TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The UWF defense did a little bit of everything and the offense started to click again as the Argonauts claimed a 26-10 road victory over North Greenville at Younts Stadium on Saturday.
The win snapped a 2-game losing skid and allowed UWF (6-3, 4-2 Gulf South) to clinch a winning season for the second-consecutive year. It was also the squad's fourth-straight road win.
The defense held NGU to 257 yards of total offense and sacked Will Hunter nine times. The nine sacks are tied for the second-highest total in school history and came from a combined nine different players. UWF also had five quarterback hurries that contributed to a 23-for-44 day for Hunter.
After going up 7-0 on a
Sam Vaughn-to-
Quentin Randolph 35-yard pass, the Argos extended their lead thanks to an 83-yard interception return for a touchdown by
Jamel Jackson.
UWF went into the half leading 13-3 following a W Lawson 42-yard field goal on the last play of the period.
The Argonauts started to take control of the game in the third quarter, extending their lead to 26-3 while holding the Crusaders to a 3-and-out and two 4-and-outs with three punts.
UWF's first scoring play of the second half came on its first possession of the frame. Vaughn drove the team 52 yards in five plays where he found
Kevin Grant in the corner of the end zone for a 9-yard strike. Two possessions later it was a 6-play, 38-yard drive where
Tate Lehtio scored on a slant from the 10. Both drives were set up by solid
Antoine Griffin punt returns. He finished the game with 64 return yards and had runbacks of 13, 18 and 24 yards in the third quarter alone.
NGU got its lone touchdown in the fourth when a Vaughn interception at the UWF 25 led to a 6-yard reception for Jordan Helms with 10:10 to play.
UWF finished with 314 total yards and forced a turnover for the 11th-consecutive game and the 32nd in 35 all-time contests.
Vaughn was 19-for-32 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions but was 8-of-10 in the third quarter alone. A total of six Argos caught multiple passes with Lehtio, Randolph,
Antoine Griffin and
Ezra Saffold racking up at least 30 yards apiece.
Chris Schwarz led the ground game with 73 yards on 15 carries for a 4.9 average.
NGU (4-4, 3-3) had 35 net rushing yards.
UWF returns home for Senior Day next Saturday when it plays host to No. 7 Valdosta State (8-0, 6-0) at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app as the Florida's Space Coast GSC Game of the Week. It will also be available on the UWF Sports Network, ESPN Pensacola 94.5 FM.
