Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Demetrius Battle
Jordan Allison
24
West Ala. UWA 4-5 , 2-4
36
Winner West Florida UWF 7-1 , 5-1
West Ala. UWA
4-5 , 2-4
24
Final
36
West Florida UWF
7-1 , 5-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UWA West Ala. 7 3 7 7 24
UWF West Florida 7 9 14 6 36

Game Recap: #22 Football |

Cerra and Jarrett Lead Argos to Win Over UWA

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Griffin Cerra connected on five field goals and Peewee Jarrett ran for 114 yards to lead No. 9 West Florida to a 36-24 Gulf South Conference football victory over at Pen Air Field on the University of West Florida campus.
 
The victory was the fifth consecutive for West Florida, improving the Argonauts to 7-1 overall, 5-1 in GSC play. West Alabama is 4-5 and 2-4 after dropping its third straight.
 
"In moments of hard times you have to keep moving forward," UWA head coach Brett Gilliland said. "We have to circle the wagons and we can decide to have two special weeks left in the season for these seniors or we can repeat this for the next two weeks.
 
"It's all about attitude and effort and we have each other to play for," Gilliland said. "We had plenty of chances to get back in this game, but we had some breakdowns that cost us."
 
Jarrett opened the scoring for West Florida with a 3-yard touchdown run to cap a 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive on the game's first possession. Griffin Cerra's point after kick gave the Argonauts a 7-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first period.
 
West Alabama answered with an 11-play, 84-yard scoring drive on its first possession, capped by a 4-yard run by Demetrius Battle. Gabe Dunkle's PAT made it 7-7 with 2:03 left in the first period. The rushing TD was the 23rd in Battle's career, putting him seventh on the UWA career list.
 
"This is very frustrating, but it has been like this all year. We know we can win," Battle said. "Sometimes we get too high and feel like we are gonna cruise and that catches up with us."
 
Darmario Nichols intercepted Jarrett in the endzone to thwart a UWF scoring threat on it second drive. The pick was Nichols first at UWA and set up a 41-yard Dunkle field goal to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead with 13:42 to play in the second quarter.
 
Cerra tied the game at 10-10 with 8:55 left in the first half with a 38-yard field goal set up when David Durden broke a trio of tackles on his way to a 38-yard punt return to the West Alabama 20-yard line. The West Alabama defense stiffened and forced the kick, not allowing a yard after return.
 
UWA went three-and-out on its next possession and punted again to Durden, who returned a 32-yard boot 21 yards to the Tiger 21-yard-line, breaking tackles again along the way. After going three-and-out again, Cerra converted from 45 yards to give the Argonauts a 13-10 advantage at the 6:56 mark of the second period.
 
Cerra closed out first-half scoring with a 35-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the second quarter, giving the Argos a 16-10 lead at the intermission.
 
The Tigers and Argos traded turnovers early in the third quarter before West Florida stretched the lead to 23-10 on a 28-yard touchdown run by Ra'veion Hargrove. Cerra's PAT capped an 8-play, 80-yard drive with 6:31 left in the third.
 
West Alabama cut the UWF lead to 23-17 when Bry Webb's 1-yard TD run topped off a 9-plays, 51-yard drive. Dunkle's PAT was good with 2:41 to play in the third quarter.
 
West Florida answered on the next drive with a 48-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett to Durden with 2:11 to play in the third quarter. Cerra's kick was good and the Argos led 30-17 with a quarter left to play.
 
West Alabama cut the UWF lead to 30-24 on the first play of the fourth quarter when Battle found Darius Nalls on a 57-yard halfback pass.
 
Cerra's fourth field goal of the game, this one from 36 yards, extended West Florida's lead to 33-24 with 8:19 left in the game. His final field goal came from 31 yards with 3:31 left in the game to ice the UWF win.
 
"We have to find a way to finish this right for our seniors," safety Shamar Lewis, who recovered a fumble and returned it 15 yards, said. "We are just getting too many penalties."
 
The Tigers were penalized 10 times for 90 yards. UWF was flagged eight times for 82 yards.
 
UWA quarterback Tucker Melton completed 14-of-27 passes for 198 yards, while Jarrett was 8-of-23 for 93 yards.  The Tigers collected 421 yards of total offense and UWF had 386.
 
Webb led Tiger runners with 64 yards on 14 carries. Battle chipped in 54 yards on 13 trips. C.J. Wilson ran for 86 West Florida yards on 10 carries to bolster Jarrett's total.
 
Kristopher Binion had five receptions for 72 yards and Nalls hauled in four passes for 89 yards to pace Triger receivers. A trio of Argo receivers finished with two reception each.
 
Trevin Stanford had eight tackles to lead UWA defenders. T.J. Newell and Michael Anderson added six each. Kee Whetzel and Willie Jordan each had seven tackle for West Florida.
 
West Alabama returns to Tiger Stadium to host Mississippi College Saturday at 2 p.m. West Florida is host to Valdosta State Saturday.
 
Print Friendly Version