By Jim O'Hara
 
LIVINGSTON, Ala. – For the second straight week, the Shorter Hawks ate up the yards on the ground. But for the second straight game, the effort was in vain as the homestanding West Alabama Tigers handed the Hawks a 52-27 Gulf South Conference defeat Saturday.

The setback, Shorter's second in a row, gives the Hawks a 2-4 overall record and a 1-2 GSC slate heading into next Thursday's conference clash with in-state foe Valdosta State at 7:30 p.m. at Barron Stadium. West Alabama, which has defeated the Hawks in all five meetings between the two teams, improves to 5-2 and 1-2 in the GSC.

The Hawks, which once again had trouble holding on to the ball as they saw four of their seven fumbles recovered by the Tigers, ended the afternoon rushing for a season-high 436 yards with junior fullback B.J. McCoy leading the team with a career-high 210 yards on 22 carries – it was the fourth most yards in a single game in Shorter history – and two touchdowns, a 92-yard jaunt that was the Hawks' fourth longest, and a 30-yarder.

Not included in his final numbers was an 88-yard run by McCoy that was called back because of a penalty, something that hampered Shorter throughout the game as the Hawks – they were the least penalized team in the GSC – wound up being flagged 14 times for 100 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Aaron Bryant came up just short of joining McCoy in the 100-plus yard rushing club as he ran for 93 yards on 14 carries and a 71-yard touchdown before leaving the game for good with an injury late in the first half.

While the Hawks were able to eat up the yards on the ground, their passing game went for naught as Shorter was not able to complete a pass in nine attempts.

The Tigers used two big plays early, the first on their first series of the game to immediately take what proved to be a lead Shorter was unable to overcome when Javae Swindle broke open for a 50-yard scoring run that made him UWA's all-time career rusher – the extra point failed – and on the home team's third possession, quarterback Harry Satterwhite hit end Daryl Collins deep down the left sideline for a 59-yard TD, with the pair teaming up for the two-point conversion pass that gave them a 14-0 first quarter lead.

Shorter, however, finally got its offense into gear via the legs of Bryant, who found open space on the left side in the opening minutes of the second period and scored on a 71-yard run with Kenny Langford added the point after to cut UWA's lead in half, 14-7.

After recovering an attempted onside kick at the Shorter 45, West Alabama extended the margin to 14 when Collins and Satterwhite hooked up again, this time for a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-7 with 8:02 left in the half.

Just over a minute later, however, the Hawks struck with what became the fourth-longest touchdown run in the program's 11-year history when McCoy found a huge hole up the middle and sprinted for a 92-yard TD. Langford's PAT once again pulled Shorter to within seven, 21-14.

That was as close as the Hawks would get in the first half as West Alabama added two more scores, the first a 79-yard pass from Satterwhite to Tyreek Hill and the other with 35 seconds to play when, after recovering a Shorter fumble at the SU 17, made it 38-14 when Rashaad Lee scored from six yards out.

The Tigers opened up the second half putting together a 57-yard drive on their first series that culminated with Lee scored his second TD of the game, this time from five yards out to increase their lead to 42-14, but the Hawks responded by answering UWA march with a 58 yarder of their own, 30 of it coming by McCoy that resulted in his second TD. Langford was good with the PAT to cut into West Alabama's lead, 42-20.

A pair of Shorter fumbles in the final stanza led to points for West Alabama, the first coming at the Hawks' 10 that led to a 22-yard field goal by Ikner and the second recorded by the Tigers at the Shorter 22 that resulted in a 1-yard scoring run by Tyler Rogers that closed out the Tigers' scoring with 7:05 to play.

The Hawks managed to add one final touchdown with 55 seconds left to play when, thanks to a 78-yard run by freshman Malcolm Quarterman, red-shirt sophomore Devante James scored on a five-yard run.

Satterwhite pace the Tigers, which rolled up 476 yards of offense, completing 11-of-19 pass – he was picked off once when senior All-American Jordan Shaw intercepted his first pass of the season – for 219 yards and three touchdowns, while Lee and Swindle combined to run for 144 yards.