No. 9 UWF Runs Over Mississippi College, 45-17, On Homecoming

October 23, 2022

The first half of the season has steadily molded UWF’s football team.

What has now emerged is resembling the Argos’ sought-after definition.

The ninth-ranked Argos (6-1) celebrated their first on-campus, Homecoming game amid spectacular weather and a matching performance in a 45-17 rout of Mississippi College, before the largest crowd (5,505) of the season at Pen Air Field.

“We are playing really good football,” said UWF coach Pete Shinnick. “We are getting close to where we need to be. We gave up some plays we shouldn’t give up and I think we can clean up some things in the kicking game, but our guys are starting to see it.

“Our seniors, our players are getting it. Everybody understands the significance of us playing great football at this time.”

The superlatives begin with UWF’s defense. They held the nation’s most prolific rushing attack in NCAA Division II to 211 yards, which was 145 yards under Mississippi College’s average. A week ago, the Choctaws exploded for a school-record 598 yards rushing in a 49-40 win against Valdosta State.

The Argos defense also forced three fumbles, recovering one of those, and snared the first interception this season thrown by Choctaws quarterback John Henry White.

On offense, the Argos scored points on seven of their first nine possessions until late in the fourth quarter. They amassed 334 yards rushing, led by dynamic tailbacks Ra’veion Hargrove (139 yards) and Shomari Mason (137 yards).

It’s the first time in Argos’ team history to have a pair of running games gain 100 or more yards in the same game. Hargrove got his game-leading yardage of just 10 carries for a 13.9 average.

“I haven’t done anything like that since high school,” said Hargrove, who grew up in Ohio. “It all starts with the offensive line. They were doing a great job creating lanes and we took what the defense gave us.
“Right now I feel like we are hitting that stride. We are at a good point right now.”

The third member of this backfield trio, C.J. Wilson, had seven carries for 33 yards, but three of those carries resulted in touchdowns.

“This was an amazing team effort and just a fantastic job by all our guys of what needed to take place,” Shinnick said. “We got the ball on the ground, had sacks, an interception. Just a tremendous job by our defense to put us the situation we were in.

“Then, offensively, any time you can outrush a rushing team, you really have a great thing going.”

Quarterback Peewee Jarrett started slow in passing, but finished with 133 yards and three touchdown throws. The Argos did not commit a turnover in the game.

“Peewee just did a fantastic job,” Shinnick said. “Almost every run we called had a pass option for him. And he just did a fantastic job of putting the ball in the right guys hands and not really forcing anything.”

The cumulative effort has the Argos in sole possession of second place in the Gulf South Conference with a 4-1 record. The Argos play their final home game next Saturday (Oct. 29) against West Alabama, then have the final two games on the road against Valdosta State, following by a schedule-ending rematch (Nov. 12) against Mississippi College.

“I think we are starting to see what our best can look like,” Shinnick said. “One of the things we talked about around here is when we play our best we are very, very difficult to beat. This is the time to play great.”
In addition to the team’s play was the game atmosphere. The crowd began forming early for a variety of tailgating areas. The players were able to celebrate with the band and fans afterward.

“You could hear it, you can see it,” Shinnick said. “There is just a different vibe when you are not going downtown (at former home Blue Wahoos Stadium) to play your games. We have our team meeting four hours before the game, then go eat our pregame meal and you come out and you’ve got people everywhere.

“It’s like this is a whole different experience. What (UWF president) Doctor (Martha) Saunders has done to create this atmosphere and what (athletic director) Dave Scott has done to put this together, really makes our place a very unique place to play and one that is only going to get better and better.”

The Argos started the day fast. They came out in a no-huddle offense and scored on their first possession, after Wilson completed an eight-play, 65-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. All seven of the positive yardage plays were running plays.

They took a 14-3 lead in the second quarter on Jarrett’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Jared Smith.

A pivotal sequence in the game followed. Mississippi College got a big-play through the air – a 41-yard completion – that set up a 10-yard rushing score with 2:35 left.

The ensuing kickoff was a touchback. After Jarrett threw a 26-yard strike to David Durden, a holding penalty set UWF back. But the Argos used four rushing plays from Hargrove and Mason to get a first down at the Choctaws’ 25. On the next play, Jarrett found Larry Rembert with a laser throw in the middle of the end zone with 25 seconds left in the half.

From that point, UWF kept a double-digit lead.

“We were in a two-minute (offense) mode, but at same time we had been running the ball so well,” Shinnick said. “So, (Choctaws) kind of gave us some looks we haven’t seen. We had two or three runs that were pretty good. But that was huge. A 10-point swing and our defense took care of it from there.”

The Argos defense did not allow a running play longer than 16 yards from the Choctaws backfield until their backup quarterback rushed late in the fourth quarter for 18 yards.

Defensive coordinator Darian Dulin had the Argos lineman and linebackers staying on assignments and holes never opened.

“Darian did a fantastic job. I thought his gameplan was awesome,” Shinnick said. “You really have to have your D-line dialed in. They have to be 100 percent committed to what their job is. This was a full week commitment. When you do what we were able to do, that is every guy being dialed and every guy being committed.”

By Bill Vilona, GoArgos.com Senior Writer. Photo: Morgan Givens.

Comments

2 Responses to “No. 9 UWF Runs Over Mississippi College, 45-17, On Homecoming”

  1. NPC on October 24th, 2022 2:14 pm

    I am looking forward to going to my fordt game at their home field.

  2. Richard on October 23rd, 2022 2:18 am

    Great game guys! Good luck next week!

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