West Alabama took its first possession 80 yards in 13 plays to take an early lead in the 2026 Red Tails Classic on Sunday.
\nBray Jenkins scored on a 1-yard run with 5:50 remaining in the first period.
\nIt was the third time a team scored on its first possession of the Red Tails Classic with all three being touchdowns.
\nThe previous opening scores were by Fort Valley in 2022 on a Kelvin Durham run of 10 yards and again in 2023 on a 18-yard run, capping a 62-yard drive.<\/p>\n
With 7:34 remaining in the game, UWA took a three-score lead on Luther Richardson\u2019s 37-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Cupp.
\nBut the Golden Tigers blocked the extra point try with Tyranny McGowan knocking down the kick followed by Tus Johnson grabbing the loose ball and racing the length of the field to give Tuskegee two points.
\nThe West Alabama lead was cut to 11 points.
\nTuskegee followed with a touchdown drive of 75 yards in just two plays to pull to within 10 points with just under six minutes left.
\nIt was the defensive extra point scored in the Red Tails Classic. The ensuing drive culminated with a two-point conversion, also a first for the Classic.<\/p>\n
With his PAT following West Alabama\u2019s final touchdown in the fourth quarter, placekicker Elijah Guyton became the school\u2019s career scoring leader among kickers with 180 points.
\nThe previous record was held by Mark Grant, set between 2012-15.
\nThe All-American from Cullman entered the 2026 season already holding school records for the most career field goals (31) and the longest field goal (51 yards). Last season he was 11 of 12 on field goal attempts with the lone miss being blocked.
\nThe NCAA Division II record for career field goals is 82, set by Jeff Glas of North Dakota between 2002-05.<\/p>\n
While Tuskegee has made numerous trips to Cramton Bowl, the Tigers of West Alabama had played in Montgomery just seven times dating back to 1953.
\nAll seven games were against Troy (or Troy State is it was called prior to 2004).
\nBefore Sunday, the program had recorded just one victory in the bowl coming in 1972, a 14-3 win over Troy State. That win ended a seven-game \u201cjinx\u201d at the bowl for then-Livingston State.<\/p>\n
Former Percy Julian star Bryson McGrew set a Tuskegee record for rushing for a quarterback in the Red Tails Classic with 83 yards on Sunday.
\nBut breaking the record wasn\u2019t too difficult.
\nThe previous rushing record for a Tuskegee quarterback in the game was 11 yards by Bryson Williams in 2023.
\nMcGrew played for Julian between 2022-25.<\/p>\n
O.J. Howard was a prep superstar at nearby Autauga Academy (Prattville) from 2009-12 and was an All-American tight end for the Generals.
\nHe along with few others with ties to the Alabama football program, are now part of the coaching staff at West Alabama.
\nHoward spent four years playing for Scott Cochran and then-head coach Nick Saban and was part of three SEC Championships and a national title in 2015, winning the MVP award in the win over Clemson.
\nHoward is one of four players or coaches with Bama ties on Cochran\u2019s staff, who is in his second year at the helm. He is the tight ends coach and director of player development for the Tigers. Other former Bama players who are on the staff include former quarterback Blake Sims (wide receivers) and Thomas Fletcher, who is in charge of special teams.
\nRonnie Clark was the running backs coach between 2014-18 for Saban at Alabama.
\nFormer Tide running back Bo Scarbrough is also on the staff in charge of high school football relations.
\nCochran was Alabama\u2019s strength and conditioning coach for Saban between 2007 and 2019. He later joined former Alabama assistant coach Kirby Smart at Georgia in 2020 and remained with the Bulldogs for five years.
\nCochran took the head coaching position at West Alabama last year.<\/p>\n
In between the first and second quarters, the US Army Montgomery Recruiting Battalion read the oath of enlistment to seven recruits, officially committing them to the US Army.
\nThe Red Tails Classic honors the Tuskegee Airmen who fought for the US during World War II.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A rare first-possession touchdown West Alabama took its first possession 80 yards in 13 plays to take an early lead in the 2026 Red Tails Classic on Sunday. Bray Jenkins scored on a 1-yard run with 5:50 remaining in the first period. It was the third time a team scored on its first possession of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n