BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tucker Melton tossed four touchdowns, two to John Hilbert and the defense limited Miles College to just 161 yards as the West Alabama football team cruised to the 31-0 shutout road victory Saturday night in Birmingham.
"Proud of the growth we made as a team between game one and game two. It is always good to get a shutout on defense and big plays on offense," head coach Brett Gilliland said. "We played a much cleaner second half and that was good to see. Now it's time to clean up the mistakes and continue to make improvements for a game in Tiger Stadium."
Melton threw for 400 yards, completing 22-39 and found 10 different receivers. Hilbert put together a big game catching six passes for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Hilbert opened the scoring with a big 50-yard TD strike from Melton just over five minutes in. Then the two hooked up again to close the scoring just over five minutes into the fourth quarter with a 69-yard connection this time around.
The defense then limited Miles College (0-2) to just 2.44 yards per play on 66 snaps. It was another strong game holding the rushing attack in check allowing just 72 yards on 35 carries. UWA (2-0) also forced 11 punts and held the Golden Bears to a 1-16 effort on third downs.
After each team had a chance with the ball, the Tigers found the end zone and never looked back. Following a three-and-out that left UWA with the ball out near midfield, Melton took the second play of the drive and hit a wide open Hilbert down the near sideline who went untouched for the 50-yard score and a 7-0 lead after Gabriel Dunkle connected on the extra point.
With the defense continuing to limit Miles College, UWA put together a drive that spanned the end of the first quarter and then found another touchdown early in the second quarter. On third-and-eight at the Miles 14, Melton found Silas Thompson just inside the 10-yard line and he was able to break free and dive over the goal line for the score and a 14-0 lead.
A big special teams play helped setup the final score of the half. Dearrius Nelson returned a punt 41 yards back to the Miles 26 yard line. A few plays later, Trey Sullivan connected on a 38-yard field goal to provide the halftime score at 17-0.
After both teams weren't able to score in the third, the Tigers then put the game out of reach with a pair of touchdowns in the final frame.
Receiving the ball out near midfield, UWA marched down the field on nine plays and capped the drive when Melton hit Geordan Pollard for the 13-yard strike for the 24-0 lead just over a minute into the fourth quarter.
Following a few possession changes, UWA closed the scoring with another big play by Hilbert. With the ball at the UWA 31, Melton hit a streaking Hilbert for a 69-yard touchdown down the near sideline again to provide the final margin of 31-0.
UWA held a 590-161 total yards advantage that included 444 passing yards. The defense kept Miles College under 100 yards in both rushing and passing, as the Golden Bears rushed for 72 yards and passed for 89 yards.
In addition to the big games by Melton and Hilbert, Pollard added six catches for 89 yards to go along with his receiving score. Caeleb Bass brought in three passes for 63 yards. Qunzav Pickens had one catch, but it was a big 44-yard reception. Silas Thompson picked up two receptions for 28 yards, while both Khris Binion and Dalton Bailey added 24-yard receptions. On the ground, Antonio Brown led the way taking 10 carries for 69 yards, with a long of 29. Demetrius Battle chewed up 54 yards on 14 carries. Bry Webb added 11 carries for 36 yards.
Michael Anderson and Trevon Stanford led the defense with six tackles apiece. Anderson had two solo tackles for a loss of 16 yards, while Stanford had a solo and assisted tackle for a loss of three yards. De Mays and Trevonte Carter tallied four tackles apiece. UWA continued to have pressure in the backfield throughout the game coming away with five sacks. Anderson, Trevon Lambert Jamal Ellis and Steven White all had solo sacks.
Jalen Parker completed 8-14 for 76 yards to lead Miles College. Marcus Lodge caught two passes for 29 yards. Parker also was the leading rusher picking up just 22 yards on nine carries. On defense, James Sawyer had 10 tackles, while Austin Brundidge added nine.
With the first two road games of the season now complete, the Tigers will look forward to playing at home for the next three games. The home opener arrives next Saturday (Sep. 17) against Tuskegee starting at 2 p.m. inside Tiger Stadium. Tuskegee will enter the game 0-2 having lost to Fort Valley State (21-6) and Hampton (42-10).
