Lions get revenge against West Alabama

#17 Daniel Almon runs the ball during the Nov 19 game at West Alabama.

            The Lions went down to West Alabama and came away with a win in the first round of the Division II playoffs on Saturday.

            It was three weeks ago when both teams faced off on the same field and West Alabama came away with the win. This time, the Lions got off to a fast start and revenged the loss, steamrolling to a 43-27 win.
            “I’m awful proud of our players and I thought we played a miraculous game against them today,” said head coach Terry Bowden. “West Alabama is a great football team, but our players came ready to play and I thought it was our best game this season.”
            The Lions also got a huge game from senior quarterback Lee Chapple where it seemed like he was making all the clutch throws, helping the Lions convert 10 of 14 on third downs.
            “I thought (Lee) Chapple was phenomenal all game long and he kept making big throw s against us,” said West Alabama head coach Will Hall. “All game long, Lee kept making the throws on third down and was just lights out all game.”
            Chapple for the game completed 27 of 33 passes while throwing for 320 yards with two touchdown passes.
            “Offensively we got off to a hot start and that gave us the spark we needed,” Chapple said. “It was a total team effort and we did a really good job today converting in the redzone by scoring touchdowns.”
            The Lions jumped on the board early, scoring on the opening position of the game with a one yard touchdown run by Chris Coffey. The extra point was no good by Nathan O’Jibway, making the score 6-0.
            After a three and out on the next drive, it forced the Tigers to punt. On the punt Janoris Jenkins bobbled the catch and then broke three tackles and raced the ball 92-yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked, giving the Lions a 12-0 lead.
            “I saw that our team made some good blocks and I broke a few tackles and made a play for our team,” said Jenkins
            “Janoris’s punt return got our team rocking and left a huge blow for the other team,” Bowden said. “That was a key play for us to get off to that fast start against them.”
            West Alabama then got on the board with a three yard touchdown run from Matthew Willis trimming the lead to 12-7. The Lions then marched the ball down, but the drive was stopped at the UWA 28. O’Jibway then made a 37-yard field goal making it 15-7.
            West Alabama then went back down with another two yard touchdown score from Willis, cutting the lead to 15-14. That was the closest UWA would get the rest of the game.
            The Lions then scored 21 consecutive points to build a 36-14 score just before the half. The first score was an eight yard touchdown run from Coffey. The second came from a Chapple pass to Tristan Purifoy for a five yard touchdown. The third came from and eight yard pass from Chapple to Cameron Wade.
            West Alabama would get a field goal just before the half to make it 36-17 going into halftime.
            In the opening drive of the third quarter UWA threatened to get back in the game, but the Lions defense forced a 20-yard field goal to stop any kind of momentum making it 36-20.
The Lions then added another touchdown just before the quarter ended with an eight yard touchdown run from Wes Holland giving the Lions a 43-20 score.
UWA would add one more score in the game with Willis’s third score making the final score 43-27. Willis finished the game with 156 yards on 33 carries with three touchdowns.
Daniel Almon led the Lions in receiving finishing with eight receptions and 104 yards.
The Lions will be on the road again next Saturday in the highly anticipated rematch with Delta State. The game is scheduled to start at noon.