TylerCameron_FB_102415
Elisabetta Zengaro
41
Winner West Alabama UWA 6-2 , 2-2
38
Delta State Univ. DSU 5-3 , 1-3
Winner
West Alabama UWA
6-2 , 2-2
41
Final
38
Delta State Univ. DSU
5-3 , 1-3
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UWA West Alabama 0 17 0 24 41
DSU Delta State Univ. 7 7 21 3 38

Game Recap: Football | | Matt Jones

Tigers shock Statesmen 41-38 with furious 4th quarter comeback

CLEVELAND, Mississippi - Mark Grant's 23-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the game, capped a furious fourth quarter comeback, to propel the Tigers (6-2, 2-2 GSC) of the University of West Alabama past the No. 17 Statesmen (5-3, 1-3 GSC) of Delta State University 41-38 on Saturday afternoon at Parker Field-McCool Stadium. UWA outscored the Statesmen 24-3 over the final 9:02 of the game.

The loss ruined a record-breaking performance by DSU freshman quarterback Tyler Cameron. The 6-foot-3, Foley, Alabama native, completed 34-of-55 passes for 491 yards and a freshman record five touchdowns in the loss.

At halftime of Saturday's game, Delta State took time to honor the 31 first responder organizations that served the campus during the tragic events of Sept. 14 that led to the death of acclaimed professor Dr. Ethan Schmidt. President Bill LaForge presented representatives from each of the organizations in attendance with a plaque in honor of their professionalism, bravery, responsiveness and courage in the line of duty.

The Basics
  • Score: West Alabama 41, Delta State 38
  • Records:No. 22/17 Delta State (5-3, 1-3 GSC); West Alabama (6-2, 2-2 GSC)
  • Date:Saturday, Oct. 24 | 2 p.m. (CDT) Kickoff
  • Location:Parker Field McCool Stadium | Cleveland, Miss.
  • Attendance: 4,581
  • Series:61st meeting all-time; Statesmen lead 35-22-3

HOW IT HAPPENED

Scoring:
  • Tyler Cameron tossed his first career touchdown as DSU's starting quarterback, connecting with Justin Leavy on a 55-yard strike to put the Statesmen up 7-0 with 8:56 to play in the first quarter.
  • UWA's Tyreek Hill scampered for a 62-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 14:17 remaining in the first half.
  • Hill put the Tigers on top with a 78-yard punt return for a score with 12:04 in the second quarter.
  • Cameron found Collin Floyd for a 74-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:28 to play in the second quarter.
  • After a 7-play, 38-yard drive, Jordan Bennett nailed a 25-yard field goal to put UWA up 17-14 with 7:38 to go in half.
  • Jarvis York hauled in a 59-yard strike from Cameron to open the scoring in the second half and put the Statesmen back up 21-17. The drive covered 61 yards on two plays in a mere 29 seconds.
  • Leavy caught his second touchdown of the game, a 50-yard pass from Cameron, with 6:08 left on the clock in the third quarter. The score increased DSU's lead to 28-17.
  • Cameron established a new freshman record for touchdown passes, connecting with Tim Foy on a 15-yard score to put DSU up 35-17 with 1:39 to play in the third quarter.
  • West Alabama put together a 67-yard, nine play drive, as Harry Satterwhite found Courtney Foy for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 9:02 to play in the fourth. UWA's two-point conversion was good to make it a 10-point game, 35-25.
  • The Tigers perfectly executed the onside kick and on the next play, Satterwhite hooked up with Darryl Collins on a 48-yard scoring strike. The PAT was blocked by De'Koven Ware to make DSU's lead four points, 35-31, with 8:52 to go.
  • DSU answered with a 30-yard Vince Sciorrotta field goal with 4:37 to go to extend the lead back to seven, 38-31.
  • After a great return setup the Tigers with the ball on the DSU 48 yard line, UWA tied the game at 38-38 on Satterwhite's third passing touchdown of the fourth quarter.
  • Mark Grant sealed a furious fourth quarter comeback for the Tigers with a game-winning 23-yard field goal with 19 seconds left to play.
Defense:
  • The Statesmen allowed 441 yards of total offense, with the Tigers putting up 218 on 26 plays in the fourth quarter.
  • Junior corner Romelo Wilson picked-off his seventh career interception in the first quarter. The Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native led the GSC with four interceptions last season. Wilson has two this season.
  • Jamel Dennis paced the Statesmen with 9.5 tackles.
  • Junior corner DeMonterious Kendrick had a career day as well, posting 8.5 tackles, 1.0 tackles-for-loss and four pass break-ups.
  • Randall Boyd recorded a pair of sacks and 4.5 tackles in the loss. His 2.0 tackles-for-loss will keep him in the hunt for the GSC lead.
  • Jon Knox finished the game with 6.0 tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss and broke up three passes.
  • Quentin Harton paced UWA with 8.5 tackles, 1.0 sack and a tackle-for-loss.

