By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – On a day when they made the most of creating turnovers, it was their own lone turnover of the game that prevented the Shorter Hawks from ending the regular season on a positive note.

Facing a West Georgia team that was trying to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Hawks saw their fourth rally come up short when the Wolves handed Shorter a 31-17 Gulf South Conference defeat Saturday at Barron Stadium.

The loss, the sixth straight setback for the Hawks, gives Shorter a 3-7 overall record and a 1-6 GSC slate, while West Georgia improved to 9-2 and 5-2.

West Georgia ended the game amassing 460 total yards, with 235 of that coming on the ground, the majority of that coming from Seth Hinsley, who rushed for a game-high 196 yards and scored all four touchdowns for his team.

The Hawks' defense, however, came up with another strong outing taking the ball away from opposing teams as they recovered all three West Georgia fumbles, the final one coming late in the third quarter when sophomore defensive end Trevaris Horton forced a fumble, then picked it up and raced 40 yards for the touchdown that tied the game heading into the final quarter.

On the first series of the game, the Hawks efficiently moved the ball down the field, marching to the West Georgia 24 – a 32 yard pass from senior quarterback Eric Dodson to Elijah Goodrich and an 18-yard run by sophomore quarterback B.J. McCoy highlighted the drive – where Shorter eventually settled for a 41-yard field goal by senior Kenny Langford that gave the home team the first lead of the day with 10:11 to go in the opening quarter.

That, however, was the lone offensive highlight for the Hawks as they could only gain 24 yards for the rest of the half.

West Georgia answered Shorter's field goal with one of its own on the Wolves' first series as the visitors tied the game with 4:28 to go in the first stanza when Hunter Heck split the uprights from 34 yards out.

The Wolves finally broke into the end zone midway through the second period, putting together a 13-play, 67-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard scoring run by Seth Hinsley to assume a 10-3 advantage with 6:06 left in the first half, but the Hawks' defense made a statement in the final minute before halftime.

West Georgia methodically drove down to the Shorter 4 but on a first down play at the spot, Jevaris Jones stripped the Wolves' runner of the ball at the 1 and fell on the loose object in the end zone for a touchback that ended the threat with 37 to go in the first half.

The Wolves, however, made sure that didn't happen again when the second half started.

On the opening series of the third quarter, West Georgia mounted a 65 yards drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Hinsley that extended the Wolves' lead to 17-3 with 9:42 remaining in period.

But the Hawks refused to back down.

On the ensuing possession, their first of the second half, the Hawks came up with a 75-yard march with sophomore Darius Turner hauling in a 28-yard pass from Dodson in the end zone with 4:03 to go in the quarter that gave Shorter its first touchdown of the game and cut into the Wolves' lead, 17-10. The TD grab was Turner's fifth for the year and tied the team's single-season record.

That score inspired the Hawks' defense, who evened the contest two minutes later.

On a first and 10 situation at the West Georgia 48, Horton created havoc in the Wolves' backfield, forcing a fumble and then scooping up the ball, taking it 40 yards the other way to score his first touchdown of his career and tie the game 17-17 with 2:36 remaining in the third period.

The deadlock didn't last long. On their next series, the Wolves came up with another long drive, this time going 75 yards and grabbing the lead for good when Hinsley scored again, this time from three yards out to give West Georgia the 24-17 lead.

Still, the Hawks were not done.

On the next series, Shorter came up with another drive, moving the ball to the West Georgia 18 and seemed to be poised to knot the game up again. But on a third and four situation, disaster struck when Dodson rolled out to his right, appeared to have the first down but after a hard hit, coughed up the ball that the Wolves recovered at their own 10 with 5:10 left to play.

West Georgia immediately capitalized on the momentum shift, and promptly went 90 yards to seal the victory when Hinsley scored on a 19-yard romp, his fourth on the day, to give his team its final margin.

Dodson closed out the game and his record-setting career completing four of nine passes and the touchdown, while McCoy led the Hawks rushing for 71 yards on 13 carries.

West Georgia quarterback Dallas Dickey completed 15 of 22 passes for 206 yards for the Wolves, who will await word Sunday on whether or not they receive an at-large bid for the upcoming Division II playoffs.