TIGERVILLE, S.C. - Trailing at the start of the fourth quarter for the second straight week, the 16th-ranked West Georgia Wolves pitched a fourth-quarter shutout to win a wild 43-36 decision at North Greenville in the 2022 regular season finale.
West Georgia's offense put up another monster game, and the UWG defense did just enough and made plays when they had to to preserve UWG's eighth win of the season, and capping off a 5-0 record on the road.
The Wolves put up 645 yards of total offense which was the third most in a single game in school history, and got 172 yards from Jaxton Carson who became UWG's first 1,000 yard running back since Devontae Jackson in 2018. The Phenix City, Alabama native also rushed for two touchdowns to give him an even 20 on the season.
The UWG offense put on an absolute clinic in the passing game on the opening drive as Frost completed five of six passes to march 75 yards to the end zone. The touchdown came on a 19-yard completion to LaPerion Perry, putting the Wolves on the board first, but a missed PAT made it 6-0.
After teams traded turnovers and then punts, North Greenville found the end zone for the first time just 11 seconds into the second quarter, connecting on a 47-yard pass to Tyler Hamilton.
On the Wolves' next drive, it was Ronnie Blackmon who hauled in his fifth the h touchdown of the season, this one from 11 yards out and a second missed PAT made it a 12-7 West Georgia advantage with 10:49 remaining in the half.
North Greenville answered with a long drive that was capped off by a short rush, and a successful two-point conversion gave the Crusaders a three-point advantage midway through the second quarter.
Both teams would add another touchdown in the half, with West Georgia's coming on a 10-yard Jaxton Carson rush that gave the Phenix City, Alabama native 19 rushing touchdowns on the season. That score came with 1:40 to go in the half, and North Greenville marched 76 yards in 59 seconds to respond and go up 22-19 at the break.
The Crusaders scored early in the second half to make it 28-19, but the Wolves answered right back as Frost found Jacob Pinch for a 31-yard score to get it back to a three-point game.
The GSC's leader in rushing, Corey Watkins, then broke a long, 54-yard score to stretch the Crusader's lead back to two scores with 6:27 left in the third. West Georgia's answer was Carson's 20th touchdown of the season with 2:36 remaining in the quarter.
Senior kicker Trey Wiggins tied the game up after a big stop by the UWG defense, as Wiggins drilled a 17-yard field goal to make it 36-36 with just over 11 minutes to play.
With the game tied, UWG's defense got a huge play from Robert Carter, picking off a pass and giving the ball back to the Wolves' potent offense which delivered on the very next play as Harrison Frost hit Steven Peterson for a 70-yard touchdown and a seven-point lead.
NGU got the ball back with plenty of time and drove down inside the 40-yard line, but Xavier Robinson recovered a fumble with 37 seconds left and put the game on ice.
Frost finished with 424 yards and four touchdowns while Steven Peterson led the Wolves in receiving with four catches for 100 yards. UWG had five receivers with over 50 receiving yards in the game.
Keondre Williams led the UWG defense with nine tackles while Allen Johnson had seven and Deontae Overstreet and Devonte Mathews each had six.
UWG wraps up the regular season with an 8-2 overall record. Playoff selections for the always tough Super Region 2 will be announced on Sunday.
