Sweet Carolina

TIGERVILLE, S.C. - With its offense struggling against North Greenville on Thursday night, North Alabama looked to its defense and special teams for a spark.

Both delivered in a big way.

No. 2 UNA scored two touchdowns on blocked punts and another on an interception return in a 52-7 victory against the Crusaders at Younts Stadium.

Jusmon Rivers scored both special teams touchdowns and added a touchdown reception from A.J. Milwee in the second quarter as the Lions opened a 35-0 halftime lead.

"My teammates made some great plays, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Rivers said. "It felt good for us to make some plays and give our offense a break. Our punt return team is a unit - they don't just depend on me. The whole unit stepped up big tonight."

UNA (7-0) came into the game ranked No. 1 nationally in total offense, averaging 546.8 yards per game. The Lions, however, were held to 199 yards of total offense and allowed six sacks.

Several factors played a part in UNA's poor offensive showing. Starting tailbacks Mike McLendon and David McCants were both held out on the first series after being late for a team meeting Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Milwee suffered an injured right elbow on the first series and sat out the next series before returning late in the first quarter.

"Having our two tailbacks out to start the game and then A.J. getting hurt made it hard to get in sync early," coach Mark Hudspeth said. "But give North Greenville credit for the way they played defense. We just got beat up front. For the first time this year, we did not protect well.

"Fortunately for us, when the offense was sputtering, our special teams came up with some big plays. Those touchdowns really got us going, and our defense really came to play tonight."

The defense recorded the first touchdown when D'Arcy Coleman intercepted a pass and then gave the ball to Montrell Craft on a lateral. Craft went the final 23 yards of the 30-yard play to put the Lions up 7-0.

"I saw it was a screen and dropped back, and the ball hit me right in the hands," Coleman said. "I probably could have scored, but I saw Craft behind me and decided to let him take it in. Our defense is very unselfish, and I wanted to show some love to my fellow defensive lineman."

Craft said he yelled for the pitch when he saw Coleman about to be tackled.

"I wasn't expecting him to give it to me, but then I saw that look in his eye," Craft said. "I just caught the ball and took off."

Milwee shook off the injury and led the Lions on a 75-yard scoring drive early in the second quarter. McLendon capped the drive with a 1-yard run, extending the lead to 14-0.

Midway through the second quarter, the Crusaders (1-6) were forced to punt from deep in their own territory. Brandenn Pickett blocked it, and Rivers fell on the ball in the end zone to push the margin to 21-0.

The defense quickly forced another punt and a low snap led to another block - this one by Kelvin Carter. Rivers caught the ball at the 20 and took it in for another score to make it 28-0.

Rivers scored his third touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Milwee in the final minute of the half, giving the Lions a 35-0 halftime lead.

UNA ran just 21 offensive plays in the first half.

"We just never had the ball in the first half," Hudspeth said. "Our special teams kept scoring, so it was hard for the offense to get any rhythm. As an offensive coach, I wanted us to get the ball, but as a head coach I loved seeing us score on the blocked punts."

The Lions rested many of their starters in the second half. Backup quarterback Genario McNealy added a 1-yard scoring pass to Ed Gant, and McCants scored on a 9-yard run.

The defense just missed its third shutout in four games when North Greenville scored with 13 seconds remaining.

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