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VALDOSTA, Ga. –
A late rally attempt fell
short as the University of West Alabama football team
dropped a Gulf South Conference game to Valdosta State
16-14, Saturday afternoon at Bazemore-Hyder.
West Alabama (5-3 overall,
2-3 GSC) added a late score with a little more than a
minute and a half to play on a James Reiter 48-yard
touchdown pass to Dwiuan White, but it was not enough to
earn the Tigers their sixth win of the season.
“I’m proud of the way we
fought today,” UWA head coach Bobby Wallace said. “We
are trying to earn the respect of the teams in the (Gulf
South) conference. It’s been a long time since we have
been able to say that around here.”
The Tigers jumped on the
board first, when Jonathan Wright took a 25-yard run to
end zone. A Mitch Warfield PAT gave West Alabama an
early 7-0 advantage with 6:03 remaining in the first
quarter.
Valdosta State scored on
three consecutive drives to overtake the Tigers attempt
at victory.
The Blazers got their first
points when Willie Copeland found Derek Tharpe for a
15-yard TD reception. A missed PAT kept UWA on top, 7-6.
Copeland didn’t stop there,
giving Valdosta State its first lead of the game, with a
15-yard strike to Cedric Jones. The Zach Williams PAT
gave the Blazers a 13-7 lead at the half.
Valdosta State took its first
possession of the second half and marched 66 yards in 14
plays, capped off by a Williams 31-yard field goal to
lift the Blazers to a 16-7 lead.
“Our defense played really
hard today,” said Wallace. “We just have to keep from
making mistake and getting stupid penalties to stop us.
We have to take better care of the ball to put ourselves
in better position to win the game.”
West Alabama garnered 338
yards of total offense. Reiter and Jerin Wright led the
rushing game with 59 and 56 yards, respectively. Reiter
finished with 166 yards through the air, completing
eight of 18 passes in the game.
Valdosta State grabbed 413
yards, in large part to 359 yards of passing by
Copeland. Tyler Aurandt pulled in 13 passes for 123
receiving.
UWA’s defense was spearheaded
by 10 tackles each from Terrance Campbell and Lewis
Thompson, as Kidane McBride and Donial Summers each
added nine tackles on the game.
West Alabama returns to
action on Saturday, October 28th when the
Tigers travel to Arkansas-Monticello for a 3:00 p.m.
kickoff. |
