FLORENCE, Ala. (November 7, 2026) – The Lions just seem to find a way.
For the sixth-straight time, the University of North Alabama football team played in a game decided by one possession. For the third time in that span, the game was decided by UNA's defense at the goal line. And for the fourth time in that stretch, UNA came out on top with a 28-21 win over West Florida on Saturday at Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium.
Leading 28-21 with 49 seconds remaining, North Alabama needed a stop on fourth and goal from the 16-yard line. Looking to score, West Florida quarterback Ty'Ray Davis threw a slant route to Luc Carroll while being rushed by UNA's
Leo Glover. Carroll needed to break just one tackle to get in the end zone.
For the second straight week, enter
Dallas Johnson.
One week after making a game-winning fumble recovery at Central Arkansas, Johnson made a desperation tackle at the two-yard line for a turnover on downs. Carroll nearly broke it with his legs, but one last lateral reach from Johnson brought him down short of the goal line — similar to the Tennessee Titans "one yard short" play in Super Bowl XXXIV.
One rush up the middle by UNA quarterback
Destin Wade ran out the time. The UNA crowd celebrated and took a sigh of relief with a huge win.
The Lions improve to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the United Athletic Conference. Tonight was UNA's first win in a conference game in Bank Independent Stadium's young history. With two regular season games remaining, the six-win season also guarantees UNA will finish .500 or better for the first time since 2018.
West Florida, which is in its first season as a member of FCS and the UAC, dips to .500 with a 4-4 overall record and a 1-4 mark in league play.
Despite the closeness late in the game, UNA took control with a 21-7 lead at halftime — the largest halftime lead of the season. The Lions held the lead the rest of the way and kept UWF two yards shy of potentially changing that result.
In the last six games, UNA has a 4-2 record with each one being decided by one possession. This includes all five conference games. Three of the six came down to UNA's defense making a stop within the two yard line — Western Illinois fumbling at the one in a 23-20 win in September, Central Arkansas fumbling at the one in a 14-9 win last week and tonight's tackle at the two.
The UNA offense finished with its second-highest yard production of the season with 438 yards, including 244 on the ground. The UNA defense gave up 308 yards through the air but held UWF to 105 rushing yards to keep below 16th ranked season average in FCS.
Wade finished 12-for-19 passing for 194 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for 109 yards on 16 carries. Wade was not the only Lion to rush for over 100 yards, as redshirt sophomore
Roderick Taylor Jr. rushed 15 times for 101 yards. Both Wade and Taylor scored a touchdown, including a career-long 45-yard TD rush from Taylor.
Wade and Taylor are the first duo at UNA to rush for over 100 yards in a game since Wade and former UNA running back Juice Allen did it last season at Utah Tech.
Another player joined the 100-yard club Saturday as redshirt sophomore
Snap Reed had six catches for a career-high 117 yards and a touchdown. This is Reed's second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the third of his college career.
Defensively,
Leo Glover and
Kanijal Thomas led in tackles with seven apiece. Sophomore
Tae Martin had six tackles and came up with an interception in the first half. Redshirt senior
Avery Howard was also a crucial factor on defense with four tackles, including his ninth sack of the season.
Speaking of Howard's sack, he moves within two of tying UNA's all-time record of 11 set by Reginald Ruffin in 1994. He already set the Division I era record for UNA earlier this season, which was previously held at six.
Redshirt freshman
Xavier Johnson was also an X-factor in tonight's win with five catches for 62 yards and a score. Johnson moved into the top five of UNA's all-time single season receiving yards list with 942, tying him for fourth all-time with Anthony Merritt in 2005. He is 237 yards away from tying the all-time record set by Dre Hall in 2016.
West Florida took the early lead with a touchdown midway into the first quarter, but Reed's 48-yard score just two minutes later tied things up at 7-7 with 5:00 on the clock. Reed caught the ball four-yards past the line of scrimmage, broke a tackle and sprinted off to the races.
UNA took control in the second quarter with a game-changing run by Taylor, as the Lions were pinned back on a 3rd-and-23 near midfield. A draw play to potentially set up the Lions in field goal range turned into Taylor sprinting past everyone and juking out the safety to score.
Ian Vachon's services on the extra point made it 14-7 with 7:36 left in the half.
The Lions forced a punt after taking the lead and scored on the next possession, as Wade engineered a seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended with him sneaking in from one-yard out with help from four of UNA's defensive linemen in a jumbo package. As usual, 260 pound defensive end
Kamore Harris was the one to push him in. The Lions took a 21-7 lead into the locker room and would get the ball for the second half.
UWF did the best possible thing to steal momentum in the second half, jumping a pass and scoring on a pick-six from 60-yards out within the first minute of the third quarter. UNA's response however was a 45-yard touchdown pass from Wade to Johnson, who dropped his man at the two-yard line and walked into the end zone.
UWF had the only score of the fourth quarter, as UNA did enough to hold on to the lead.
Tonight's score was not a Scorigami, as UNA has finished a game with this score eight other times since 1949. The most recent 28-21 game was in 2004 at Delta State.
The Lions will play their final regular season road game next Saturday at West Georgia. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT in Carrollton, Ga.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
