LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Football team picked up their seventh overall win and defended their home turf on Saturday, defeating the North Greenville Trailblazers, 17-14.
The UWA (7-1, 4-1 GSC) defense shined once again as the Tigers held North Greenville (4-4,3-2 GSC) to 14 points after the Trailblazers came into Saturday's contest, scoring 99 combined points in their previous two games. West Alabama also held two of the best receivers in the conference, in Dre Williams and Ahmari Coates, to a combined 64 receiving yards, leading UWA to their three-point victory on Hall of Fame Weekend.
"I'm super proud of this team" said head coach Brett Gilliland. "We challenged them all week because we knew that this was going to be a battle. Our defense is special because they don't care who gets the credit. They do their job and they know that something big is going to happen whether if it's with them or their teammate and they're going to celebrate the success of that. That's what makes them special. To hold that offense to 14 points is remarkable."
The Tigers were able to move the ball with little to no issues in the first quarter, but were only able to convert on a field goal in their two drives. The Trailblazers struggled to find their offensive flow, only accumulating 55 total yards but were able to put through a field goal as well. After a 29-yard field goal from NGU's Brandon Bowman and a 24-yarder from UWA's Elijah Guyton, we went to the second quarter with the score tied at three.
In their first drive in the second quarter, West Alabama struck for an explosive play as Spencer Arceneaux connected with Khris Binion for a 63-yard touchdown. Later in the period, the Tigers threatened to extend their 10-3 lead until the Trailblazers came up with a massive fourth-down stop with 7:00 minutes remaining. After the stop, North Greenville started their drive at UWA's 43-yard line and drove down into the red zone until a sack from Cody Sigler disrupted all the momentum they had. Sigler's sack moved NGU back to the 30-yard line where Bowan went on to miss a field goal, keeping the score at 10-3 as we reached halftime.
Statistically, West Alabama dominated the first half, gaining 215 offensive yards while holding North Greenville's explosive offense to 87 yards on 26 plays.
Out of the break, North Greenville controlled the third quarter, by the numbers, but weren't able to cut into UWA's lead. The Trailblazers had the ball for majority of the third, accumulating 13:06 minutes of possession time and registered 149 yards of offense. Another missed field goal from Bowman and an interception caught by Davonta Jackson kept NGU off the board, keeping West Alabama's lead at seven. The Tigers didn't have many opportunities to extend their lead as they only possessed the ball for 1:54 minutes and recorded negative three yards of offense.
Things began to heat back up in the fourth quarter as NGU's Bowman nailed his second field goal of the day before Arceneaux broke loose for a 60-yard touchdown run, making it a 17-6 game. After Arceneaux's explosive play, the UWA offense started to sputter again, keeping North Greenville in the game. The Tigers' defense continued to stifle the Trailblazers' offense until they allowed their first touchdown of the night with 1:12 left to play as Dylan Ramirez found the end zone on a one-yard scamper. After the score, NGU lined up to go for two and converted before an illegal touch on their onside kick attempt virtually ended the game.
Sigler led the way defensively with a game-high 2.5 sacks while Jackson registered 4.0 tackles for loss, an interception and a sack. Offensively, Arceneaux recorded 239 total yards and two touchdowns while Binion catch six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.
"We had a really good week of practice this past week," Gilliland continued. "We have to continue to put together solid weeks of preparation because it allows our guys to have so much confidence when they get to the game."
West Alabama now prepares for a road matchup against the Shorter Hawks on Saturday at 11:00 AM CST in Rome, Georgia.
