UWF Football: Argos secure road win after dominant second half at Mississippi College

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

At least that's what the University of West Florida football game felt like. The Argos got off to a slow start, struggling to put together a consistent offensive drive. But Mississippi College, despite a late in the first quarter, had the same growing pains.

After trading drives back and forth, with the UWF defense keeping things steady, the Argos finally broke free after a 42-yard touchdown pass from Peewee Jarrett to John Jiles on the sideline in the end zone. Though it looked like Jiles may have been bobbling the catch as he went out of bounds, no challenge flag was thrown by the Choctaws. UWF took a 14-7 lead with 48 seconds left in the first quarter.

That touchdown led to a second-half explosion from the Argos, as they came away with a 42-14 win at Mississippi College on Saturday at Robinson-Hale stadium.

“The message was, ‘We’ve got to play our game. We’ve got to stop letting external factors be part of our motivation.’ When you go on the road and play in the afternoon about four hours away, there’s just things you’ve got to internally motivate yourself to do," UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles said of the halftime message. "I’m proud of how they responded.”

Jiles' touchdown wasn't even the momentum-switcher that put UWF on top.

Mississippi College was stopped on its opening drive of the second half, then UWF marched down the field – capped off by a 41-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett to Jiles, who found himself a few steps behind the defense in the end zone – to give the Argos a 21-7 advantage.

Just three plays later, the Choctaws were forced to punt from their own 11-yard line, and the UWF special teams unit rushed back to the punter and blocked the kick. With the ball bouncing in the end zone, Mi'Chaun Coward dove on the ball for the 28-7 lead.

On Mississippi College's next play, the Argos forced a fumble and Collin Shaw recovered his second fumble of the game. The Argos scored on the ensuing drive after Jarrett connected with Caden Leggett for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

It was all UWF from there.

"First of all, playing well in all three phases the game raises your chances up to 80% or 90%. Whenever you block a kick, that helped flips some momentum," Nobles said. "We did a great job of starting the third quarter hot. ... Proud of our guys. A lot to clean up, but it’s always easier to clean things up after a win."

UWF found the end zone one more time after that, thanks to a 25-yard run from Jalen Bussey in the fourth quarter after he slipped by the Mississippi College defenders along the sideline.

The Argos (7-3, 5-2 Gulf South Conference) have just one game remaining in the regular season. UWF hosts Chowan University at Pen Air Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.

To have the best case possible for a postseason bid after being ranked fourth in Super Region 2 last week, UWF will want to end its regular season on a high note.

"Our seniors, I’m excited that we’ll be able to go through Senior Day with them. A lot of them earned the right to do that," Nobles said. "Hopefully we can take care of business on Saturday, and we can get another chance to play."

Special special teams

UWF has come close a few times, Nobles said, but the Argos hadn't accomplished it yet.

That was until Saturday when the special teams unit finally got their hand on a punt, blocking the ball. The Choctaws were already pinned deep at their own 9-yard line after Mississippi College was called for an illegal block in the backfield on the kick return.

Mississippi College's Marcus Williams only got a couple yards on the ground over a pair of plays before an incomplete pass from the Choctaws. With the punter lined up deep in his own territory, UWF sent its punt blockers in full force.

The ball was sent backwards into the end zone, and Coward scooped up the bouncing ball with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

"I'm excited that we finally got one," Nobles said. "It's good to see them execute and get one."

That wasn't the only key special teams moment for the Argos during Saturday's victory.

Zac Offord had three kickoff returns for a total of 90 yards. He had a 45-yard return early in the fourth quarter that set up the Argos with good starting field position at their own 45. It took just three plays for UWF to score, and that was Bussey's 25-yard touchdown on the outside. Bussey ran on all three plays, gaining the necessary 45 yards to score, along with a 15-yard facemask penalty against Mississippi College.

"It’s the first time we’ve had huge returns, where we’re one guy away from taking one to the house off the kickoff return," Nobles said. "Our guys know it’s important that we take those plays serious because there are five or six plays every week that make a difference – it doesn’t have to be just offense or defense."

Also of note, Logan Gregory had seven kickoffs that included three touchbacks. He averaged 60.6 yards per kick.

Deep running back room

C.J. Wilson was not on the field during the Argos' win. Nobles said Wilson traveled with the team to Clinton, Mississippi, but was a game-time decision. Without Wilson on the field, running duties were left to Jamontez Woods, Bussey and Daryel Garcia.

That didn't include quarterback Peewee Jarrett (who finished with 46 yards on the ground). Backup quarterbacks Michael Rich Jr. (4 yards) and Marcus Stokes (14 yards), who saw some action late in the contest, also aided the run game. K.J. Franklin added a 5-yard run on a sweep.

Woods and Bussey both scored once, but more impressively, neither one of them were hit for negative yardage. On 12 attempts, Woods ran for 113 yards and a touchdown. On the same amount of attempts, Bussey had 84 yards with a touchdown.

"Jamontez, Jalen Bussey and Daryel did a great job of capitalizing on their opportunities," Nobles said. "They played well when it mattered most."

Nobles added that Wilson's is "nothing serious." Also on the injury front, Franklin, who was hit on a pass play during the second quarter at Mississippi College, didn't return to the game after, and wasn't putting pressure on one of his legs as he was helped off the field.

"Nothing I want to disclose. Nothing major we think. He’s frustrated that he got hurt," Nobles said. "But we don’t think it’s anything major, and something we can get him back from at some point."

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football team wins at Mississippi College for seventh win of season