West Georgia Football
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WEST GEORGIA FOOTBALL 2015 Gulf South Conference Champions • 2014 & 2015 Super Region 2 Champions • 28 All-Americans NCAA Division II Playoff Appearances - 1998, 2000, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 TEAM COMPARISONS WEST GEORGIA Shorter 21.2 Scoring Offense 13.5 23.2 Scoring Defense 41.0 VS 170.8 Rushing Offense 80.3 232.0 Rushing Defense 218.3 2-2 2-1 0-1 GSC 0-1 GSC 200.8 Passing Offense 154.5 Head Coach Head Coach David Dean Steve Englehart 126.0 Passing Defense 295.2 Career Record: 100-35 (13th Year) Career Record: 31-25 (6th Year) 371.5 Total Offense 234.8 Record at UWG: 21-8 (3rd Year) Record at FIT: 31-25 358.0 Total Defense 513.5 (11-15) 73% Red Zone Scores (7-7) 100% Wolves Host Shorter on Community Day » The West Georgia Wolves are hoping the first Saturday in October signals a reversal in fortune 41% Third Down Def. 46% for the 2019 season as the Shorter Hawks visit Ra-Lin Field. UWG brings a record of 2-2 into the 17.4 Kickoff Returns 14.7 contest, 0-1 in Gulf South Conference play. Shorter is 0-4 for 2019, including 0-2 in the GSC. 5 Sacks 2 » West Georgia is hoping to stop its two-game losing streak. The Wolves fell two weeks ago in a 26-14 decision to Albany State. A week ago saw UWG fall 44-10 to Florida Tech in Melbourne. Today’s Game Location ..............................................................Carrollton, GA » Shorter enters the game looking for not only its first win of the season, but its first victory since 2015. The Hawks have lost 43 straight games, including 30 consecutive in Gulf South Conference Site ..............................................................University Stadium play. The Hawks’ last victory over a conference opponent came on October 3, 2015, in a 42-23 win Capacity .......................................................................10,100 over Mississippi College. Surface ........................................................................ Natural » David Dean is in his third season as head coach at UWG. Dean, a two-time national champion as Streaming Video ................................................ uwgsports.com a head coach, is 21-8 at the helm of the Wolves. His career head coaching record is 100-35. Zach Television ........................................................................ None Morrison is in his second season as head coach at Shorter. A former standout lineman for the Hawks, Radio ..................................................................... KISS 102.7 Morrison is seeking his first victory as collegiate head coach. Series ............................................................. UWG Leads 4-2 » This is the ninth meeting in the all-time series between West Georgia and Shorter. The Wolves Last Meeting hold a 7-1 series lead, having won the last seven games between the two. UWG is 2-1 vs. the Hawks Date .........................................................September 28, 2018 on Ra-Lin Field, and a perfect 4-0 when playing at Rome’s venerable Barron Stadium. Shorter’s only win over UWG came in the series’ inaugural meeting in 2012. Location ................................................................... Rome, GA Score ........................................................UWG 58, Shorter 27 » The 58 points scored by the Wolves vs. Shorter a year ago is the most ever in the short history of the series. West Georgia has scored a total of 144 points in three victories over the Hawks with Willie 2019 UWG Schedule/Results Candler starting at quarterback for the Wolves. Date Opponent Time/Result » West Georgia’s last two home games with Shorter were both big victories. In 2014 the Wolves Sept. 7 @Catawba W 37-9 clinched the program’s first GSC title in 15 years with a 35-9 win. UWG was again dominant in 2017 as they handled the Hawks 42-6 in a Thursday night GSC-TV contest. Sept. 14 @Limestone W 24-14 » Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on KISS 102.7 in the Carrollton area. This will continue Sept. 21 Albany State L 26-14 Mitch Gray’s 39th season in the broadcast booth as the Voice of the Wolves. Outside of the Carrollton Sept. 28 @ Florida Tech L 44-10 area, fans may listen to the game online through the Listen Live links on the Gradick Communica- tions portal. Oct. 5 Shorter Noon Oct. 12 @North Greenville 7:00 PM » West Georgia is a perfect 4-0 vs. the Hawks in games played in Rome. A year ago the Wolves ran away from Shorter with a 58-27 win. All-America Devontae Jackson ran 11 times for 151 yards and Oct. 19 West Florida 2:00 PM two touchdowns. That included a 72-yard, second quarter scoring run that helped break open a still Oct. 26 @West Alabama 2:00 PM close game. Nov. 2 Mississippi College 2:00 PM » Saturday’s game marks the first time that West Georgia has kicked off a home game at 12 noon Nov. 9 @Delta State 3:00 PM since the 2015 NCAA Division II Playoffs. That year the Wolves went at 12 p.m. on back-to-back Sat- urdays: in a regional quarterfinal win over Valdosta State, and in the Super Region 2 Championship Nov. 16 Valdosta State 7:00 PM Game vs. Tuskegee. HEAD COACH DAVID DEAN By any measure David Dean’s first two seasons as as Valdosta State posted a 13-1 record and won the head football coach at the University of West Georgia program’s second national championship. were a success. Dean arrived in Carrollton in January Five years later, Dean was back in the winner’s cir- 2017, on the eve of signing day, and led the Wolves cle again. This time the Blazers lost twice in the regular to nine victories and a return to the NCAA Division II season, but they were untouchable in the playoffs, av- Playoffs. In his second season last year, West Georgia eraging 42 points a game during a postseason march won 10 games and reached the playoffs for the fourth to a second national title. time in the past five seasons. That second national title with the Blazers put In the second week of the season in 2019, Dean Dean in rare company. College football has been stepped even more into history, becoming the third played in the state of Georgia since the 1890s, and coach in Gulf South Conference history with 100 wins during that time only three football coaches in this in his career. state have won multiple national titles. Erskine Russell Were there up-and-downs, and some disappoint- won three FCS crowns at Georgia Southern, while ments? Certainly, but from start to finish, Dean put his Paul Johnson followed him in Statesboro with a pair stamp on a veteran roster and veteran coaching staff. of championships of his own, and now it is also David The result was a Wolves team back in the national Dean. picture in Division II football. A 9-4 record and a play- Dean’s run as head coach at Valdosta State cov- off spot came in year one under Dean, followed by a ered nine seasons. Beyond the two national crowns, 10-2 record, top-five national ranking and the fourth his Blazer teams posted an impressive record of 79-27, trip to the NCAA Playoffs in the past five seasons including a mark of 42-19 in games played with the came in year two. nation’s best Division II conference, the Gulf South. His Dean was no stranger to the Carrollton campus teams advanced to the NCAA Playoffs six times, and following the most successful three-year run in the when he returned to UWG last season. He brought Dean’s postseason head coaching record is 13-6. history of the Wolves’ program. Few coaches have with him a resume that would rival any coach in the The success of Dean’s Valdosta State program the gravitas to continue, and even increase that level nation. As an assistant or as a head coach, David resulted in numerous individual plaudits. He captured of success. Dean and his football teams are winners. American Football Coaches Association Division II Dean is a native of DeKalb County in the metro A former wide receiver at Georgia Tech, Dean got Coach of the Year honors following both national titles. Atlanta area. He was born in Decatur, and enjoyed a his introduction to the wars of Gulf South Conference He was also named 2007 Coach of the Year by Schutt stellar high school career for the Avondale Blue Devils. football in 1988 when he began a four-year run on the Sports, AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, and GSC Dean arrived at Georgia Tech as a walk-on in 1982, staff at Valdosta State. In 1992 Dean moved to Car- Coach of the Year in 2010. but was awarded a scholarship the following season. rollton for an eight-year run on the staff at West Geor- Beyond his individual success, Dean’s VSU players He played wide receiver for the Jackets through the gia. That stint included the first winning season at the captured the highest of honors. His VSU teams had 1985 campaign. Division II level, the first NCAA D-II Playoff berth, and 18 Division II All-America selections, while 10 players Married to the former Stacie Stott, the Deans the program’s first two Gulf South Conference titles. signed National Football League contracts. Dean also have three daughters: Caroline, Allison, and Natalie. Dean departed UWG following the 1999 season, coached three players who earned GSC Freshman of joining the staff of Chris Hatcher at Valdosta Sate. He the Year honors, two league players of the year, and a Coaching Experience spent seven seasons as the Blazers’ offensive coor- national defensive player of the year.