Undisputed champions

MONTICELLO, Ark. - His uniform was completely covered in mud, but Nicholas Walker still had a big smile on his face as he walked off the field Saturday night.

North Alabama's senior linebacker had just earned his first Gulf South Conference championship as the No. 1 Lions wrapped up the outright title with a 27-13 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on a sloppy, muddy field at Convoy Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium.

"I've never won a ring before at any level," Walker said. "We had to overcome a lot tonight with the mistakes we made and the field conditions. It was sloppy, but we were able to overcome it. Now I'm got a GSC championship ring coming."

The Lions (10-0, 7-0 GSC) claimed their ninth conference championship, but it was not easy. Four UNA turnovers helped Arkansas-Monticello stay in the game after the Lions had jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter.

The turnovers, along with the terrible field conditions, kept UNA from putting the game away.

"Arkansas-Monticello played their hearts out and they handled the field conditions better than we did," coach Terry Bowden said. "We're sixth in the nation in turnover margin and we kept turning the ball over. We also lost our composure on defense. Thank goodness we gained it back.

"We found a lot of ways in which we could have lost this game. But, under the conditions, to come out here and get a win says a lot about these players. Now we'll regroup and get ready for one more game."

UNA appeared to have the game in hand early in the third quarter. The Lions led 14-0 at halftime and got a 6-yard touchdown run from Tim Hicks on the opening drive of the second half to push the margin to 21-0.

But Harrison Beck was intercepted on the Lions' next possession and UAM (4-6, 3-4) took over at the UNA 41. Two plays later, quarterback Scott Buisson ran a keeper 43 yards for a touchdown to trim the lead to 21-7 with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter.

After forcing a UNA punt, the Boll Weevils were quickly on the move again. They reached the UNA 10 before Buisson fumbled after being sacked by Michael Johnson and Brandon Fanney recovered for the Lions.

Fanney, however, made a bad pitch as he tried to lateral the ball and UAM recovered at the UNA 36. Two personal foul penalties and a pass interference penalty on the Lions led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Casey Cathcart that cut UNA's lead to 21-13.

"We made a lot of mistakes tonight," defensive tackle Montrell Craft said. "This is the first game where we're really faced some adversity and we didn't handle it well. I'm disappointed, because I expect more from this team."

UNA finally got its offense back on track in the fourth quarter. Taking over at their own 41 after a punt, the Lions drove 59 yards in five plays. On a second-and-three play, fullback Marcus Sims found a huge hole on the ride side and raced 37 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 27-13 with 13:26 to play.

The Boll Weevils answered by driving deep into UNA territory. But on fourth-and-goal from the 10 UAM's Steven Porter was stopped at the 1 after catching a pass from Buisson by cornerback Darron Dampier, turning the ball over to the Lions on downs.

With Sims getting most of the carries, UNA was able to push the ball to near midfield and kill most of the clock. The defense made one final stop after UAM drove inside the 10 in the final two minutes to preserve the win as the UNA players and fans began to chant "G-S-C."

"We've said all year that we could be successful if we had a great short-yardage and goal line running attack," Bowden said. "That's what saved us tonight. We were able to run a lot of time off the clock with our three-tight end offense. That was huge for us tonight."

The Lions scored on their first drive of the game, going 55 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Hicks went six yards on a counter play for the touchdown.

Late in the first half UNA drove 80 yards in seven plays. Beck was 5-for-5 passing for 79 yards on the drive, which he capped with a 18-yard touchdown pass to Antyon Gray, putting the Lions up 14-0 at halftime.

The conference championship for UNA is its first since 2006.

"I'm just a sophomore, so I want to win a lot more before I'm finished," center Jamie Dixon said. "It's just a great feeling. I want my ring right now."

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