LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The three-game homestand will continue this Saturday when the West Alabama football team will host Shorter inside Tiger Stadium with kickoff set for 2 p.m. in Gulf South Conference play. It will also be the Hall of Fame game, Pink Out and the 2012 UWA championship team will be recognized. Information on each Hall of Fame inductee, as well as the 2012 football team can be found later on in this preview.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $30 for reserved, $5 for youth/student, while five and under are free. Purchase your tickets ahead of time on the Hometown Fan App. All forms of funds will be accepted on game day for tickets including cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Credit cards will incur a small processing fee. Make sure to find out all of the game day information by clicking here, which includes parking and other information.

Make sure to tune into SLY 104.9 at 30 minutes before kickoff for the game day coverage with Will Atkinson and Rob Pearson on the call. Click here to listed to SLY 104.9 online. There will also be a live stream that can be found here and live stats that can be found here.

There will also be a Catfish Fry that will take place before the game from 12 p.m.-2 p.m. in the back football parking lot area. Sponsored by Alfa Farmers and Alabama Catfish Producers.

UWA (2-2, 0-1 GSC) opened the conference portion of their schedule this past Saturday against West Georgia with the Wolves claiming the 22-7 victory. Points were hard to come by with West Georgia striking first midway through the first quarter. After missing the extra points, the Tigers took the lead before the opening quarter expired when Tucker Melton found Darius Nalls for the seven-yard TD pass. UWA held the lead until the third quarter when the Wolves scored 10 points on their way to claiming the 22-7 victory.

Melton completed 14-28 for 136 yards and a touchdown. Bry Webb rushed for 74 yards on 10 carries and Nalls caught eight passes for 73 yards and a score. Michael Anderson had another big game with 10 tackles (all solo), along with a fumble recovery. Lamar Gray tallied six tackles and two tackles for loss.

Melton has completed 76-149 for 929 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranks in the top-50 nationally in several categories:

• -          28^th in passing touchdowns (8)
• -          27^th in passing yards (929)
• -          34^th in passing yards per game (232.2)
• -          46^th in points responsible for (48)
• -          33^rd in completions per game (19)

Demetrius Battle continues to make his push for breaking into the top-10 all-time in both rushing yards and touchdowns. On the season, he has rushed 53 times for 168 yards and a touchdown. He is just 273 yards away and one touchdown away from breaking into the top-10 on the all-time record books. Bry Webb has rushed 35 times for 160 yards, while Antonio Brown is approaching 100 yards on the season carrying the ball 19 times for 92 yards. John Hilbert has caught 16 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Caeleb Bass has caught 13 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Geordan Pollard has added 10 catches for 141 yards and a score, while Nalls has 15 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Anderson leads the way with 32 tackles (26 solo), along with 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. Gray adds 24 tackles with three being for a loss. Shamar Lewis has 17 tackles (13 solo), along with a tackle for loss and an interception. Jamal Ellis has a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss and adds a pair of sacks. Trevonte Carter has 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

UWA ranks in the top-50 nationally in multiple categories:

• -          17^th in third down conversion percentage on defense (25.8)
• -          35^th in passing offense per game (252.8)
• -          21^st in passing yards allowed per game (149.5)
• -          50^th in punt return defense allowed per return (5.0)
• -          33^rd in punt return yards per game (11.88)
• -          16^th in red zone defense percentage on defense (58.3)
• -          29^th in red zone percentage on offense (88.9)
• -          12^th in scoring defense points per game (12.8)
• -          16^th in team passing efficiency on defense (94.68)
• -          13^th in team sacks per game (3.50)
• -          7^th in team tackles for loss per game (9.8)
• -          22^nd in total defense yards per game (271)

Shorter enters with a record of 2-2 overall and 0-1 in GSC play, falling just short to pulling off a big home win over nationally-ranked Valdosta State this past Saturday. The Hawks had the final drive of the game and got into the red zone before the Blazers held on for the 34-30 victory. Shorter opened the season with victories against Brevard College and Catawba.

Aeneas Dennis has put together a solid season so far this year at quarterback completing 56-99 for 833 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has also rushed 26 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Justus Durrant leads the rushing attack carrying the ball 41 times for 242 yards. Noah Holland has a pair of rushing touchdowns, carrying the ball 37 times for 193 yards. Dorian Anderson has caught 11 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns. Kyle Morlock has 10 catches for 161 yards and a score. John Dietl III has 11 catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

On defense, Artellious Edmonds leads the way with 20 tackles (14 solo), a tackle for loss and an interception. Bruce Guyton has 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack, while Bryan Rice adds three tackles for loss. The Hawks have three sacks and five interceptions on the season.

UWA has won all 10 meetings in the series since 2010, winning two of the past four meetings via shutouts. Last year, the Tigers rolled to the 44-7 victory and then won 41-0 in 2019 in Livingston. UWA has won the past two meetings in Livingston by a combined score of 103-0.

The Tigers held the 496-228 total yardage edge in last year's meeting with jack McDaniels completing 26-36 for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Battle rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Webb added a rushing touchdown. Tyriq Martin caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Schdarren Archie paced the defense with seven tackles, while Chris Terrell added six. Lewis added an interception.

