TIGERVILLE, S.C. - The University of West Alabama football team fell short to North Greenville University by a 23-16 score, Saturday night from Younts Stadium. 

In the Gulf South Conference (GSC) opener for both teams, West Alabama falls to 1-2, while North Greenville improves to 2-1.  

"We obviously did enough to give ourselves a chance to win, but we didn't play clean football. Personal fouls and penalties after the play were not an issue in the first two games, and they were a big problem tonight. We have to find out what happened and fix it," said head coach Brett Gilliland.  

A three-hour tour that took just under two hours to play the first half, West Alabama found themselves down 7-0 just less than a minute into the game. From the second play from scrimmage, Dylan Ramirez found Dre' Williams for a 76-yard score.  

UWA quickly responded on its first possession of the game with an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Tucker Melton to Darius Nalls to even the score at seven apiece.  

From there, the contest was stalled between teams punting, but a 43-yard field goal by Colin Karhu gave the Crusaders the 10-7 lead with 5:04 left in the period.  

After UWA's ensuing drive stalled at midfield, Quentin Sanders muffed the punt at his own 10-yard-line that was recovered by Dearrius Nelson. 

As the drive saw itself transition to the second period, UWA could not punch the ball in the endzone thanks to a holding call on a touchdown pass and a false start penalty forced the Tigers to kick a 37-yard field goal, but it was no good and the game remained 10-7 in favor of NGU.  

The Crusaders saw their next drive abruptly interrupted by Devonte Harris who picked off Ramirez and gave the Tigers the opportunity to get back into the game.  

After catches from 11 yards by Tyler Walker and 18 from Darius Nalls, West Alabama was in the redzone again. This time, Webb took the ball to the house from five yards out to give the visitors the 13-10 lead, but they were unable to convert the point-after attempt.  

Midway through the second period, after the Tigers were pinned inside their own goal line, but Webb fixed that and then some with a 78-yard carry for the first down and flip the field for the Tigers offense. However, an incomplete pass and three penalties saw UWA go from the NGU 19 to the UWA 41. 

After that, the Crusaders maintained the momentum to the offensive end and reclaimed the lead 17-13 with 4:26 after a 24-yard pass from Ramirez to Williams.  

Following a UWA punt, NGU wrapped up the first half with a 54-yard field goal by Karhu to give the home team the 20-13 lead at the half. 

After UWA punted on its first possession of the second half, three plays into NGU's first drive a botched handoff from Ramirez to Yavin Smith deep in Crusader territory.  

Starting at the North Greenville six-yard-line, Webb pushed the ball to the two-yard-line, but back-to-back incomplete passes saw the Tigers turn the ball over on downs.  

Later in the third, a UWA drive that lasted 13 plays and 60 yards only to see it end on a missed 37-yard field goal.  

In the fourth quarter, after a Fred Billy interception, the Crusaders added insurance with a 32-yard field goal to make it 23-13 with 5:13 left in the ball game.  

UWA did get the ball back with 3:37 remaining and Kevin Butchers converted a 36-yard field goal to make it a one-score game, 23-16. The ensuing onside kick went in favor of North Greenville and they were able to run the clock out.  

NGU did not see positive yardage from the running game in the first hal, posting negative three yards, but the second half was a second story. A team that averaged over two yards per carry went over the average in the second half with 80 yards on 26 carries.  

Bry Webb missed his career-high by 14 with a 150-yard performance on the ground on 16 attempts without losing any yardage. 

Tucker Melton went 14-of-27 passing for 151 yards and a score. Darius Nalls caught six passes for 88 yards and the lone passing touchdown. 

Jamarcus Smith posted seven tackles and had a tackle for a loss, while Davonchae Bryant and Michael Sharpley each had a sack.  

Following two weeks away from home, West Alabama will next face Mississippi College at Tiger Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.