FLORENCE, Ala. (September 2, 2023) – If Saturday’s game at Braly Stadium was any indication of what to expect under new head coach Brent Dearmon, North Alabama fans have much to look forward to. 

 

After surrendering their first lead of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter, the North Alabama Lions surged back in the final seven minutes to finish off a thrilling 41-27 victory over the Chattanooga Mocs on Saturday at Braly Stadium, sending the crowd home happy. 

 

Tonight’s victory is arguably one of the biggest in UNA’s FCS era, as the Lions (1-1) defeated a Chattanooga team that was receiving votes in both the FCS Coaches Poll and the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. Saturday also marks UNA’s first all-time win against Chattanooga (0-1) in four tries. 

 

The Lions stunned the Mocs early with three touchdown connections between Noah Walters and Takairee Kenebrew in the first 16 minutes to make it 21-0, but Chattanooga steadily worked back to a 21-17 deficit at halftime. After Chattanooga took the lead on a fourth quarter plunge, UNA tied the game with 8:49 remaining with a 10 yard touchdown by Jayln Daniels — the first paydirt visit of his career. 

 

With momentum in the balance, Dakota Warfield made perhaps the most acrobatic catch of the game with a toe-dragger in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown with 6:17 remaining. This gave Walters his fourth touchdown pass of the game — a new career-high for the sophomore. 

 

Chattanooga gave it one last effort on 4th-and-4 inside the red zone, but were stopped one yard short thanks to a dual effort by Elijah Elmore and Shaun Myers. UNA sealed the deal two plays later, as Jalyn Daniels broke off an 81 yard run for the final score with exactly 1:00 remaining. 

 

Tonight’s win was a landmark in UNA’s history, marking both the first win for Dearmon as the Lions’ head coach and the first win for UNA as a member of the United Athletic Conference. North Alabama becomes the second team to win a UAC game in the league’s young history. 

 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

 

FIRST QUARTER 

North Alabama 7, Chattanooga 0: North Alabama started with the ball and made the most of its opening possession, marching 88 yards down the field on eight plays in just over three minutes to strike first. Making his first appearance of the season, Takairee Kenebrew entered late in the drive and caught a 25 yard strike from Noah Walters. The Sam Contorno PAT made it 7-0.  

 

North Alabama 14, Chattanooga 0: The two teams traded punts after the opening score and UNA forced Chattanooga to punt a second time with 6:08 remaining in the opening frame. After a 14 yard return by Kobe Warden to the UNA 41 yard line, Walters hit Kenebrew in stride on the first play of the ensuing drive for a 59 yard score. Kenebrew got behind the entire defense with a route over the middle and finished at the pylon. 

 

SECOND QUARTER 

North Alabama 21, Chattanooga 0: The Lions forced four Chattanooga punts in the first quarter to complete the opening frame shutout, then added seven more to their own tally with Kenebrew’s third score of the day — a 21 yard touchdown on a slant pass from Walters. The three touchdowns for Kenebrew matched his UNA FCS record for single game receiving touchdowns, last set in 2022 against Kennesaw State. 

 

North Alabama 21, Chattanooga 7: The Mocs used big plays on their fifth drive of the day, completing a 24 yard pass and 49 yard pass back-to-back to set up a four yard run by Walter Payton Award watch list candidate Ailym Ford with 12:36 remaining. 

 

North Alabama 21, Chattanooga 10: After the UTC touchdown, the Lions stalled on the next drive and Chattanooga went 56 yards on seven plays. The end result was a 27 yard field goal by Jude Kelley in the red zone, as the UNA defense held strong with a QB hurry from Elijah Elmore perhaps preventing an easy touchdown dump. 

 

THIRD QUARTER 

North Alabama 21, Chattanooga 17: The third quarter started with a see saw of momentum shifts, as UTC opened with possession in the second half and had a tipped pass land in the arms of Shaun Myers for UNA’s first interception of the season. Unfortunately for the Lions, Chattanooga forced a fumble two plays later and parlayed that into a 36 yard touchdown strike from Chase Artopoeus to Chris Houston. 

 

North Alabama 21, Chattanooga 20: The “Purple Swarm” had another huge stop late in the third quarter as tackles by A.J. Seay and Keenan Hill near the goal line forced another short Chattanooga field goal — this time from 20 yards — with 6:12 left in the frame. 

 

 

FOURTH QUARTER 

Chattanooga 27, North Alabama 21: After another entrance into the red zone by Chattanooga to end the third quarter, the Mocs scored on the first play of the fourth with a two yard run up the middle by Gino Appleberry. This gave Chattanooga its first lead of the day. 

