10 CHAMPIONS WAY (September 26, 2026) – Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium had its first dramatic finish on Saturday.

In a game that will be talked about for ages, the University of North Alabama football team completed a last-minute comeback to defeat Western Illinois by a 23-20 final in Florence. The Lions close non-conference play with a 3-2 record — the best five-game start for UNA since 2018.

It took all 60 minutes to decide a winner. The real fun took place with 1:53 remaining, as Western Illinois (2-3) extended a 20-16 lead with a 37-yard field goal. The Lions had all three timeouts and drove the length of the field in a matter of one minutes and two seconds, scoring with 51 seconds remaining on a quarterback sneak by redshirt junior captain Destin Wade to take a 23-20 lead.

Western Illinois nearly broke the hearts of Lion fans in the final minute, storming down the field and using a 26-yard pass from Kennedy McGill to Ihson E. Jackson-Anderson to get on the one-yard line with 12 seconds to go. Redshirt sophomore Kamore Harris made a game-saving tackle to prevent the touchdown. This prompted WIU to use its final timeout.

As both teams returned to the field, WIU seemed to have the momentum, but the Lions did not back down. A bad snap allowed UNA’s defense to come up with the final stop, as senior captain Joshua White led a swarm of Lions to the quarterback for a five-yard sack. Sophomore Tae Martin and redshirt senior Mond Cole were two of the others that met White at the QB.

With no timeout, WIU was unable to get back on the ball in time to spike, sending the Lions’ sideline into a frenzy.

It was not an easy game for either team, as both defenses held the opponent to under 100 rushing yards. Despite being outgained 354-247, the UNA offense came up with a major drive when it needed it most.

It started with a five-yard run by Wade at his own 25-yard line, followed by a 25-yard pass to leading FCS receiver Xavier Johnson to ignite the crowd. Redshirt sophomore Snap Reed caught the next two — 18 and 16 yard receptions — muscle-running his way to the red zone. A face mask on that second catch allowed Wade to get near the goal line and follow his offensive line into pay dirt. Behind Wade was defensive linemen Donovan Nevils and Kamore Harris to help push him in. This came moments before Harris made a heroic tackle on the last drive.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Western Illinois started on its own two-yard line on the kickoff after the returner slipped on the turf, but the Leathernecks drove 98 yards to take the opening lead. A 62-yard pass on the second play helped get WIU away from the goal line, then a nine-yard pass to David Hargro made it 7-0 with 11:15 left in the opening frame.

UNA answered with 1:20 left in the quarter on a blocked punt by LaFenis Mays Jr. From their own two-yard line, the Leathernecks fumbled the snap and Mays made the block and recovered in the end zone for six. The Lions failed on a two-point conversion to trail 7-6.

The Lions flipped the lead late in the second quarter, going up 13-7 on a two-yard rush by Wade and a PAT from senior kicker Ian Vachon. Coming out of the break, UNA took its largest lead with a Vachon field goal from 46-yards out — currently the longest field goal in Bank Independent Stadium history. This came with 6:54 to go.

Western Illinois scored the next 13 points in the third and fourth quarter, using another Hargro touchdown and two field goals by Ronan Culkin to make it 20-16 with 1:53 remaining, setting the table for the dramatic finish.

THE NUMBERS

Johnson continued his stellar start to the season, catching six passes for 121 yards. He has won United Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week three of the first four weeks and has had over 80 yards in every game this season. He entered Saturday leading the nation with 472 receiving yards and now has 593 yards over five games.

Wade went 15-for-27 for 219 yards while adding two rushing touchdowns. When taking out negative plays, he gained 39 yards on the ground.

Defensively, redshirt junior Avery Howard was undeniable with six tackles, including three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. He also recorded five quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. He is now the UAC leader in sacks.

Sophomore Cayden Adkins led with seven tackles, followed by Howard, Leo Glover, Fred Vili and Kanijal Thomas with six. Glover had five solo tackles. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Young also added four tackles and two pass breakups in coverage. Harris had three tackles for loss and a hurry.

