UWF Football Suffers First Ever Loss

September 18, 2016

The UWF football team committed three turnovers in the second quarter that resulted in 14 points for Chowan as the Hawks held on to defeat the Argonauts 35-28 at Garrison Stadium Saturday night.

UWF (2-1) finished with 459 yards of total offense, including 415 through the air, but committed a season-high four turnovers in suffering its first loss in program history.

Graduate Kaleb Nobles completed 29-of-48 for 398 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked four times and three two interceptions. Redshirt freshman Grey Jackson saw time on two different series, including the second possession of the third quarter when he engineered a six-play, 31-yard drive that tied the game at 28. He was 3-for-4 for 17 with a TD and also rushed for 23 yards.

UWF and Chowan each recorded touchdowns on the first three drives of the game before things settled down offensively. The first strike came on a seven-yard run from CU’s Tyree Lee.

Nobles didn’t waste any time getting those points back, as the Argonauts went 75 yards on just three plays in 31 seconds to even the score at 7-7. The drive was capped off with a 58-yard touchdown pass to senior Anas Hasic. It was the first of three scoring catches for the Phoenix native, who previously played at North Carolina Central, located in Durham just under two hours from Murfreesboro. He finished with nine receptions for 190 yards, the most in a game in the Gulf South Conference this season.

Chowan followed suit on the next drive, as quarterback Randall Dixon dropped in a 29-yard touchdown pass to put the score at 14-7 with 10:50 left on the clock in the first quarter. He finished the game with 449 yards passing on 28-of-44 and two touchdowns.

The Argos drove deep into Chowan territory later in the period but came away empty when an Austin Peffers field goal attempt from 26 yards bounced off the right upright.

UWF did reach the end zone on its next possession. With 3:02 remaining in the quarter, Leroy Taylor intercepted a pass from Dixon in the red zone to start a UWF drive that stretched 84 yards and evened the score on another touchdown connection from Nobles to Hasic – this time from 16 yards.

The 14-14 score did not hold for long, as Chowan took advantage of UWF turnovers on consecutive possessions to put the score at 28-14 at the half.

Nobles threw his first interception of the season that gave Chowan possession at the UWF 15. The Hawks scored after four rushes to go ahead 21-14. Chowan extended the lead to 28-14 on a 73-yard drive that ended with a Tyree Lee 29-yard run with 4:21 left in the half.

In what has become standard UWF fashion, the Argonauts came out of halftime in a full sprint and rallied for 14 unanswered points before many in attendance had returned from the concession stand. Nobles found junior Ishmel Morrow for a 71-yard grab on the third play of the half to cut the score to 28-21. He hauled in a game-high 12 passes to go along with 161 yards.

Just a play into the ensuing Chowan drive, freshman Trent Archie snagged his first interception of the season and the turnover led to seven more UWF points. Jackson led the Argonauts on the drive, adding a 17-yard run before finding Hasic from 14 yards to even the score.

CU took the lead for the final time with 10:50 left in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard pass. UWF moved the ball into Chowan territory briefly on its final possession but was forced to punt and never got the ball back as the Hawks picked up four first downs in the final 3:57.

The UWF defense entered the game averaging 6.5 sacks per game and tallied four while picking off three passes. Sophomore Marvin Conley had 11 tackles and freshman Joshua Smiley finished with 10 to lead the Argonauts.

Chowan (2-1) had 579 yards of offense on 92 plays with 449 passing and 130 rushing.

UWF will open GSC play against Valdosta State next Saturday, September 24, in Valdosta, Ga. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News, Sports, TOP sports