West Alabama head football coach Scott Cochran likes adversity.
His team had plenty of adversity in Sunday night’s season-opening 27-17 win over Tuskegee University in the sixth annual Red Tails Classic at the historic Cramton Bowl.
West Alabama (1-0) overcame a missed field goal attempt and two turnovers in a span of three second-half possessions to win its third straight season opener.
“We saw some frustrating things, some silly things, we made mistakes but it’s things we can clean up,” Cochran said after the game. “We drove down the field really strong, but we couldn’t put it in the end zone.”
West Alabama built a 14-7 halftime lead and had the ball to start the third quarter. Kendrick Joseph returned the second half kickoff 35 yards to midfield. Six plays later, the Tigers had a first and goal at the Tuskegee 3-yard line. The next three plays only netted one yard and Luis Guyton was sent out for a short field goal. Guyton missed the 19-yard kick and the Golden Tigers took over.
West Alabama’s defense got the ball right back when Donny Anderson recovered a fumble at the UWA 29-yard line. The Tigers moved the ball to the Tuskegee 17-yard line before TD Parker hauled in a pass and raced toward the goal before Calvin Townes Jr., forced a fumble that rolled through the end zone for a touchback.
After Tuskegee missed a field goal, West Alabama gave the ball right back when quarterback Luther Richesson threw his first interception of the night.
Again, the UWA defense rose to the occasion with a stop on fourth and one at the Tigers 23-yard line. Lake Gurley met Desmond Leverette just short of the line to gain and created the turnover on downs.
“We had a miscommunication on the fourth and one,” Tuskegee head coach Aaron James said. “We had some other opportunities and we sputtered.”
After that, UWA scored on its next two possessions to pull away from Tuskegee.
Richesson hooked up on a 37-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Cupp to push West Alabama to a 20-7 lead. The extra point attempt was blocked by Tryanny McGown and returned by Denard Johnson for the defensive 2-point conversion to make it a 20-9 game.
Tuskegee (0-1) fumbled on its own 18-yard line on the ensuing possession and West Alabama capitalized. It was the Golden Tigers’ third turnover of the game.
“We had three turnovers,” James added. “Those are drive killers.”
Richesson hooked up with Cupp for a 13-yard touchdown pass to push UWA’s lead to 27-9.
The two touchdown receptions were Cupp’s only two catches in the game.
The graduate senior quarterback accounted for 307 yards and three touchdowns to earn Red Tails Classic MVP honors. He completed 16-of-25 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran the ball seven times for 93 yards. The 93 rushing yards and 13.7 yards per carry were both Red Tails Classic records by a quarterback.
“It was a great way to start the year,” Richesson said. “We faced some adversity and self-inflicted wounds and still found a way to get it done. We are 1-0 and I am proud of the way we played.”
Tuskegee quarterback Bryson McGrew capped the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run and subsequent 2-point pass to make it 27-17 late in the game.
The Golden Tigers tried an onside kick, but UWA recovered and ran out the clock.
McGrew had 301 total yards and two touchdowns in the loss. He threw for 215 yards with one score and added 83 rushing yards and another touchdown.
West Alabama scored on its first possession of the game with a 13-play, 80-yard drive. Bray Jenkins gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard run.
Tuskegee came right back with a 75-yard drive, capped by McGrew’s 18-yard pass to Jermaine Hardy Jr., to tie the game at 7-7.
West Alabama took the lead for good when Richesson threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Madixx Morris with 8:50 left in the second quarter.