UWA will honor the three UWA Hall of Fame members prior to kickoff in Christi Wade, Craig Roden and Anna Shartzer.

Currently the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance at UWA, Wade was a two-time All-GSC First Team selection as a catcher, was named to the All-South Region, GSC All-Academic Team and finished fifth all-time at UWA in runs batted in with 114. Before returning to UWA, Wade was the head softball coach at Saint Leo University (1996-2010), compiling a 463-296 record and making five NCAA Regional appearances. Her Saint Leo teams broke the school record for wins in a season three times and she coached 45 all-conference players, 47 academic All-Americans, 11 All-Region, six All-Americans and six Sunshine State Conference Players of the Year. In addition, was also the Assistant Athletics Director and Senior Women's Administrator at Saint Leo (1998-2008) and was inducted into the Saint Leo Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. Wade began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Tigers in the mid-90s.

Coach Roden graduated from UWA in 1978 and went on to become the coach of the Tigers during the 1984-85 season and retired 41 years later. He became the only coach in Gulf South Conference history to win over 100 games at three different league schools: 102 at UWA, 198 at West Georgia and 129 at Delta State. Roden's 425 GSC wins is second-most in league history and he compiled 626 career victories. Roden coached eight All-Americans and countless all-conference players. He led UWA to the 2012 GSC Championship and Delta State to the title in 2016. Roden tallied three GSC Coach of the Year honors.

Shartzer played softball at UWA from 2010-14. She was a two-time GSC Top-10 award winner, NFCA First Team All-American (the first UWA player to earn that honor) and ranked in the Top 10 in eight offensive categories in the league, as well as three defensive categories as a senior. Shartzer led the team with 45 runs and 69 hits and was second with 13 doubles and nine home runs as a senior. In addition to a strong bat, Shartzer was solid in the field with a .997 fielding percentage during her senior year. She set five UWA career records with 713 at-bats, 172 runs scored, 60 doubles, 404 total bases and 213 games played, along with earning GSC All-Academic Team honors twice. Shartzer was listed in the Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. As a junior, was seventh in the conference in hitting with a .380 average, while earning First Team All-GSC, NFCA and Daktronics First Team All-Region honors. Shartzer was Chi Alpha Sigma, a national collegiate athlete honor society and three-time UWA President's List.

The 2012 Gulf South Conference Championship football team went undefeated in conference play that season, securing the outright title after defeating North Alabama at home, 42-27. The Tigers went on to the NCAA Regional that year after going 9-4 overall on the season.
 

Game 5 Notes

• UWA has gone 10-0 against Shorter since first meeting in 2010. The Tigers have won each contest by double-digits
• UWA has outscored Shorter 85-7 in the previous two meetings and have recorded shutouts in two of the past four matchups
• The Tigers held a 14-0 lead last year at halftime at Shorter before exploding for 30 points in the second half for the 44-7 victory
• Jack McDaniels completed 26-36 for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Demetrius Battle rushed 15 times for 100 yards with two touchdowns. Bry Webb also added a rushing score. Tyriq Martin caught nine passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Schdarren Archie posted seven tackles, while Shamar Lewis added an interception
• UWA is 1-0 when they score first this year (31-0 win over Miles College) and are 1-2 when opponent scores first (won 24-16 at Morehouse after Maroon Tigers opened scoring with a field goal)
• Demetrius Battle is now at 1,430 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns for his career and is 273 yards away from breaking into the top-10 all-time in rushing yards. He is one touchdown away from tying for 10th on the all-time touchdowns list
• UWA has claimed two Gulf South Conference Player of the Week accolades this year. Michael Anderson was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week after posting 13 tackles (nine solo), along with 3.5 tackles for a loss of 13 yards and a sack against Tuskegee. Tucker Melton earned the Offensive Player of the Week award earlier this season against Miles after throwing for 400 yards and four touchdowns
• The game against West Georgia was only the second game in the last 15 in which the Tigers didn't record either an interception or sack. In 10 of those games, UWA collected both a sack and interception. In the games in which they didn't have one or the other, UWA has an interception or a sack in three of the games. Outside of last week's game against West Georgia, UWA didn't have either one against Mississippi College in November last year
• With Melton and Jake Corkren combining to throw for 174 passing yards, UWA now has a streak of 35 games in which they have passed for at least 100 yards in a game. Last occurrence of under 100 yards was against North Greenville on Sep. 30, 2018 (88 yards)
• UWA rushed for 85 yards against West Georgia, which is just the third time over the past 15 games in which the Tigers haven't rushed for at least 100 yards
• The defense has tallied 14 sacks this year and have forced five turnovers, while allowing just 12.75 points per game
• The game against West Georgia was the first game this season the Tiger defense didn't collect a sack. They opened the season with five sacks each against Morehouse and Miles and then had four against Tuskegee
• Shorter won their first two games to start the season for the first time since 2014 and nearly upset GSC powerhouse Valdosta State last week falling just short (30-34)