UWA rolls over Lenoir Rhyne in season opener

HICKORY, N.C. – West Alabama amassed 481 yards of total offense while limiting Lenoir-Rhyne to just 184 on the way to a 46-7 college football win in the season opener for both teams Thursday at Moretz Stadium.

“We are 1-0 and that feels good,” UWA head coach Brett Gilliland said. “Anytime you can start with a region win after an eight-hour bus trip that says a lot about your football team.

“We started fast, especially on defense,” Gilliland said. “We caused turnovers and we were ready to play, ready to hit somebody else after fall camp.”

After being forced to punt on its first two possessions, West Alabama got on the scoreboard first on a 32-yard field goal by Colin Douglas, the first of four field goals by Douglas. He also connected from 20, 30 and 33 yards.

Three plays after Douglas’ first field goal, Ken Hibbler intercepted Bears quarterback Jarrod Keller to give the Tigers the ball on the Lenoir-Rhyne 45-yard line. Harry Satterwhite connected with Qua Davis for 34 yards on the first play after the interception and then with Corey Davis for 11 yards and a touchdown on the next play to give UWA a 10-0 lead at 5:01 in the first quarter.

After picking up a handful of spot starts over the last two seasons, Satterwhite completed 26-of-40 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown against the Bears. He also rushed for 17 yards and a TD on six carries.

“In the beginning, I was playing a little too fast, but by about the third drive I began to feel comfortable,” Satterwhite said. “We have so many weapons that I just need to get the ball to the guys quickly. The running backs had a good night, but thanks to the offensive line nobody was touching them until about three or four yards past the line of scrimmage, then they broke tackles.”

Tevin Madison recovered a Bear fumble to set up the Tigers second touchdown. Lakendric Thomas capped a five-play, 38-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, lifting the Tigers to a 17-0 lead with 13 seconds left in the first period.

West Alabama stretched the lead to 24-0 when Satterwhite scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown with just over nine minutes left in the first half. The score capped a 13-play, 66-yard drive for the Tigers.

“Harry had a solid game and the receiver caught it well, but the story was the defense,” Gilliland said. “The defense pursued, hit people and drove them backwards. That’s what you want to see.”

Terry Samuel and Madison led the Tiger defense with eight and seven tackles, respectively. Madison broke up three passes, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble as the Tiger defense allowed just 11 first downs.

Rashaad Lee got into the scoring column with a 1-yard TD run with 2:59 left in the first half. The point after touchdown snap was botched and West Alabama led 30-0. Lee’s score capped a seven-play, 46-yard drive.

Lee finished with 98 yards on 14 carries, all in the first half, to lead UWA rushers. He also caught five passes for 14 yards. Qua Boyd had four receptions for 66 yards. Donta Armstrong, Corey Davis and Tyler Rogers each caught three passes. Rogers also ran for 70 yards on 11 carries.

“This was a pretty good way to start my last go-around,” Lee, the senior from Pensacola, Florida said. “The execution of the offensive line was good all night.”

Douglas drilled a 20-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to send West Alabama to the intermission with a 33-0 lead.

Lenoir-Rhyne got on the board with 2:17 left in the third quarter when Grayson Willingham connected with Sam Camargo for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cap a three-play, 10-yard drive after the Bears blocked a Tiger punt.

“I was praying for the shutout, but this isn’t a bad way to start,” Madison said. “We still have a lot to fix, though.”

Douglas nailed his fourth field goal from 33 yards with 6:54 left to play, capping a 15-play, 76-yard drive that drained 5:02 off the fourth-quarter clock.

Robert Myers capped West Alabama scoring with a 1-yard plunge with 3:08 left to play. Douglas’ PAT made it 46-7 West Alabama. The scoring drive was set up when Jordan Bennett recovered a Bear fumble on the kickoff following Douglas’ fourth field goal.

Nelson Brown had 76 yards on 22 carries to lead Lenoir-Rhyne. Two Bear quarterbacks combined to complete 11-of-28 for 68 yards. Sherrod Williams had 10 tackles for the Bears.

West Alabama remains on the road next week, visiting FCS member Samford in Birmingham. Lenoir-Rhyne remains at home, hosting North Greenville on Saturday, Sept. 9.