Tigers handle Mississippi College, 42-13, in GSC opener
LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama outgained Mississippi College by just three total yards, but the stat sheet doesn’t decide the outcome the way trips to the endzone do.
When the humid evening at Tiger Stadium was done Saturday, West Alabama had made it to the endzone five more times than MC on the way to a 42-13 Gulf South Conference victory.
West Alabama (2-1) had 391 total yards to 388 for Mississippi College (0-3), but the Tigers blocked two punts, one for a touchdown, and ended the night clearing the bench for the final minutes of the game.
Averaging 43 points per game, West Alabama scored four times via the run to cap extended drives, once on a long pass and on the blocked punt in the third period. Baylee Blanchard blocked the punt and Seth Knotts covered it in the MC endzone to effectively put the game away with 4:12 left in the third period.
“The biggest thing is we made plays,” UWA head coach Brett Gilliland said. “That’s what our offense is designed to do and we definitely made them when we needed to tonight.
“Anytime you can block two punts and it leads to scores, that’s big,” Gilliland said. “It’s been a big week for Coach (Lamont) Seward. He and his wife Bebe had a new baby and his special teams blocked two punts. Of course, the latter doesn’t come close to comparing to the former.”
Seven of 10 West Alabama drives ended in touchdowns. The Tigers lost two fumbles and Zach Gaines punted once for 62 yards.
Mississippi College’s only TD came on an 87-yard pass from Ty Jobe to Nathan Faciane, taking advantage of a blown Tiger coverage down the left sideline. A pair of field goals by Greg Nickles from 24 and 23 yards completed the Choctaw scoring.
UWA answered the MC bomb with a 4-yard TD run by Rashaad Lee, who would score later on a 2-yard run and finish the game with 99-yards on 13 carries. Lakendric Thomas and Tevin Moore scored on runs of five and 23 yards for the Tigers.
In addition to the two blocked punts, the West Alabama defense forced Mississippi College to turn the ball over on downs three times, giving the Tigers seven fourth-down stops in eight attempts this season.
“It’s always good when you can make those fourth-down stops,” cornerback Tevin Madison said. “We want to kill a fly with a sledgehammer, just keep beating folks down.”
Harry Satterwhite and Donta Armstrong hooked up for the third time in the last two games, this one a 34-yard scoring toss to make the score 21-7 with 2:14 left in the half.
“Anytime you can get Donta Armstrong one-on-one he will make the play,” Satterwhite said. “He just beat the guy deep and I hit him.”
Satterwhite finished 29-for-35 for 215 yards and the TD. Armstrong had eight receptions for 83 yards and a score, followed by Broc Malcom with six catches for 43 yards. Qua Boyd and Lee both had four receptions for UWA.
Ken Hibbler and Madison combined for 27 tackles. Madison had 13 stops while forcing and recovered a fumble. Ten of Hibbler’s 14 stops were solo. Terry Samuel chipped in nine tackles for UWA, who had five tackles for loss.
The Tigers limited Mississippi College to just 106 yards rushing.
“Those kind of games come from playing within the system and executing fundamentals,” Hibbler said. “You just read your keys and get to the football.”
Jobe completed 18-of-29 passes for 256 yards. Ja’Moz Mark caught six passes for 59 yards and Tiberias Lampkin had 36 yards rushing on 14 carries for the Choctaws.
West Alabama hits the road for the third time in the first four weeks of the season, traveling to North Alabama on Saturday. Mississippi College is host to Florida Tech.