Box Score CARROLLTON, Ga. - The final chapter of the 2021 UWG football season was written on Saturday afternoon in Valdosta, Georgia, as the Wolves finished the campaign with a 66-35 loss at the hands of the Valdosta State Blazers in the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
The Wolves put up a fight late, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to cut the lead to two scores, but the Blazers scored 17 unanswered points over the final 17 minutes of the contest to push the lead out to 31 points.
Both teams came out with a strong defensive effort early in the first quarter, but it was VSU that would strike first in this one as the Blazers built a 14-0 lead with 7:45 left in the opening quarter. West Georgia finally broke through just a few seconds later when
Harrison Frost connected with
Phil Patterson for a 63-yard touchdown strike, making it 14-7 with 7:37 left in the period.
Valdosta State scored twice more early in the second quarter, leading the Wolves 28-7 with 7:09 left in the first half before Frost would connect again. This time, the strike was to
Ronnie Blackmon for a 31-yard score to make it 28-14. After another VSU touchdown late in the half, Frost and Co. went to work again. This time, the Wolves moved down the field a total of 75 yards in 1:37, with Frost finishing off the scoring drive with a 21-yard strike to Blackmon as the Wolves trailed 35-21 with 35 seconds left until halftime.
In the opening half, Frost was 17-for-25 for 215 yards through the air with three passing touchdowns.
The third quarter began in similar fashion to the first two, with Valdosta State scoring twice to take a 49-21 lead before West Georgia could mount a drive. After an Ivory Durham touchdown pass to Victory Talley put the Blazers up 49-21, a strong return from
Christian Royalston put the Wolves near midfield. The offense moved straight down the field, using five plays to go 47 yards, ending with a touchdown plunge from
Jace Jordan. It was his eighth-straight game with a touchdown this season and his 10th rushing score, tying him with Mark Evans, Dallas Dickey, and Wil Garrett for 10th among single season rushing touchdown holders.
On the ensuing possession,
Brian Dillard intercepted Durham at the VSU17 and two plays later, Frost found
Mechane Slade for a 15-yard touchdown to cut the VSU lead to 49-35. Slade had six catches for 90 yards on the day, giving him 78 receptions for 961 yards and eight touchdowns on the year.
Phil Patterson also finished the year on a high note, catching nine passes for 159 yards and a touchdown.
Frost completed the best single passing season in school history with a 29-for-44 day, connecting for 381 yards, the seventh-most single-game passing yards in school history. He finishes the year with 3,618 passing yards, nearly 1,000 more than the next best year for a UWG quarterback.
The Wolves complete the season with a 9-3 record, ranked 13th nationally in the American Football Coaches Association Poll in the final regular season poll and eighth in the D2football.com poll.
