CLINTON, Miss. - The West Georgia Wolves and Mississippi College Choctaws produced another instant classic on Saturday night in Mississippi as the Wolves completed a fourth quarter comeback to open Gulf South Conference play with a crucial 38-35 road victory.
West Georgia (2-1, 1-0 GSC) trailed at the half, trailed after three quarters, and trailed 35-24 with 10:13 remaining in the fourth quarter but two Ben Whitlock touchdown passes to Terrill Cole and timely defensive stops gave the Wolves their sixth consecutive win in Clinton.Â
"I am so pleased with these guys, they hung in there, and that's a very tough offense to play," said head coach David Dean. "We made the stops when we had to and I'm proud of our defense for bowing their necks and making those stops."
With the win, David Dean became the GSC's second-winningest head coach in conference history, passing longtime Mississippi College coach John Williams with his 123rd career victory.
The West Georgia offense had two 100-yard rushers, Cameron Brown and Rajaez Mosley, for the first time in a single game since 2016, and Brown became the first player since Dallas Dickey in 2015 to pass and rush for 100 yards each. Mosley finished with 175 yards on 19 carries while BRown threw for 111 and rushed for 100 with three touchdowns.
Mississippi College (1-2, 0-1 GSC) opened the game with a touchdown on their opening offensive possession and the Wolves responded with a touchdown drive of their own as Cameron Brown threw for 23 yards and then called his own number and scampered in for a 38-yard score to tie things up.
The UWG defense forced a turnover on the Choctaws' next possession and turned that into points as it was Brown again from the six yard line to make it a 14-7, UWG lead.
The Choctaws answered the bell, however, scoring 14 unanswered points to go up 21-14. It looked as if that would be the halftime score until Brown and the offense took over with 16 second left. Mosley carried the ball for 12 yards on first down and then Brown found Terrill Cole for 27 yards and put the Wolves in field goal position. Brock Pellegrino then connected on a career-long 44-yard field as time expired to make it 2-17, Choctaws at the break.
"That was a big play right before the half when Terrill went up top and made that catch and got us that field goal, and it ends up being the difference in the game," said Dean.
West Georgia scored first in the second half as Brown made it a trifecta of rushing touchdowns and giving UWG the lead again in the process.
Mississippi College regained the lead with 2:49 left in the third and scored again at the 10:03 mark of the final quarter.Â
From there, the Wolves turned to Ben Whitlock after an injury sidelined Brown, and the sophomore delivered. He connected with Cole on a 57-yard strike that made it a 35-31 deficit with 8:31 remaining.
Needing a stop, the Wolves defense forced a three and out when they needed it most and gave the offense a chance.
Whitlock drove the offense 59 yards and found Terrill Cole for a six yard score that would go on to be the game winner.
"Ben could have very easily said 'Hey it's not going my way, they started somebody else' but he didn't do that, he was ready to step up and ready to play," Dean said of Whitlock. "That's a great team player, and he made some great throws."
Mississippi College then drove down and had a chance to hit a 49-yard field goal to tie. Ben Pledger sent the first kick through, but David Dean used his timeout in his back pocket to ice the kicker, and the next attempt was short and wide right, sealing the victory for the Wolves.
Mosley's 175 yards were a career-high for the Valdosta native and David Dean was thrilled with the play of the junior running back.
"He's a warrior. He runs the ball so hard and with so much power," added Dean. "He was a spark in that game. He and Terrill were both sparks in that game."
Cole finished with four catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Wolves were led by Keondre Williams who had 10 tackles while Jeremy Smith and Malcolm Mercer had five each and a tackle for loss.
The Wolves stay on the road next week, traveling to Pensacola for their annual showdown with West Florida. Kickoff from PenAir Field on September 23 is set for 7 p.m. EST.
