BOILING SPRINGS – North Alabama erased a 20-0 Gardner-Webb lead with a strong passing attack and rallied for a 34-30 win over the Runnin' Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.
Gardner-Webb (3-8) lost its fifth game in a row, with four of those losses coming by 10 points or less.
The Runnin' Bulldogs came out fast, with
Kalen Whitlow hitting
Izaiah Gathings twice on short touchdown throws to put GWU up 14-0 by the 13:05 mark of the second quarter. Whitlow hit speedster
Devron Harper on a 28-yard scoring play with 2:57 left before halftime and, after a missed PAT kick, the 'Dogs held a comfortable 20-0 margin.
The Lions (4-7) weren't deterred, rallying to score twice over the final 1:22 of the half. Christian Lopez began building a career-best resume with a 13-yard touchdown toss to Dexter Boykin and Jaxton Carson capped a 38-yard drive with an eight-yard dive with just 12 seconds remaining before the break.
Gardner-Webb came out of the locker room and drive deep, but stalled and settled for a 36-yard field goal and a 23-14 edge.
Lopez took over from there, finding a wide open Andre Little on a 61-yard pass play to cut the lead to 23-21 with 11:54 to play in the third and – after Gardner-Webb was stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the one – marched his Lions 99 yards to start the fourth quarter. Lopez hit Jakobi Byrd from 14 yards out for a 27-23 lead with 14:13 to play in the game.
Gardner-Webb had an answer, with Whitlow going to the air often on a 54-yard scoring drive. The Montgomery, Ala., graduate transfer found
Jameson Turner on a five-yard touchdown pass with 6:02 left and GWU regained a 30-27 lead.
Lopez worked his magic to get North Alabama back in front. The senior, playing in his final collegiate game, capped a 72-yard scoring drive with a 16-yard pass to Boykin for a score with just 1:57 to play.
Gardner-Webb got the ball back – and used the Whitlow-Gathings connection to drive all the way to the Lions' 31-yard line with less than a minute to go. Gathings had catches of 30 yards and 21 yards to get the drive going.
A sack pushed GWU back to the 37 and, after two incompletions, a desperation pass toward the end zone on fourth down was picked off by Gerrell Green at the two. North Alabama took a pair of snaps to run out the clock.
Gardner-Webb finished the day with 378 yards offensively, but were held to less than 100 yards (90) on the ground for the second week in a row. Whitlow completed 29-of-47 passes for 288 yards and a career-high four touchdowns on Senior Day, but was sacked three times.
Gathings was a monster once again, continuing his late season tear. The 6-foot-4, 216-pound sophomore caught 12 balls for 143 yards and two touchdowns – his third-straight game with at least 10 catches and 100 yards.
Jayln Cagle drew nearer to 1,000 yards on the season, finishing with 77 yards on 19 carries. He also caught four passes for 14 yards.
Cade Hamilton registered nine tackles for Gardner-Webb (six solo), with Damien Williams and
Darien Reynolds each collecting eight.
Janathian Turner had a strong game at defensive tackle, collecting six stops, 2.0 tackles for loss, one sack and two pressures.
A.J. Keene and
Aaron Griffith each had fumble recoveries.
North Alabama struggled to run the ball early and, by the time Lopez found his touch, abandoned the run game almost totally. The Lions rushed for 32 yards as a team and finished with 478 yards of total offense.
Lopez was at his best, completing 28-of-44 passes for a career-high 446 yards and four touchdowns. Little caught nine passes for 183 yards and a score and Boykin hauled in nine more passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Byrd caught six balls for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Jalen Dread led the Lions' defense with 11 tackles and a tackle for loss.
Gardner-Webb will wrap up its 2019 season next Saturday on the road, traveling to face No. 15 Kennesaw State in the Peach State. The game is set to kick at 2:00 pm and will stream on ESPN+.
The dynamic duo of Dave Friedman and Reggie Walker will also be on site to broadcast the game live on WGNC Radio (1450 AM / 101.1 FM / TuneIn App).
