Team keeps focus despite sloppy conditions

MONTICELLO, Ark. - Terry Bowden has coached a lot of games in his career, but North Alabama's first-year coach is not sure if he had ever coached on a field as muddy as the one the Lions played on Saturday in their 27-13 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.

Heavy rains throughout the week made for a miserable experience on the field. By the end of the first quarter many of the players were unrecognizable after being covered in mud.

"We walked out here with sunny skies, but when I walked on that field it was as deep with water as any I've ever seen," Bowden said. "They've had torrential rains, so it made for a sloppy field."

The middle of the field became a muddy mess and UNA's sideline was pretty much all mud. The players, however, said they did not let the conditions bother them.

"We all felt like pigs out there with all of the mud," defensive end Courtney Harris said. "But it wasn't hard for us to keep our focus. We just had to overcome it."

Linebacker Nicholas Walker, who finished with eight tackles, couldn't remember playing in worse conditions.

"I played two years of junior college, but I've never played in anything like that," Walker said. "It was very sloppy. It was just a tough game overall, but we just had to stay focused."

Center Jamie Dixon said he actually enjoyed playing in the slop.

"It was fun for the most part," Dixon said. "It was definitely a change of pace. It was a little hard to keep your feet planted, but I didn't have any problems snapping the ball."

Receivers step up

UNA was short-handed at wide receiver with senior Preston Parker missing the game due to a knee injury he suffered against Valdosta State.

With Parker out, the Lions had several players step up.

Leading the way was Charles McClain. The junior receiver had a 40-yard reception early in the second quarter that led to a UNA touchdown. McClain had a career-high 10 catches and led the Lions with 120 yards receiving.

Senior Antyon Gray finished with two catches for 48 yards, including an over-the-shoulder grab from Harrison Beck for an 18-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Senior James Green also had a big play for UNA. Green caught a ball from Beck while falling down for a 36-yard completion late in the third quarter that gave UNA much-needed field position.

"We hear so much about our transfers at wide receiver and we have some good ones, but when we win everyone contributes," Bowden said. "We talk about everyone stepping up and those guys did tonight.

"James Green made a crucial catch in the third quarter for us. He was not even on the travel squad, but he is a senior and we decided to bring him. It's unbelievable for a guy like that to get in the game in a critical situation and make a catch like that."

10 wins

Saturday's victory over the Boll Weevils extended UNA's streak of consecutive 10-win seasons to five. This year's senior class joins the 2008 class as the only one in school history to reach 10 wins in all four of their seasons.

This season marks the fifth time in the program's history that the Lions have started the season with 10 consecutive wins.

Parker out

Senior wide receiver Preston Parker missed Saturday's game with a knee injury. Parker was injured on the opening kickoff

of last week's game against

Valdosta State, suffering a strained MCL.

UNA started the game with four wide receivers. Juniors Charles McClain and Jusmon Rivers joined T.J. Porter and Mico McSwain in the starting lineup.

Senior Marcell Craft had a different look in Saturday's game. Craft wore No. 89 instead of his normal No. 51. Craft, who has started two games at offensive tackle, was used as a tight end against the Boll Weevils.

It is the second number change in Craft's career. He wore No. 49 his first two years when he played linebacker and defensive end.

Beck's streak ends

Senior quarterback Harrison Beck saw his streak of passes thrown without being intercepted end in the third quarter. Beck tried to throw to Mico McSwain, but

had to get rid of the ball early to avoid a sack. His pass was intercepted by UAM cornerback James Jackson.

Beck's last interception came in the North Greenville game on Oct. 8. He had thrown 123 consecutive passes without being picked off.

Arkansas streak continues

UNA played its final game of the season against an Arkansas school Saturday. It was the fifth game of the season against a team from the Razorback State, four of which were road games.

The Lions have now gone four years without losing to a team from Arkansas. Saturday's victory was UNA's 23rd consecutive against Arkansas teams.

That streak dates back to the 2005 season when the Lions lost 29-26 in double overtime to Central Arkansas.

Since losing three straight to Arkansas-Monticello from 2000-02, UNA has won seven in a row against the Boll Weevils.

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