Greeneville, TN - Special teams is a huge part of every football game and that fact was widely evident in Saturday's 2011 season opener between the UWG Wolves and Tusculum Pioneers. Tusculum used a late surge to hold on to a 20-10.

The Wolves picked up a huge touchdown in the special teams game, but it was Tusculum that used a pair of punts that pinned UWG inside the 10 in the fourth quarter that helped keep the Wolves on their heels.

The game opened with Tusculum and their highly-touted offense taking the ball. Preseason All-American quarterback Bo Cordell led his charges right down the field on the opening drive of the game, but the drive stalled inside the UWG 20, forcing the Pioneers to settle for a 31-yard Logan Cornelius field goal.

UWG quarterback #Emmanuel Taylor# took the field for the first time in his career with a UWG helmet on and quickly mounted a drive to respond. The junior signal caller was 4-for-5 for 42 yards on his opening drive, but the one incomplete pass was the difference, as it came on a 3rd-and-2 from the Tusculum 21. The field goal attempt from #Davis Brackett# was no good, leaving the score at 3-0.

The UWG defense stepped up to the challenge, holding Cordell and his offensive attack to three plays and out, forcing a punt. The Pioneers punted to #Denarius Appling#, who hauled in the kick and returned it 69 yards for the first score of the season for the Wolves.

The punt return was the second of Appling's career and the second-longest return. His longest was against Harding last season, when he returned a punt 70 yards and was tripped up inside the 10. His other score was last season against Southern Arkansas.

Cordell and the Pioneers went to the ground, scoring to go up 10-7 with 7:51 left in the first half.

The Wolves dodged several bullets over the remainder of the first half, as Cordell had an incomplete pass on 4th-and-8 from the UWG 30 with 13:31 left in the second quarter. In addition, following a long drive near the end of the first half, #Darien Lane# intercepted Cordell in the endzone, preserving the three-point game.

In the second half, the Pioneers scored first on a field goal and West Georgia responded with a field goal of its own to pull back to within three points at 13-10.

Following the Wolves' score, Cordell and the Tusculum offense picked up the pace, taking almost no time to score and go up 20-10 with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts to start the fourth quarter, the Wolves took over at their own one yard line. The Wolves moved out to midfield, but a fumble from senior running back #James Kennebrew# stopped the drive.

The UWG defense held again, forcing Cordell and Co. to punt, and another fourth-quarter theme continued to show itself, as the Wolves were pinned down to their own five yard line.

Taylor and the offense mounted a drive that reached the Tusculum 35, but stalled there. A 54-yard field goal attempt fell just short, turning the ball back over to the Pioneers and essentially closing out the contest.

Offensively, the Wolves ran the ball well on the day, led by Kennebrew, who rushed 12 times for 77 yards on the day. #Yusuf Holloway# added 13 carries for 71 yards and Taylor picked up 56 yards on 10 carries, giving West Georgia 200 yards rushing on the afternoon.

Through the air, Taylor was 14-for-28 for 146 yards and two interceptions. #V.J. Hunt# was the leading receiver, hauling in four catches for 40 yards. The UWG defense held Cordell to 32-for-46 passing with 266 yards and no touchdowns.

Defensively, preseason All-GSC cornerback #Tim Green# led the squad with nine tackles on the afternoon, including one tackle for a loss. Safety #Jenoris Darby# added eight tackles and #Cornelius Winters# had seven.  

Facing the top offensive attack in Division II from a year ago that averaged 425 yards through the air, the UWG defense allowed 417 yards total. The Wolves' offense finished with 349 total yards, including 200 on the ground.