Hale Stadium Saturday night. The Birmingham, Ala. native averaged 5.7 yards per carry and had two touchdowns in the competition.
The Tigers rushed 35 times for 174 yards in the game. Even quarterback Jack McDaniels got in on the run, rushing seven times for 25 yards and a touchdown.
By air, McDaniels connected on 14 of 27 for 188 yards. He found targets in Bayley Blanchard and Tyriq Martin. Blanchard had five catches for 73 yards, and Martin had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Martin's longest catch of the night was 46 yards in the Tigers first scoring drive.
Defensively, newcomer Michael Anderson had a big night. The Chatom, Ala. native had seven solo tackles and three tackle assists, one for a loss. Senior linebacker Josh Hatcher also played well with six solo tackles and three tackle assists.
It was well into the first quarter before the Tigers made it into the red zone. After a 46-yard pass from McDaniels to Martin, West Alabama found itself just 11 yards from the endzone. It would take the Tigers three more plays to score, with Demetrius Battles running the final two yards for the touchdown. Gabriel Dunkle lands the PAT to give UWA a 7-0 advantage with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Choctaws. Mississippi College scored its first touchdown just five seconds into the period. MC attempted the point after, but Chris Terrell blocked the kick, which Shamar Lewis recovered, cutting West Alabama's lead to 7-6.
The Choctaws would make it into the endzone again after about 10 minutes ticked off the clock. The drive was made of 13 plays for 49 and took 6:48 to complete. After the touchdown, MC went for a two-point conversion and successfully grabbed a 14-7 lead with 6:37 left in the second period.
The Tigers answered in the very next drive. A long pass from McDaniels to Martin was good for a touchdown. UWA got the extra point and tied the game at 14 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, MC scored with just 1:42 left in the period. It took 5:23 to run 10 plays for 61 yards for a touchdown and the point after, giving the Choctaws a 21-14 lead.
West Alabama's offense ramped up in the final quarter for the win. The Tigers scored three times in under 10 minutes. After a two-minute-long drive of eight plays and 58 yards, UWA settled for a 44-yard field goal on the foot of Dunkle to cut the Choctaws lead to 21-17 with 14:33 left to play.
With a drive starting at 12:33, the Tiger positioned themselves to reclaim the lead. Battle started the campaign with a ten-yard carry for the first down. Battle went on to carry the ball an additional three before McDaniels got UWA's next first down, keeping it for 10 yards. Closing out the drive, McDaniels ran eight yards into the end zone for the touchdown, and Dunkle was good for the point after. West Alabama regained the lead at 24-17 with 10:39 remaining in the game.
The Tigers offense would strike one more time before the competition's close. Battle scored his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard carry. UWA got the PAT to extend its lead to 31-28 with just over five minutes to go.
Mississippi College struck last with a one-yard carry for a touchdown and the PAT. With under four minutes to go, the Choctaws would not score again for a 31-28 final score.
Up next, the Tigers will continue conference play as they travel to Carrollton, Ga. to take on West Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 2. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m.
