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Wednesday
November 1,
2006
Wolves fall short in hid for upset in 21-7 loss
By Josh Boatright
Staff Writer
jboatril@my.westga.edu
The Wolves were
playing the spoiler role last
Saturday as they looked to
upset the nationally ranked
#l9 Statemen of Delta
State at Grisham Stadium
but fell short, losing 21-7.
Injuries plagued the
Wolves as James Kenne
brew, Brett Yenser and Dari
us Pettigrew all went down.
The injuries were
coupled by a questionable
call by the officiating crew
that gave the Statesmen
a touchdown, ultimately
leading to the Wolves’ sev
enth loss of the season.
The West Georgia (1 -7,
1-5) defense stayed true to
form as they kept the play
off hopeful Statemen on
their heels the entire game,
allowing only 170 passing
yards to the second best
passing offense in the GSC.
The UWG offense also
played well as Kennebrew
and his backup Adam Pat
rick combined for 147 rush
ing yards. Jaybriel Holbrook
had 91 receiving yards and
scored UWG’s only touch
down of the night.
The game started with
a 24 yard kickoff return by
Delta State (7-2, 5-1) to
Soccer finishes season after 5-0 first round loss
By Ray Ross
Sports Editor
rrossl @my.westga.edu
The Wolves entered
Friday’s Gulf South Con
ference tournament game
riding a wave of excitement
as they clinched a spot in
the tournament the Sunday
before with a 2-0 win over
Christian Brothers.
That wave of excite
ment quickly turned to
disappointment as the Ar
gonauts of West Florida
bested UWG, 5-0.
Runners make splash at GSC
By Ray Ross
Sports Editor
rrossl @my.westga.edu
Both the men’s and
women’s Cross Country
teams competed in the
Gulf South Conference
Championships in Hunts
ville, AL. this past Satur
day and made dramatic
improvements from their
2005 tinishes.
The men’s team fin
ished 10th last year at the
GSC Championships but
jumped six spots in 2006
for a fourth place finish.
The women’s team fin
ished 9th a year ago at the
GSC Championships but
finished 7th in 2006.
Leading the way for
the men was Shawn Mat
thews who finished 10th
overall with a time 26:36.
The finish earned First
Team All-GSC Honors for
the first time in Mathews’
career.
The rest of UWG’s
men’s runners also per
formed well with no run
their own 31. Eight plays
and 69 yards later, a 4-yard
touchdown pass and a good
PAT made the score 7-0.
The Wolves countered
with a 35 yard drive but
on 3rd and 5 quarterback
Brett Yenser didn’t see a
wide open Jay Holbrook
and was forced to throw
incomplete.
A defensive battle en
sued as neither team would
score again in the half.
Delta State had a
chance early in the second
quarter as they drove 51
yards to the UWG 20.
The UWG defense
forced a 37 yard field goal
attempt and Andre Cul
pepper got good penetra
tion and blocked the kick.
A group of Wolves fell on
the ball on the UWG 38.
The last play for the
Statesmen in the first half
was a deep pass into the
end zone that was almost
intercepted by three UWG
defensive backs but fell in
complete.
West Georgia opened
the second half with a nine
play, 76 yard touchdown
drive. The touchdown
came on a 41 yard pass
from Brett Yenser to Jay
briel Holbrook. The PAT
attempt was good to tie the
game at seven apiece.
The Wolves, having
lost to ninth-ranked West
Florida earlier in the sea
son 2-0, knew they would
have their hands full and
would have to play a com
plete game to advance.
The Wolves did just
that for more than half of
the contest, allowing just
one goal through the first
49 minutes to trail by only
one goal.
UWG was unable
to mount anything offen
sively though against a
top-ranked Argonaut de
ner finishing worse than
27th overall.
Marc Loman finished
second for UWG in 19th
place overall with a time
of 27:25. Danny Wiley
also ran well, finishing
with a time of 27:46 which
was good for 22nd place.
Bobby Ralston (27:58)
and D.J. Pappas (28:05)
finished in 26th and 27th
place, respectively.
Last season, Mat
thews was the top finisher
in 27th place, but this year
UWG’s worst finisher
came in 27th place, show
ing how far the team has
come in just one year.
For Ralston, a 26th
place finish was reward
ing but how he earned that
place is impressive. After
losing one shoe in a mud
puddle, Ralston was forced
to run four miles with just
one shoe and still managed
to finish in 26th place.
“The best thing about
our men’s team is that they
are all returning for 2007,”
said head coach Frank
Sports
During the drive
James Kennebrew injured
his leg after rushing for
11 yards and a first down.
Backup Adam Patrick then
came in and rushed 3 times
for 28 yards before the
touchdown pass.
