Be like Mike

FLORENCE - It took North Alabama quarterback A.J. Milwee a while to get going in Thursday's season opener against Southern Arkansas.

But when Milwee started connecting, the results were spectacular.

The senior threw four touchdown passes, including strikes of 63 and 83 yards in the second half, to help the Lions pull away for a 57-14 victory before a crowd of 11,024 at Braly Stadium.

Mike McLendon rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns in his UNA debut, and senior transfer Tom Schneider kicked three field goals in his first game with the Lions.

After hitting 10-of-21 passes in the first half, Milwee was 7-for-7 in the second half, including three touchdowns. He finished 17-of-28 for 329 yards.

"I was a little off in the first half," Milwee said. "My arm was a little tired from throwing the wet balls early in the week, so I didn't throw Wednesday. But once we got going, we hit a lot of big plays. Our offensive line deserves so much credit because I didn't get toughed all night."

While UNA had countless big plays, it also made several mistakes, especially with penalties. The Lions were flagged 15 times for 107 yards.

"Take away the penalties and we had a big night offensively," coach Mark Hudspeth said. "Once A.J. settled down, he threw the ball really well, and our vertical passing game was huge. Mike McLendon also had an incredible night. He gave us a spark early, and showed that he can be a great player for us."

Although Milwee struggled somewhat in the first half, the Lions still managed to take a 30-13 lead into halftime.

On UNA's opening possession of the second half, Milwee found Rocky Coleman behind the Muleriders' defense for a 63-yard scoring play to push the margin to 37-13.

Moments later, Milwee hit Ed Gant on a long pass over the middle for an 83-yard touchdown to made it 44-14. Milwee later teamed with David McCants on a shovel pass that the senior tailback turned into a 37-yard touchdown play.

"We were just taking what the defense gave us," Milwee said. "Their defense plays a lot of guys up close, so we had to take advantage of that. We were able to go over the top and get some big plays."

Schneider, a senior transfer from California, hit field goals of 27 and 35 yards to stake UNA to an early 6-0 lead.

Late in the first quarter, McLendon took a handoff, broke to the outside and ran through two tackles en route to a 42-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 13-0.

"We needed somebody to give us a spark and let us know that we could do it," McLendon said. "I was just trying to do anything I could to help our team. We've still got a lot of things to work on, but if this team stays together nobody can stop us."

A 71-yard interception return by Anton Bowen stopped a Southern Arkansas scoring threat. The Lions took advantage of the turnover when Coleman made an over-the-shoulder catch from Milwee for a 12-yard touchdown, pushing the margin to 20-0 early in the second quarter.

The Muleriders got a pair of touchdowns from Raphyael Tyson to cut the margin to 20-13. Tyson scored on a 20-yard pass from Ryan McCombie, and later broke two tackles on a 50-yard scoring scamper.

UNA answered with a 76-yard scoring march. McLendon again sparked the drive with a 26-yard dash. He later scored on a 4-yard run to make it 27-14.

"My biggest concern was our conditioning, and we showed that we are still not where we need to be," Hudspeth said. "Overall, it was a little better than I expected."

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@timesdaily.com