ROME, Ga. – After going 2-1 in their early non-conference slate, the Shorter Hawks returned home to Barron Stadium and hosted their first conference game of the season against the University of West Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Although the weather was outstanding, the final score was far from it for the Hawks, as the road team won 56-0.

UWG came out on fire, as they scored on the opening drive of the game in an unconventional way. Wolves quarterback Harrison Frost threw a pass to Ronni Blackmon deep in the Shorter red zone. As Blackmon was reaching the goal line, he fumbled the ball into the end zone, but teammate Phil Patterson picked it up for a West Georgia touchdown. The visitors did not look back from there.

Shorter's best offensive drive of the day came with 8:01 left in the opening quarter, as Hawks quarterback Aeneas Dennis led his team on an 11-play, 62-yard drive before throwing an interception in the UWG red zone. Dennis finished 15-of-26 for 127 yards passing and added 37 yards on the ground. Kolby Reynolds led the Hawks on defense with six total tackles, and teammates Tim Walker, Noah Holland and Devonn Lane had five total tackles apiece.

On the opposite sideline, Frost had a nice day at quarterback for the Wolves, as he finished 16-of-22 passing for 315 yards and two touchdowns. UWG (4-0, 2-0) also had a big day on the ground, as they rushed for 233 yards and had five rushing touchdowns. West Georgia starting running back Tyray Devezin accounted for two of those scores on his six carries for a game-high 79 rushing yards.

The Hawks (2-2, 0-1) will have to put the loss behind them quickly, as they will travel to Valdosta to take on Valdosta State University next Saturday at 7 p.m.