After the Wolves
forced the Statesmen to
punt, UWG had the ball
on its own 11. Two first
downs later, the Wolves
were driving when the of
ficiating crew made the
most controversial call of
the night.
The call came on a
wide receiver screen pass
from Ryan Poole to Raf
finee Gonzalez that looked
to be an incomplete pass.
Thinking the play was
dead, Gonzalez left the
ball on the ground.
No whistle was blown
and a DSU linebacker
scooped the ball up and
ran it 40 yards to the end
zone and a touchdown was
called to make the score
14-7.
The replay was shown
several times on the screen
at Grisham Stadium and
the pass looked to be at
least two yards ahead of
the line of scrimmage.
A long conversation
between Coach Ledford
and the referees ensued.
fense for most of the con
test. The lack of offensive
production allowed West
Florida to put pressure on
the Wolves defense.
That pressure paid off
in the 49th minute of play
when a shot by West Flori
da’s Sheka Codner was de
flected by a UWG defender
and found the back of the
net to give West Florida a
2-0 lead. The Argonauts
continued to put the pres
sure on the UWG defense,
and just two minutes later
found the back of the net
Butts.
The women were led
by ninth place finisher Ka
tie Perkins with a time of
19:18. Her performance
earned First Team All-GSC
honors. Last year, Perkins
was the best UWG female
runner at the event, finish
ing in 27th place.
Other finishers in
clude Laura Mayo, who
finished in 30th with a time
of 20:35, followed closely
by Catie Jenson (20:50) in
35th place, Donna Hough
ton (21:03) in 42nd place
and Jessie Reynierson
(21:10) in 46th place.
“Our women didn’t
improve as much as the
men but they still had
marked improvement,”
said Butts. “The chem
istry of the team is phe
nomenal and has been the
most rewarding aspect of
coaching these kids this
year,” continued Butts.
The Wolves will be
competing this Saturday in
Memphis, TN. at the NCAA
Regional Championships.
but the lateral fumble call
stood.
The call seemed to
take the wind from the
Wolves’ sails as they would
not be the same the rest of
the night.
On the next UWG
drive, Yenser sprained his
right ankle and did not re
turn until the Wolves' last
drive of the game.
The ball changed
possession several times
before Delta State scored
another touchdown late
in the fourth.
The touchdown drive
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Photo by Josh Cirubb
Seniors Adam Carter and Odell Willis sack DSU quarterback Scott Eyster.
for a third goal and a 3-0
lead.
Even though there
was still over 40 minutes
of play left, the Wolves
just could not break the de
fense of the Argonauts and
were shut out for the sixth
time this season. Two of
those six shutouts came at
the hands of West Florida.
Even though the Ar
gonauts had a command
ing 3-0 lead w ith just over
40 minutes left, they con
tinued to press the UWG
defense and tacked on two
more goals for a final score
of 5-0.
The loss ends UWG’s
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included 10 plays and a
21 yard pass from DSU
quarterback to Jeremy
Ricks to make the final
score 21-7.
The loss was the
Wolves’ seventh this
season. Having only al
lowed 166 passing yards
in the game, the Wolves
pass defense is still tops
in the conference.
Both Yenser and
Kennebrew came back
after their injuries, but
the early diagnosis on se
nior safety Pettigrew was
a separated shoulder and
200 b campaign and leaves
the Wolves with a sea
son record of 9-7-1 and a
GSC record of 4-4-1. Even
though the Wolves were
ousted in the first round
of the GSC Tournament
for a second straight year,
the season was still a suc
cess. Only four teams from
the conference qualified
for post-season play and
UWG was one of them.
The Wolves entered
the season without several
key offensive players from
a year ago gone and anew
coach in Marisa Kovacs,
but still fought their way to
a second consecutive post-
Jjhe
his season is likely over.
The schedule gets
tougher as the Wolves will
host the North Alabama
Lions this Saturday at
Grisham Stadium.
The Lions are ranked
#3 in the nation and they
rank first in the GSC in
scoring offense and pass
efficiency and they rank
second in the conference
in total offense.
For more informa
tion visit http://www.uw
gsports.com where you
can find schedules, rosters,
stats and more.
season birth.
Prior to the GSC Tour
nament, conference offi
cials announced the 2006
All-GSC teams. UWG’s
Alex Udin not only made
the all-conference team
but was selected as GSC
Co-Player of the Year. The
selection was the first of
Udin’s career.
Udin led the team in
2006 with six goals and
also had three assists.
UWG senior Sam
Malone also received First
Team All-GSC accolades.
Malone was the leader of a
defense that recorded eight
shutouts in 2006.