Chattanooga 27, North Alabama 27: After a booming 51 yard punt by Adam Watford backed Chattanooga up to its own 33 yard line on the next possession, the Mocs were able to get near field goal range, but missed a 53 yarder. This allowed Walters and Kenebrew to connect for a 44 yard pass play to set up a 10 yard scoring run by sophomore Jalyn Daniels to tie things up. The missed extra point kept things tied for the time being. The score was the first of Daniels’ career. 

 

North Alabama 34, Chattanooga 27: With 8:14 to go, Walters and company engineered what proved to be the go-ahead drive. Starting near midfield, Walters found Kenebrew for 23 yards, then connected with Dakota Warfield on back-to-back passes for the go-ahead touchdown. The final play of the drive involved Warfield dragging his foot inbounds for a highlight-reel catch in between the right side pylons.  

 

North Alabama 41, Chattanooga 27: Chattanooga was stopped one yard short on a 4th-and-4 play with 1:50 to go thanks to tackles by Myers and Elmore. Many thought UNA would try to run out the clock, but instead, Daniels broke free for an electric 81 yard touchdown run. The 81 yard play totaled more yardage than any of his all-purpose game totals from last season and is the 12th-longest run from scrimmage in UNA history. 

 

 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

 

• As a team, UNA had eight fewer first downs, but still finished with a 517-488 advantage in total yards. In a balanced attack, the Lions totaled 271 in the air and 246 on the ground. All 271 passing yards were from Noah Walters. 
  
   
• Takairee Kenebrew led the receiving corps with 172 yards — the most by an individual against a Chattanooga defense since R.J. Harris of New Hampshire on Dec. 12, 2014 in the FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals. 

 

• Kenebrew also matched his career-high of three touchdown passes, which stands as the FCS Era record for receiving TDs in a single game. He also joined UNA legend Harlon Hill for fourth on the all-time receiving touchdown list with 19 for their careers. One more would tie three-time national champion Michael Edwards for third with 20. 

 

• In just 13 collegiate games, Noah Walters has already led five fourth-quarter comebacks that either tied a game or took a late lead. Tonight marked the first one of those that ended in a win. 

 

• Walters went 16-for-28 passing for 271 yards and four touchdowns. Prior to tonight, his career high was three touchdown passes set three times in 2022. 
  
   
• Jayln Daniels led all rushers with 147 yards on just eight carries, averaging 18.4 yards per carry. Through two games, Daniels is averaging 17.8 yards on 11 attempts. 
  
   
• Demarcus Lacey proved to be a dual threat in the backfield, rushing for 75 yards on 11 attempts while totaling 29 yards on three receptions for over 100 all-purpose yards. 
  
   
• Lacey’s longest run of 41 yards was just two shy of his career-long of 43, which was set in last year’s season opener against UVA Wise. 

 

• On defense, UNA had three players with double-digit tackle totals. This group is led by defensive back Gregory Reddick with 13 tackles, including nine solo and one tackle for loss. 

 

• After matching both an FCS Kickoff game record and the UNA FCS Era record for single game tackles last week, Edwin White Schultz gave the home crowd a taste of his hard hitting ability with 12 tackles against Chattanooga. Junior transfer Amauri Floyd added 10 more, including six solo. 

 

• Keenan Hill led the defense with three pass breakups to go with a trio of tackles. 

 

• Shaun Myers had the first UNA interception of the season, catching a tipped pass early in the third quarter. This also marked the first career turnover forced by Myers. 

 

• Freshman punter Adam Watford once again had a big impact on special teams, averaging 48.0 yards per punt to give UNA favorable field position most of the game. 

 

• Third down conversions continued to be a struggle for both teams, as the foes went a combined 7-28 on third downs. On the other hand, UNA went 2-4 on fourth down while stopping UTC on its lone attempt near the end of the game. 

 

• Tonight marks UNA’s first win over an FCS opponent since a 35-27 win over Hampton in 2021. 

 

• The Lions snapped the third-longest active losing streak in FCS with Saturday’s win, ending a 10 game skid that dates back to last year’s home opener. The two teams that remain atop that list are Western Illinois at 13 at Robert Morris at 11. 

 

• UNA’s win is the second in United Athletic Conference history, following Abilene Christian’s 31-11 win over Northern Colorado on Thursday. 

 

• The official attendance was 9,361 tonight, surpassing the average totals from the last three seasons. In 2019, UNA averaged 9,548 fans. 
  
   
  
   
  
  COMING UP NEXT 
  
   
  
  The Lions are on the road for the next two matchups, beginning next Saturday, Sept. 9 against Tarleton State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Stephenville, Texas. This will mark UNA’s first conference game as a member of the newly formed United Athletic Conference. 
  
   
  
  For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.