Special Teams:
  • Sciorrotta missed his first two field goals on Saturday before nailing a 30-yard effort late in the fourth. The junior went 0-for-2 in field goals in last week's 28-7 loss to West Georgia. The missed streak came after Sciorrotta had connected on his previous 10 field goal attempts.
  • UWA's Hill accounted for 108 yards in kick/punt returns, including a touchdown, in the first half. The majority of the yardage came on Hill's 78-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. He finished the game with an astonishing 317 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.
  • UWA's Mark Grant punted eight times for 231 yards for a 32.6-yard average.
  • Cody Mills punted five times for the Statesmen, averaged 39.0 per kick, including a long of 49 yards.

Key Stat
  • West Alabama scored 24 points in the fourth quarter while totaling 218 yards on 26 plays. All 24 points came in the final 9:02 of the contest.

Game Changer
  • UWA picked-off a tipped pass with 1:46 to play. Cameron's pass to Darius Powell was tipped and batted into the air, coming to rest in the hands of Felix Woods. The interception set up the Tigers at the DSU 33-yard line.

Notables
  • Delta State's two turnovers in the fourth quarter snapped an 11-quarter streak without a turnover.
  • DSU accounted for 614 yards of total offense on 90 plays, while UWA finished with 441 on 76 snaps.
  • Cameron established career-highs for completions (34), attempts (55), passing yards (491) and touchdowns (5). The freshman from Foley High School in Foley, Alabama, broke the school record for passing touchdowns by a freshman in a game that was previously set by Scott Eyster (2003) and Tyler Sullivan (2013).
  • Three Statesman receivers topped the 100-yard mark, led by Collin Floyd with 148. Floyd, who caught six passes for 108 yards and a score in the first half, finished the game with nine grabs for 148 yards and a touchdown.
  • Jarvis York caught a career-best 12 passes for 128 yards, including a 59-yard score.
  • Justin Leavy hauled in six passes for 115 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
  • UWA's Harry Satterwhite completed 25-of-41 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns with an interception. The freshman was 12-of-17 for 159 yards and three scores over the final 9:02 of the game.
  • Tyreek Hill, an Oklahoma State transfer, accounted for 317 all-purpose yards in the win for the Tigers.
  • Delta State accounted for 299 yards of total offense in the first half, including 240 yards passing by Cameron. The 6-foot-3 freshman from Foley, Alabama, completed 17-of-26 attempts with a pair of touchdowns, including a 74-yard strike to Floyd.
  • UWA's Hill amassed 240 all-purpose yards in the opening half. The Oklahoma State transfer rushed for 80 yards, caught three passes for 52 yards, and accounted for 110 return yards.

Quoting Cooley:
"I just think we didn't finish. We got it 1st and goal on the 2. We don't finish. Onside kick got us. They dominated us in special teams. We've got to do a much better job. Maybe our young men will understand how important that is, and I have no idea about the call on the sideline when we got a big conversion there. But we've got to get better. I'll take it. It's on me, I've got to coach better, and we've got to find some soul searching. We've got to win now if we think we're going to be in the playoffs and that's going to be very, very tough to do, but we're going to try."




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