PENSACOLA, Fla. - The University of West Alabama Football team defeated the West Florida Argonauts, 35-33, in a double overtime thriller on Saturday night.

West Alabama (4-0, 1-0 GSC) out-gained West Florida (1-1, 0-1 GSC) 322-269 and won the turnover battle by two in their two-point win.

"I'm just so proud of our guys," said head coach Brett Gilliland. "We went up two scores and then they came back and tied it up. A lot of teams would've folded right there, but our guys just kept grinding and found a way to win."

Much like the contest between the Tigers and Argonauts in 2023, both defenses dominated to begin, forcing four combined punts to start the game. West Alabama started to find their rhythm at the end of the first, with Devontae Causey breaking off a 14-yard run to put UWA near mid field.

A couple plays after Causey's run, Spencer Arceneaux began the second quarter with a 36-yard run, putting the Tigers at the Argos' nine-yard line. Moments later, Arceneaux got West Alabama on the board as he found Caeleb Bass in the end zone for six. After the Arceneaux to Bass connect, UWA's defense continued to stifle West Florida, holding the Argonauts to 31 total yards and two first downs as we reached the 5:00 minute mark of the second quarter. A short punt from West Alabama's Trey Sullivan gave West Florida great field position to begin their next drive, beginning on the Tigers' 30 yard line. The UWA defense didn't falter and held UWF to a field goal, putting the score at 7-3 with 2:23 left in the half. That would be all of the scoring for the first 30 minutes as West Alabama went into the half up 7-3. 

UWA out-gained UWF 121 to 50 in the first half, holding West Florida to three first downs which led to their four-point lead.

Two plays into the second half, Lamar Gray recorded his first interception of the season, setting the stage for the Tigers offense. Reeling off of Gray's interception, Arceneaux  found Bass in the end zone for the second time of the night to give UWA a 14-3 lead. West Florida answered immediately as Marcus Stokes found Ja'Corey Scott for a 73-yard touchdown to cut West Alabama's lead back down to four. The explosive play was all UWF could muster up in the third as the Tiger defense got back to work. Late in the third quarter, Elijah Guyton put through a 21-yard Field Goal to put West Alabama back up by seven before UWA's defense forced another punt which led to the Tigers offense driving the ball up the field. Guyton capped off a seven-play drive with a 29-yard Field Goal, extending West Alabama's lead to 10 to begin the fourth quarter.

The West Florida offense looked like a completely different unit to begin the fourth quarter as the Argos put together their best drive of the game. UWF drove 74 yards down the field in nine plays, putting the ball in the end zone courtesy of Stokes' second passing touchdown of the night, with this one going to Jackson Blalock. After the West Florida Touchdown, West Alabama couldn't move the ball which led to them punting the ball back to the Argos. With the momentum seeming to swing in favor of UWF, Gray picked Stokes off for the second time of the game, keeping the score at 20-17. The West Alabama offense couldn't capitalize on Gray's interception as they were forced to punt once again. 

West Florida drove down the field on their next drive and kicked a Field Goal to send the game to overtime.

UWF put UWA behind the eight ball in the first overtime period, scoring in two plays. The Tigers quickly responded as Brayden Jenkins rushed for his first Touchdown of the night, sending the game into double overtime.

On the first play of double OT, Arceneaux found Khris Binion in the end zone. The Quarterback then followed that up by rushing for the two-point conversion, putting the Tigers ahead 35-27. The Argos put the ball in the end zone on their next possession before Ishmael Naylor batted down Stokes' pass on the two-point conversion attempt, sealing the game 35-33 for the Tigers.

Arceneaux finished with 208 passing yards and three passing touchdowns while Gray recorded two interceptions on the defensive side.

"Our guys talked all week about how big this game was to them," coach Gilliland continued. "I tried to talk to it down a little bit, telling them that it's just a game but in reality this was a big game. A big game in our conference and we were able to pull it out."

West Alabama now takes their 4-0 record back on the road for a massive matchup against top-five ranked Valdosta State next Saturday.