UWF Argos Win At Mississippi College

October 9, 2016

Led by another strong offensive performance and a stingy first-half defense, the University of West Florida improved to 4-2 on the season after a 42-28 victory over Mississippi College on Saturday.

The receiving trio of Antoine Griffin, Ishmel Morrow and Caleb Robinson helped quarterback Kaleb Nobles go 22-for-32 passing with 282 yards and four touchdowns. Griffin, Morrow and Robinson each posted at least 60 yards receiving, with Griffin leading the way with eight receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Trent Archie led the way with seven solo tackles and his team-leading third interception of the season. UWF limited MC to 186 yards of offense in the first half, and posted five tackles for a loss and two sacks in the contest.

UWF (4-2, 2-1 GSC) made the most of its first drive, as Nobles connected with Griffin with a 52-yard strike to jump out to a 7-0 lead after a four-play, 54-second opening drive.

Mississippi College (2-4, 0-4 GSC) appeared to have something working on the next drive, but an ill-advised throw from Sharone Wright was picked off by Archie and returned 52 yards to the MC 22-yard line.

West Florida would make the most of the turnover, needing six plays to eventually post its second Nobles-to-Griffin connection to put UWF up 14-0 just over halfway through the first quarter.

As the first quarter was winding down, Chris Manning was able to intercept a Nobles pass and return it 27 yards for the Choctaws’ first touchdown of the contest.

The second quarter followed a similar script for UWF, as a 35-yard pass interference penalty gave the Argos prime field position at the opponent’s 21 yard-line. Nobles would connect with Morrow on back-to-back plays, including a drive-capping 15-yard touchdown to put UWF up 20-7.

Before the end of the half, Andrew Bogaenko split the uprights on a 32-yard attempt to send the teams into the locker room with a 23-7 Argonaut lead.

Bogaenko converted on another field goal shortly into the third quarter, and after MC responded with a touchdown to make the score 26-14, Marcus Clayton returned it 73 yards to give the Argos prime field position at the 11-yard line.

With that field position, UWF used a two-play, 36-second yard drive that was finished with Anas Hasic’s GSC-leading seventh receiving touchdown of the year. Nobles recorded his fourth scoring pass of the game with the nine-yard strike to Hasic.

With the score at 36-21, Grey Jackson led an eight-play, 83-yard drive using that took off 4:51 on the clock. Jackson, who posted a 23-yard run and a 31-yard pass to Caleb Robinson during the drive, pushed the score to 42-21 after he scampered for his first rushing touchdown of the year on a 13-yard run to the end zone.

Mississippi College would take it to the end zone with just under two minutes remaining, but the 14-point advantage proved to be too much after Clayton recovered a Choctaw on-side kick at the UWF 49-yard line.

West Florida scored in all six of its red zone attempts, which totaled 32 points for the Argonauts. UWF went 11-for-14 in third down attempts, while holding MC to an 8-for-13 success rate.

Clayton was a dynamic presence on special teams, totaling 143 yards on four kick returns. West Florida held Mississippi College to less than half that average, as the Choctaws only accumulated 15 yards per kick return.

UWF’s 499 yards of total offense is just a single yard shy of the team’s season best. UWF utilized 170 yards on the ground, led by Jemari Ford who rushed for 70 yards on 18 attempts. Jackson had six rushing attempts, including his touchdown, and garnered 41 yards for a 6.8 yards per carry average.

West Florida returns to the state of Mississippi next weekend, looking for its third consecutive GSC win when it faces Delta State (3-3, 2-2). The Argos and Statesmen are set to kick off at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 in Cleveland, Miss.

Courtesy photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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