Livingston, AL -Tiger quarterback Spencer Arceneaux (Mobile) showed out in a big way here Saturday night. He led the Tigers to a 45-9 victory over Tusculum (TN) University with 249 yards passing on 17-24 throws. Two went for touchdowns. He also ran for 74 yards  and a score.

Arceneaux had scoring strikes of 38 yards to Tyler Walker (Moultrie, GA) and 30 yards to Caeleb Bass (St. Cloud, FL).  His lone touchdown was worth 67 yards when scooted down the left sideline early in the 4th ??quarter after beating the defense to the corner.

"We started off slow and had some adversity early," said Arceneaux.  "We got it going in the second half and were able to move the football pretty well."
 
Walker finished with three catches for 109 yards.  "We played pretty good as a whole," he said.  "Our coaches teach us to keep making plays and we did that tonight."  

Tusculum's Zaron Collins opened the scoring with a 50-yard run on a reverse early in the first. The Pioneers opted to go for two and didn't make it. UWA answered with Walker's score and a two-yard run by Bry Webb (Dothan).  John Pittman kicked a 25-yard field in the last minute of the first half for Tusculum.

The second half was all Tigers.  Bass had his 30-yard touchdown reception, Brayden Jenkins (Irvington) added a three-yard run, Tyler Smith had a one-yard run, Arceneaux had his 67-yard run, and Elijah Guyton (Cullman) booted a 26-yard field goal to close out the scoring.

Guyton totaled 10 points with seven extra points to go along with his field goal.

The Tiger defense held Tusculum to only 246 yards while UWA totaled 456 yards. Uriah Ratliff (Jacksonville, FL) and Devonte Harris (Pritchard)each had interceptions for the Tigers.

"I am very excited about the big win," said Tiger head coach Brett Gilliland.  "They had not played yet so there were a lot of unknowns about them. They have a really good coaching staff.   

"We were really proud of our guys for making the adjustments they had to make and how we took over the game in the third quarter," he added. "I am excited about how we played together. I thought we made a lot of big plays in all three phases of the game. Now we have to get ready for Limestone, a playoff team from last year."

UWA hosts Limestone next Saturday night a 6 pm to end a three-game home stand to start the 2024 campaign.