The handshakes were completed, the crowd had thinned when UWF’s football team gathered for its customary, on-field photo with the winning numbers on the scoreboard beaming as backdrop.
In this circumstance, oh what a difference a week made.
The ninth-ranked Argos (AFCA coaches poll) flushed away the disappointment of their Nov. 15 overtime loss against Valdosta State and began the NCAA Division II playoffs with a 43-19 victory Saturday against North Greenville in their Super Region 2 matchup at PenAir Field.
UWF (10-1), which attained double-digit wins for the fourth time in the program’s nine-year history, provided reason for all team components to celebrate. The Argos amassed 479 yards offense, had just one turnover, were often ferocious with their defensive pass rush, run-stopping and tackling, plus excelled in the kicking game.
The Argos played like a team making a point.
“That was my challenge to the guys,” said UWF coach Kaleb Nobles. “They were ticked off about the result last week. We didn’t feel like we did enough. So, we tried to answer the challenge and we got after it during the week of practice and I think we showed what we are capable of.”
This was only the second home playoff win in team history – the first for Nobles in this third season as head coach – and will enable the Argos to be home for Thanksgiving and their second-round playoff matchup Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. against No. 16-ranked Newberry (S.C.) College (10-1) at PenAir Field. .
“That’s huge. When you get to this time of the year, there is so much extra advantage to playing at home and not getting on a bus for however many hours it would be,” Nobles said. “It’s not easy, especially during Thanksgiving week.
“You want to enjoy Thanksgiving and not have to get on a bus. We have no school this week, so it will be full focus on football within our 20-hour (mandated practice time) rule, which is exciting.”
The Argos produced numbers to excite. They rushed for 265 yards and held North Greenville to 24 yards. They had five quarterback sacks, caused three fumbles, nearly had a goal-line stand and answered every time North Greenville had a chance to get an emotional edge.
After a scoreless first quarter and a frustrating game-opening possession for UWF, the Argos expanded a 15-7 halftime lead by scoring on their first possession of the second half, then put the game away with an early fourth quarter touchdown.
“I loved how we got a little bit of adversity early in the game, but just really proud of our guys and how they played the whole game,” Nobles said. “It was hot, it was humid. We knew that, we talked about that. We wanted to be committed to run the football and control the line of scrimmage on both sides and I would say we did that.”
It was a far different kind of game then when these teams met Sept. 20 at North Greenville and the Trailblazers battled back with a chance to tie on the final possession before UWF held for a 25-17 win.
“We had a good plan going into the game and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” said North Greenville coach Nate Garner. “I felt pretty good going into halftime. The guys in the locker room were locked in and ready to go.
“They were fighting their tails off in the first half. They got us within a score there at the end of the half and I felt pretty good, pretty confident, coming out for the second half.”
Here’s how Saturday unfolded.
FIRST HALF
The Argos got a 71-yard return on the opening kickoff by Kendrick Watkins-Hogue to the North Greenville 27. But the Argos were called for a block-in-the-back penalty that instead placed the ball at the Argos 10-yard-line. They were whistled for three more penalties, two of which wiped out touchdowns.
After 14 players which consumed nearly seven minutes off the clock, the Argos’ were stopped on an incomplete fourth down pass.
Their next possession was one play, an interception by quarterback Marcus Stokes.
The Argos offense broke through when Stokes finished on an 8-play, 81-yard drive by bulling his way into the endzone on a 4-yard run with 5:14 left in the half. A penalty ensued on the play and UWF chose to go for the 2-point conversion, then converting for a 8-0 lead.
Watkins-Hogue then caught a 54-yard pass from Stokes, after the QB rolled out, avoided a sack and threw a pass on the run over top a defender that Watkins-Hogue caught and ran for the score.
North Greenville answered with its best possession of the game, going 75 yards in 48 seconds on six plays. It culminated when Trailblazers quarter Dylan Ramirez threw a 25-yard scoring pass.
SECOND HALF
A stunning start. UWF surprised with an onside kick, coming out of halftime, that kicker Tyler Patterson perfectly placed and Watkins-Hogue recovered at the Trailblazers 41. Five players later, running back T.J. Lane scored the first of his two touchdowns on an 11-yard run that gave UWF a 22-7 lead.
“It kinda changed momentum and it was kind of hard to bounce back from that,” Garner said. “They had a good plan for us offensively and honestly we thought they were going to pass the ball (more) a little bit and they established the run game and kept it going.”
Nobles said the decision for the onside kick was made earlier in the week, finalized in the halftime locker room.
“We thought we saw something and we got it coached up at halftime and make sure our guys were good wit it,” Nobles said. “Our kicker was already outside practicing when we called him back in to make sure he knew. I love how we executed that.”
After North Greenville scored to trail by nine points, the Argos answered back when Stokes scored on 9-yard run to complete a 75 yard drive.
North Greenville again scored to get within 10 points, but UWF scored the final two touchdowns of the game on runs by Jay Sharp and T.J. Lane.
The Argos offensive line opened gaping holes in the second half and UWF’s three runners – Stokes, Lane and Sharp – did the rest.
“We challenged our O-line this week and they felt like they did a good job running the football last week, but we still left some stuff out there,” Nobles said. “We challenged them this week and said, hey we’re going to run the ball and push the ball behind you as much as we can.
“We felt we got a little too exotic on offense the first time we played these guys and we were really controlling the tempo in the first game,” Nobles said. “I said to our offensive staff this week, hey no gadgets. Our offensive line perked up when they heard no trick plays, we’re going to run the ball.
UWF KEY PERFORMERS
— QB Marcus Stokes 14-of-25, 214 yards, 1 TD,
— RB Jay Sharpe, 10 carries, 138 yards, 1 TD
— RB T.J. Lane 20 carries, 83 yards, 2 TD
— WR Corey Scott, 4 catches, 57 yards.
— LB Ja’Kobe Clinton 7 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 1 sack.
— PK Tyler Patterson 5-for-5 on PAT, all 6 kickoffs resulted in fair catch signals.
UP NEXT: The Newberry Wolves won their playoff game Saturday in a 45-24 victory against Kentucky State in Newberry, S.C. Newberry returns to Pensacola on Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. seeking a repeat of their stunning playoff win in 2021, a 33-30 overtime win against UWF in the first round of the playoffs. The game was the final one that UWF played at Blue Wahoos Stadium before moving into their on-campus home venue at PenAir Field.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football gets blowout win In NCAA Division II playoff opener
Reporting by Bill Vilona, Special to the News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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