CLEVELAND, Miss. — The University of West Alabama Football team fell to Delta State, 37-33, in the GSC opener on Saturday.
West Alabama (5-3, 0-1 GSC) got a major lift from its return game, with Kendrick Joseph returning two kickoffs for touchdowns as the team finished with 327 kickoff-return yards. Delta State (4-3, 1-0 GSC) held the larger possession and rushing profile, totaling 274 rushing yards, 23 first downs and 38:44 of possession while converting 7 of 14 third downs. The Tigers threw for 173 yards without an interception but was limited to 64 rushing yards and 10 first downs.
"I liked that our guys had resilience at the end of the game," said head coach Scott Cochran. "I saw them fight to the end, but we're banged up right now and had key players go down. That really hurt us."
FIRST QUARTER
After UWA's defense forced a punt on the Statesmen's opening possession, Price Nixon pinned the Tigers at the one-yard line, but Luther Richesson immediately hit Jaylon York for 60 yards to start a drive that reached DSU's 28 before ending on downs. The Statesmen struck first in the game courtesy of a 26-yard field goal from Price Nixon after a 10-play, 54-yard drive.
Trailing 3-0, West Alabama's kick return man, Joseph, returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown at the 2:50 mark, and Elijah Guyton's extra point put West Alabama in front 7-3. The Tigers forced a three-and-out on the next Statesmen series, then moved across midfield on Richesson's 21-yard completion to TD Parker before the first quarter ended with UWA ahead 7-3.
SECOND QUARTER
What looked to be a promising drive came to an abrupt end for West Alabama when Kaden Cupp fumbled after a short completion and Jordan Bradley returned the recovery 62 yards for a Statesmen touchdown just 46 seconds into the period. Moments later, the momentum swung back in the favor of West Alabama as Legend Doggett intercepted Emile Picarella at the West Alabama 44 and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tigers a 14-10 lead at the 7:27 mark. Playing with the lead again, the Tigers defense got a stop as Joseph Harper sacked Picarella to help force a Statesmen punt. With 3:52 left in the half, Dakarai Shanks fumbled which was recovered by T.J. Edwards, giving the ball back to Delta State. The Statesmen converted the short field into a Qualon Farrar seven-yard touchdown run at 1:48, and Nixon's extra point sent West Alabama into halftime trailing, 17-14.
THIRD QUARTER
It was more kick return magic from Joseph to begin the second half as the redshirt freshman returned the opening kickoff of the half 97 yards for a touchdown, putting UWA back in front, 20-17 after the PAT attempt was no good.
"We've been saying that we see something in our kickoff return and it came to fruition today and we needed it," Cochran stated.
Delta State drove into West Alabama territory on the next possession, but Kebian Gilmore forced a Nick Clark fumble and Jamil Peterson recovered at the Tigers' 32 before the West Alabama offense went three-and-out.
The Statesmen answered with a 76-yard drive capped by Farrar's six-yard touchdown run to put UWA behind, 24-20. The Tigers' offense couldn't generate much in the next drive, turning the ball over on downs which set the precedent for another Delta State score as Clark rushed for a 12-yard touchdown. After Clark's touchdown run, the quarter ended with West Alabama trailing, 31-20.
FOURTH QUARTER
Desperately needing to get something going offensively, UWA's Shanks scored from one yard out to begin the fourth. DSU answered with a drive that ended in a 41-yard field goal to put the Tigers in a 34-27 hole with 9:17 to play. West Alabama couldn't muster up offense on their next drive, punting the ball back to Delta State. DSU virtually put the game away on their next possession with a 26-yard field goal, putting West Alabama down, 37-27 with 3:01 left.
Another big kickoff return from Joseph gave West Alabama great field position, starting their drive on the DSU 36 yard line. Richesson later hit Parker for a two-yard touchdown at 1:32. The Tigers couldn't recovery the ensuing onside kick attempt, falling to Delta State, 37-33.
"Overall, this wasn't a fun game," Cochran continued. "We had a lot of missed tackles, but I loved our aggressiveness. When you miss tackles like we did today, you're not going to have the success that you want."
West Alabama will return home next weekend, Saturday, October 31 for a 1:00 p.m. matchup against Valdosta State.
