FLORENCE
– David McCants scored three touchdowns on
the ground and Jason Messing had two TD
receptions as the University of North
Alabama routed West Georgia 65-17 at Braly
Stadium.
UNA led just
23-10 at the half but exploded for 42 second
half points, including a defensive
touchdown.
The Lions are
now 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the Gulf South
Conference. West Georgia falls to 2-8
overall and 1-6 in the league.
McCants had
touchdown runs of 12, 15 and five yards and
finished with 69 yards on 11 carries. Lion
quarterback A.J. Milwee completed 24 of 31
passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns and
back-up Dusty Goodwin was three-for-five for
92 yards and two TDs. Goodwin also had a
24-yard rushing TD.
Messing’s two
touchdown receptions of 12 and 78 yards set
a new school record, giving him 22 for his
career.
The Lions
finished with 542 total yards to just 243
for West Georgia.
North Alabama
scored less than three minutes into the game
on McCants 12-yard run. Scott Shurden’s PAT
made it 7-0 with 12:39 left in the opening
quarter. Shurden added a 28-yard field goal
at the 2:41 mark to make it 10-0 and McCants’
15-yard TD run at the 10:25 mark of the
second period extended it to 17-0.
West Georgia’s
first score came after the Braves recovered
a blocked punt at the UNA one-yard line. On
third down, James Crowley caught a four-yard
pass from Ryan Poole and UNA’s lead was down
to 17-7 with 5:32 left in the half.
A nine-yard
Milwee pass to Ed Gant with 2:23 left in the
half made it 23-7 but Shurden’s PAT attempt
was wide.
The Braves were
then able to rally for a 41-yard Jared
Guberman field goal to make it 23-10 at
intermission.
In the third
quarter, Messing caught a 12-yard TD pass
from Milwee to break the UNA career
receiving touchdown mark, moving one ahead
of Michael Edwards. A five-yard McCants TD
run with 5:19 left in the third made it
37-10.
Greg Summerset
scored on a six-yard run for the Braves with
58 seconds left in the third period to cut
UNA’s lead to 37-17.
North Alabama
would score four more touchdowns before the
night was over, however. Rocky Coleman
caught a five-yard TD pass from Goodwin and
Yuta Fukuda added the PAT with 14:56 left in
the game.
Messing then
took a swing pass from Goodwin and outraced
the Wolves defenders 78 yards for a score
with 11:23 left. Will Batson kicked the PAT.
With 5:19 left
in the game, Goodwin faked a handoff and
carried the ball 24 yards to the end zone to
make it 58-17.
Then, with just
2:34 left, Darrius Jackson, picked up a West
Georgia fumble and went 51 yards to the end
zone. It was UNA’s fifth defensive touchdown
of the season.
The Lions host
West Alabama next Saturday at Braly Stadium
at 6 p.m. in UNA’s regular-season finale.
Printable Game
Statistics - West Georgia
