By Jim O'Hara
ROME, Ga. – Both teams have a lot to play for when they square off Saturday afternoon when they take the field at Barron Stadium.
At stake for the home team, the Shorter Hawks, is break into the win column for the first time this season and do it in the Gulf South Conference showdown that has been designated as the university's Homecoming Game.
The visiting West Georgia Wolves arrive in Rome for the first time not just looking to spoil the Hawks' homecoming gathering, but will be certainly be playing for something personal – revenge.
"They'll be motivated. We know that," Shorter head coach Phil Jones said as Shorter (0-3 overall, 0-1 GSC) prepares for the Wolves, who last year saw the Hawks win their first-ever conference game 24-20 over West Georgia in Carrollton by scoring the winning touchdown with seconds left to play. "But we'll be motivated, too."
Despite coming off a 41-0 defeat in their GSC opener last week against top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II national champion Valdosta State, the Hawks bring optimism and confidence into the game against UWG and understand that a complete four-quarter outing is needed – like last year's game – against the 2-1 Wolves, who started the season with back-to-back wins over Mars Hill and Miles then fell to No. 23 Midwestern (Texas) State of the Lone Star Conference last week, 38-28.
"They're very versatile in what they do," Jones said about West Georgia's offensive attack that averages a balanced 331 yards a game (193 on the ground and 138 passing.) "They've got a lot of weapons."
Most notable about how West Georgia moves the ball can be found at quarterback – make that two quarterbacks – where the Wolves make the most of the running of sophomore quarterback Dallas Dickey, the son of head coach Daryl Dickey, and the passing of senior quarterback Austin Trainor.
Last week against Midwestern, Dickey – he is West Georgia's second-leading rusher – ran for a touchdown and threw for another, while Trainor had his best-ever day for the Wolves going 14-of-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns. For the season, the pair has combined to throw for 434 yards and three TDs.
"We don't see many teams that use two quarterbacks," said Jones.
On the receiving end of many of those passes has been receiver Bobby Burum, who last week became the 10th player in school history to surpass 1,000 yards receiving in a career and after catching two TD tosses against Midwestern has seven career TD receptions.
Leading the Wolves on the ground is senior running back Quan Jones, who has 283 rushing yards on the year in 57 attempts with three touchdowns.
Defensively, West Georgia has changed its look from last year and base out of a 3-5 stacked look, designed to allow a group of talented linebackers room to roam.
Junior linebacker Tyrell Adams anchors the Wolves on the defensive side of the ball as the team's leading tackler, making a game- and career-high 11 stops, and joining UWG's corps of backers is someone very familiar with Barron, junior Teddy Lawrence, who was a former standout at Rome High.
Last week against Midwestern, the Wolves had trouble stopping the run as they yielded nearly 300 yards in rushing and for the season give up an average of 364 yards a game, 219 of that on the ground.
"They're very aggressive and bring a lot of players at you," Jones said about the UWG defense. "I feel they will be focused on stopping our run game."
That may hold true especially after what took place last year when the Hawks, who trailed 20-17 with less than two minutes left to play, put together a textbook 2-minute offensive drive that culminated when with nine seconds remaining junior quarterback Eric Dodson scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to give Shorter the win.
The touchdown was Dodson's third of the day, while senior fullback Bradley Moon found room to run against the Wolves rushing for 136 yards on 20 carries.
The Hawks are averaging an impressive 366 yards a game – 224 on the ground and 144 through the air – but have bogged down by not being able convert third-down situations (13 of 46) and turnovers with Shorter seeing foes recover six of seven fumbles this season.
"The team continues to work hard and I'm so proud of them," said Jones, "and this week we know we have to work harder."
