CLEVELAND, Miss. – The undefeated season continues for the Argos.

No. 3 West Florida defeated No. 15 Delta State on Saturday evening in Cleveland, Miss., 51-38 to move to 9-0 and get their third win of the season over a top 25 ranked opponent.
It was the highest combined score for an Argos game this season with 89 points scored. When it looked like UWF was going to run away with the game from the start Delta State had a response in what was a shootout game for four quarters.

"I love our resilience," said head coach Kaleb Nobles. "We've been in tough battles on the road. That's a tough win. That's a playoff caliber team. Man, I'm proud of our guys,"

UWF finished the game with 279 rushing yards and 189 passing yards. Leading the offense was quarterback Marcus Stokes who did a little bit of everything in the game. Stokes was 16-of-22 for 178 yards passing with a touchdown while also leading the team in rushing with 133 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. The redshirt sophomore also sealed the game with a 61-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give UWF the 51-38 lead. The Argos rushed for five touchdowns in total including two by TJ Lane and one by Ty'Ray Davis in addition to the two from Stokes.

It was a strange game for the Argo defense who only gave up 104 rushing yards and forced Delta State's quarterback Garrett Ames into just six completions on 25 passing attempts. But those six completions went for 232 yards and three touchdowns. The Statesmen averaged 38.7 yards per completion. DSU wide receiver Curtis Rearden caught four of those passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Outside of those four completions, West Florida didn't allow the hosts to get into any type of offensive rhythm. Tony Newsome helped the Argos retain the lead as he picked off two passes on back-to-back Delta State drives in the fourth quarter.
 
FIRST HALF
UWF took a quick 14-0 lead and were hitting on all cylinders. Stokes set the Argos up in scoring position with a 40-yard run on the opening drive. TJ Lane capped things off with a 4-yard touchdown run.

After forcing a quick three and out UWF used a five-minute drive to march down the field and score again. Stokes found Tyshon Mansell in the back of the endzone to put the Argos up two scores.
The Argos had a key defensive stop after a fumble set Delta State up at the UWF 13-yard line. UWF held the Statesmen to a field goal.

The second quarter was one of the most entertaining of the season with 38 points scored in the quarter alone. UWF took its biggest lead of the game when Davis took a quarterback keeper to the endzone to take a 21-3 lead.

With all the momentum leaning UWF's the only answer Delta State had on offense was deep throws to Rearden. The receiver caught a 33-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 11 points.

The UWF special teams unit got into the scoring frenzy when Lumpy DeWeese scooped up a mishandled punt by DSU and took it into the endzone. But on the ensuing kickoff Delta State returned the kick for a 97-yard score to make the score 28-17.

Rearden again caught a long pass for a touchdown cutting the UWF lead to just four with a minute remaining in the first half.

Brogan Woeber capitalized on a fantastic late half drive into scoring range with a 30-yard field goal for the final points of the half. The teams went into the break with UWF leading 31-24.
 
SECOND HALF
Despite being in control for most of the first half Delta State tied the game at 31-31 midway through the third quarter when the Statesmen returned a fumble for a touchdown for the first score of the half.

The Argos' resilience was on full display on the next drive as the offense had their longest drive of the game. UWF used an 11 play, 81-yard drive that resulted in a Stokes rushing touchdown to settle the team and get the Argos back in control. The drive chewed up over seven minutes of game time.

Newsome grabbed his first pick of the game which set up Lane's second rushing touchdown of the game to give UWF a two-score advantage.

Following an 86-yard TD pass to Rearden to again cut the lead to a one possession game the Argos had a pressure-filled drive with five minutes remaining in the game. With the ability to run the time down and seal the game Nobles made the gutsy call to go for it on fourth down and inches at their own 38-yard line. The Argos picked it up and two plays later closed out the game with a 61-yard touchdown run by Stokes.
 
UP NEXT
West Florida will be on a bye week this upcoming week. The Argos will have a chance to complete its first-ever undefeated regular season in two weeks when the team hosts Valdosta State for the regular season finale on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. With a win in that game UWF would also claim the Gulf South Conference title.