Hawks outmatched by No.6 Argonauts

Shorter can’t keep up with top-10 ranked opponent in road conference loss

PENSACOLA, Fla.- The Shorter Hawks headed down to Pensacola to take on the University of West Florida (UWF) on Saturday afternoon. The No. 6 Argonauts proved too much for the Hawks to handle, as the home team won 45-23.

Shorter found themselves down by 14 with 6:49 left in the first quarter, but right after, quarterback Aeneas Dennis led the Hawks on a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took 7:39 off the clock. The drive was capped off by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Dennis to Dorian Anderson to make the score 14-6 with 14:10 left in the first half. (The subsequent extra point attempt failed).

Unfortunately for the Hawks, UWF answered right back via a 2-yard touchdown pass from Argonauts’ quarterback Austin Reed to Maverick Wolfley to put West Florida back up by two touchdowns (21-6) with 10:07 left in the half. Reed had an excellent night statistically, as he went 18-for30 passing for a game-high 314 yards through the air, four touchdowns and one interception along with 36 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Later in the quarter, Shorter’s Nick Pope added a 25-yard field goal with 51 seconds left, but UWF snuck in another touchdown before halftime (78-yard pass from Reed to Jared Smith) to make it 28-9 heading into the locker room.

The second half saw the Argonauts (6-1, 3-1) add to their lead, and the Hawks put up 14 in the fourth quarter to reach the final scoreline of 45-23. Dennis played a part in both of Shorter’s fourth-quarter touchdowns, as Dennis rushed for a 6-yard score and then threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kyah Plummer.

Dennis led the Hawks in both passing and rushing on the afternoon. Dennis threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns on 20of-34 passing and also ran for 40 yards and a score. Plummer led the Hawks in receiving with 116 yards on four catches with a touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, Cornell Washington led the Hawks with six total tackles, and Hunter Poole, Nehemiah Reddish and Trey Thomas were tied for second in total tackles with four apiece. Kolby Reynolds had the lone interception from Reed in the first quarter.

The Hawks (2-6, 0-5) will be back on the road next week, as they will visit Cleveland, Miss., to take on Delta State next Saturday at 3 p.m.