FLORENCE
– The University of North Alabama rolled to
a 21-0 first quarter lead and went on to
close its regular-seasob with a 49-20 rout
of West Alabama at Braly Stadium,
UNA improved to
9-1 overall with the win and will find out
at 10:30 Sunday if it will advance to the
NCAA Division II playoffs. West Alabama
ended its season at 1-9 and 0-8 in the Gulf
South Conference.
Lion
quarterback A.J. Milwee threw for 218 yards
and three touchdowns in the win and tied the
UNA career record for TD passes with 42.
Five different UNA players scored in the
game, including linebacker Jonathan Douglas
who returned an interception for a score,
giving UNA six defensive touchdowns this
season.
UNA finished
with 466 total yards, rushing for 214 and
passing for 252. The Lions were stopped on
three other drives deep inside UWA territory
by lost fumbles. TheTigers gained 326 yards.
For West
Alabama head coach Bobby Wallace, it was his
first time coaching in Braly Stadium since
he resigned as head coach of North Alabama
in 1997.
North Alabama
got on the board on its first possession
when Milwee hit Rocky Coleman with a 34-yard
touchdown pass on a fourth down call. Kenny
Spencer’s PAT gave UNA a 7-0 lead at 11:40
of the first quarter. Brandenn Pickett
scored on an eight-yard run at the 7:22 mark
and Spencer’s kick made it 14-0. An
eight-yard David McCants TD run at the 3:56
mark extended the lead to 21-0.
West Alabama
broke through on the scoreboard on a 19-yard
TD reception by Patrick Levett on a pass
from Kurt Kennedy. Mitch Warfield missed the
PAT to make it 21-6.
Milwee’s
eight-yard TD pass to Covington Wright with
9:16 left in the second quarter and Scott
Shurden’s PAT made it 28-6. West Alabama
came right back, however, as Terry Allen
returned the kickoff 82 yards for a TD.
Warfield’s kick made it 28-13.
Douglas picked
off a Tiger pass with 3:34 left in the half
and took it back 56 yards to the end zone.
Shurden’s kick made it 35-13.
Milwee’s
record-tying TD pass to Joemal Campbell from
19 yards out came with 13:44 left in the
game. Yuta Fukuda kicked the extra point and
UNA led 42-13.
A two-yard
Pickett run with 10:39 left in the game
extended the lead to 49-13.
West Alabama
got a 30-yard TD pass from James Reiter to
Anthony Connell with 7:03 left to make the
final count 49-20.
This was the
60th meeting in the all-time series and UNA
now leads 45-14-1 and has won 21 of the last
24 contests. The Tigers haven’t won a game
at Braly since 1987.
North Alabama
also won its 15th straight regular-season
game at home.
Printable Game
Statistics - West Alabama