On a social media note, UNA improved to 2-0 in the Hack City Pod “Grimace Standings” that keeps up with any purple vs. purple match-ups in FCS. UNA was third in the rankings, while Western Illinois was 10th. UNA and Stephen F. Austin are the only purple teams that are 2-0 against other purple teams.

Tonight was also a “Scorigami” as UNA finished with a 23-20 score for the first time in school history, dating back to the start of the modern era in 1949.

Tonight’s attendance was 9,872 for the second game in Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium history.

COMING UP NEXT

UNA will open United Athletic Conference play next Saturday at EKU at 5 p.m. CT in Richmond, Ky.

10 CHAMPIONS WAY (September 19, 2026) – The first one was a memorable one.

For the first time ever, the University of North Alabama hosted a football game on campus. The grand opening of Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium brought a sell-out crowd and included a bevy of festivities, but the main event resulted in a 38-20 win over Alcorn State on Saturday in Florence, Ala.

The Lions (2-2) led the whole way and kept the crowd engaged with an electric offensive performance. Today marked the most points since last year’s home opener against Northeastern State (49). Meanwhile, the defense forced an early turnover and limited Alcorn to 4.7 yards per play.

The official attendance for the first game at Bank Independent Stadium was 11,830 — factoring in standing room only.

Redshirt sophomore Snap Reed went down in the history books as the first player to score a touchdown in the new stadium early in the first quarter. He caught a 31-yard pass from quarterback Destin Wade and skated in past the right pylon.

It did not take long for the next score, as on the second defensive play, hometown senior Jyheam Ingram tipped a pass that was intercepted by redshirt junior linebacker Nolan Forsha and taken inside the red zone. This set up a 19-yard touchdown pass on the next play from Wade to senior KJ Fields with 11:47 on the clock.

UNA took a 14-0 lead into the break, but Alcorn State (2-2) got on the board with a touchdown with 5:21 left in the half.

Once again, UNA had a swift response.

On the first play of the next drive, redshirt freshman wide receiver ran a reverse play and broke multiple tackles en route to a 75-yard touchdown run. Johnson, who entered Saturday as the leading receiver in FCS football, split defenders on a run play, cut past two more near the red zone and spun out of one final effort from the Alcorn defense for the score with 5:00 remaining.

UNA took a 21-14 lead into the break after Alcorn scored with 3:04 remaining, then cut it to 21-17 with a field goal early in the third quarter. UNA had its first field goal in the new stadium with 1:43 left in the third quarter, as redshirt senior Ian Vachon made a 31-yarder to make it 24-17.

UNA put the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter, outscoring Alcorn 14-3 to pull away. An electric catch and run from redshirt junior TJ Holmes made it 31-17 with 12:02 remaining. The Memphis transfer broke multiple tackles and met up with Johnson at the five-yard line, high-fiving his former Memphis teammate and current UNA teammate the final few steps into paydirt.

UNA’s final score came from Wade on a 13-yard quarterback run in the final two minutes. The defense capped off the win with back-to-back sacks from sophomore Cayden Adkins and redshirt junior Avery Howard from opposite edges.

Wade went 15-for-30 passing for 296 yards and three touchdowns. He added 37 yards and another touchdown on the ground. Wade engineered an offense that did not have any turnovers for the second time this season — both wins.

Johnson led with 161 all-purpose yards, including 86 on catches and 75 on his only run attempt. The leading target was Reed with six catches for 85 yards — including his history-making catch early in the first quarter. After Johnson, senior Chris McMillian was the leading rusher for UNA with 14 carries for 39 yards.

Defensively, Howard led with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Adkins joined junior Fred Vili with six tackles apiece. Vili also had a major pass breakup on third down to end a drive. True freshman Charles Chappelle had a breakout game with five tackles to match his career-high set at Arkansas.

Tonight marked the first new-build FCS stadium grand opening since 2017. This drew national headlines from ESPN College Gameday, CBS Sports, NBC Sports and other major outlets.

This is just the second time in program history UNA has won a game by a 38-20 final. The last time came at Braly Stadium in 2006 against a nationally-ranked Newberry team during the Division II era.

COMING UP NEXT

UNA will play its second home game at Bank Independent Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 26 against Western Illinois. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.