GAFFNEY, S.C. - The University of West Alabama football team overcame a slow first quarter on offense and used 178 yards of offense in the second stanza to defeat Limestone University 27-13, Saturday afternoon from Saints Field.  

West Alabama improves to 1-1 on the year, while Limestone, who continued to receive votes after its setback at West Georgia, falls to 0-2. In addition, UWA is now 4-0 in the all-time series against the Saints.  

"Our defense tried to play consistently and physically. When our back was against the wall, defensively, we really rose," said head coach Brett Gilliland. "Today was good team football from offense, defense, special teams against a really well-coached Limestone team." 

After Limestone elected to receive the second half kickoff, West Alabama's offense was on the field first. On a second down play, a fumble by the UWA tailback gave the home team the opportunity to score first inside the UWA 16.  

Fortunately, the defense stood tall, allowing three straight incompletions and forced the Saints to a 33-yard field goal by Daniel Deneen Jr.  

Later in the quarter, after a 48-yard punt by Trey Sullivan to pin Limestone to their own three-yard-line, the UWA defense forced the Limestone offense to back-to-back false start penalties, pushing the ball back to the one-yard line. The Saints did get the offense in motion but was forced to punt after a Jamal Ellis sack at midfield.  

As the contest shifted to the second quarter, after each team traded punts, Limestone had the ball driving at midifleld when Cal Endicott's pass was picked off by Artavious Washington and returned 30 yards to the Saints 42.  

"It all boils down to game planning and a great call by Coach (Steve) Sisa. My teammates did a great job, especially Kel Williams putting the pressure on the quarterback," said Washington.  

With UWA driving, Caeleb Bass gave UWA the opportunity to score with his 38-yard reception. Two plays later, Spencer Arcenaux punched it in from four yards out to give the visitors the 7-3 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.  

After Limestone was forced to punt on its next possession, UWA used a six-play drive, starting at their own 12, to make it 13-3 thanks to a 51-yard pass from Arceneaux to Darius Nalls.  

The score would hold going into the locker room.  

In the second quarter, trailing 3-0, UWA scored 13 unanswered points. After edging Limestone 33 to 17 in total yards in the first period, West Alabama used 21 plays to collect 178 yards. Meanwhile for the Saints, they were held to just 48 yards, averaging just three yards a play.  

"We finally got some big plays that went off in the second quarter. Between the two quarterbacks and our receivers, we were able to make some big plays, and we will fix the mistakes that we made," added Gilliland. 

In the third quarter, with Limestone getting the football, the Saints were forced with a three-and-out at their own 13-yard-line. Lining up to punt, Uriah Ratliff came up big for the Tigers, as he blocked the punt to give UWA great field position inside the redzone. However, a missed field goal kept the score 13-3.  

The home team would respond after not allowing the visitors to score on the last drive. Limestone used a 43-yard reception from Endicott to Doug Washington that set up Endicott punching into the endzone for the one-yard score.  

Now up 13-10, UWA needed some insurance on offense, and maybe a mental mistake from the Limestone defense. On a fourth down punt, the ball took a funky bounce and it touched a Limestone player on special teams. From there, UWA was able to fall on the ball at the seven-yard line to keep the drive alive.  

On the next play, Tucker Melton found Bass and his seven-yard run gave UWA the 20-10 advantage. 

Almost a minute into the fourth quarter, with the Saints trailing 20-10, they decided to go for it on fourth down and four at their own 23, and Endicott's pass fell to the turf to give the back back to the Tigers. 

Two plays later, Arceneaux found Nalls from the left side of the endzone for the 23-yard, one-handed catch early in the fourth quarter to solidify the contest 27-13.

"The cornerback had bailed, so I was not expected to get the ball, and I appreciate my quarterback giving me the opportunity to make the play," said Nalls.  

The UWA defense had a stellar day keeping Limestone from passing the line of scrimmage, totaling nine tackles for a loss and five sacks. Additionally, the Tigers secondary added three interceptions and four pass breakups. Leading the charge with Jamal Ellis, who had nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and an interception.  

Spencer Arceneaux completed 7-of-14 for 168 yards and added 49 yards on the ground. Brayden Jenkins saw some action with 39 rushing yards on 11 carries that helped keep the line moving.  

UWA put together 175 receiving yards on the day, led by Darius Nalls (74) and Caeleb Bass (67). 

Cal Endicott led Limestone with 263 passing yards on 22-of-37. 

UWA remains on the road next week to open Gulf South Conference play at North Greenville.