Carrollton, GA - The past week has been a banner week for West Georgia football with several firsts in the Daryl Dickey era.

The Wolves beat Valdosta State for the first time under Dickey. The Blazers were ranked 17th in the nation, marking the first win over a ranked opponent under Dickey. The game was on the road, marking the first road GSC win and earlier this week, the Wolves received their first ranking of the Dickey era, ranked 10th in Super Region 2. 

The 23-20 victory over VSU moved the Wolves to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in Gulf South Conference play. This week's opponent is the norm for the Gulf South Conference, another ranked team as the Wolves face-off with 17th-ranked North Alabama in Florence at Braly Memorial Stadium. 

All those firsts did not come without a measure of drama, as the Wolves won their second game in the past three weeks on a last-second score. Against St. Augustine's on October 15, the Wolves engineered a drive in the last two minutes, setting up a field goal from Davis Brackett to win the game 23-21.

The win over the Blazers was slighly more dramatic, as VSU scored with 5:33 left in the game to go up 20-16. UWG quarterback Emmanuel Taylor drove his offense down the field and hit junior receiver V.J. Hunt in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score with just four seconds left in the contest.

It was Hunt's second score of the game, as he caught the Wolves' first touchdown pass of the game late the second quarter. Taylor was 7-of-15 in the game for 104 yards and three scores with the middle touchdown sparking a wild minute to close out the first half.

As time was winding down in the opening half, Taylor faded back at his own 41 yardline and lofted up a pass. Awaiting as it came down was Denarius Appling, who skipped past his defender, who fell down on the play, taking it into the endzone untouched for a 59-yard score.

The Wolves then executed a squib kick that was fumbled by VSU and recovered by West Georgia's Cornelius Winters. The subsequent personal foul call moved UWG into field goal range and two plays later, as time expired, Brackett booted a 31-yard field goal that gave the Wolves a 16-7 advantage heading into the locker room at the half.

The Wolves now have two of the top-5 rushers in the Gulf South Conference, with senior running back James Kennebrew and his 65 yards per game average as second in the GSC. Taylor is fourth with 53.6 yards per contest and the pair has combined for nine scores on the season.

Brackett is the second-leading scorer in the league with 56 points overall this season and was named Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after his 40-yard punting average against the Blazers.

On defense, senior Jenoris Darby is the top tackler for the Wolves and seventh in the conference with 6.6 stops per game on his resume. Senior Will Jones had nine tackles against VSU and earned Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday.

North Alabama is a solid and scary team that was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation just two weeks ago. But since beginning Gulf South Conference play, the Lions are 0-2, falling to now No. 1 Delta State and current No. 18 West Alabama in the past two games. 

The Lions boast the top quarterback and the top linebacker, statistically speaking, in the conference. Lee Chapple is 194-of-297 on the season for more than 2,300 yards and 16 touchdowns. His 291-yard yards per game average is tops in the GSC among quarterbacks. Linebacker Marcus Dowtin has 77 tackles on the season, also tops in the GSC in tackles.