CARROLLTON, Georgia -- With each week that passed, the 2015 Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team made history as they progressed through the NCAA Division II playoffs.Unfortunately, they ran into another school attempting to rewrite their school's record books in the University of West Georgia on Saturday afternoon – falling to the top-seeded Wolves 35-6 in the Super Region 2 championship game.
"I am disappointed that we lost," Tuskegee University head coach Willie Slater said. "At the same time, I think they have a very good football team and they were the main reason we lost for sure. I thought we got exploited up front and gave up too many big plays, and the reason we gave up the big plays is because he had time throw.
"Offensively, we had opportunities to make a few big plays and we missed those. The difference is that they made their big plays and we missed our chances. The team with the most big plays and the least amount of turnovers, wins 100 percent of the time. That is primarilty what happened to us."
On Saturday, the Golden Tigers made struck early when they forced a West Georgia turnover on their opening possession – the second consecutive game they were able to do so. After a reception by Shaq Hall over the middle was stripped by Jewell and recovered by Osband Thompson, the Golden Tigers used eight plays to move the 33 yards for the game's first score.
After converting a third down with a 12-yard run by Kevin Lacey, the junior quarterback went around left end and stretched into the end zone for the 6-0 lead with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for Tuskegee, the Wolves responded with 35 unanswered points beginning at the 8:24 point in the first when Brandon Walton caught a 35-yard pass from quarterback Dallas Dickey. The Wolves scored just one more time in the first on a 66-yard pass to Qa Walker for 14-6 halftime lead.
West Georgia was able to put the game away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, with the final one coming with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Tuskegee (10-3) had their chances beginning in the second quarter when they drove the ball down inside the West Georgia five. The Wolves' defense responded and forced a Lacey interception at the six-yard line by David Singleton.
The Golden Tigers also came up big on defense when Cedric Cuff came around the right end and blocked a West Georgia field goal attempt with 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Jewell Ratliff ended his Tuskegee career with 11 tackles – all solo in the loss. He also had one sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Michael Robinson and Ricky Norris each finished with six tackles each for the Golden Tigers.
Offensively, Lacey led the Golden Tigers with 17 yards on 11 carries and 91 yards through the air. Desmond Reece and Travis Hawkins each ended the day with a pair of catches for the Golden Tigers.
After falling to Miles and having to miss a week of action, the Golden Tigers responded by qualifying for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the third consecutive year. They followed that up with more history as they defeated Catawba in the opening round for their first playoff victory in school history, and made even more as they defeated the University of North Alabama – not only defeating the Lions for the first time – and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time.
"I am really proud of our guys," Slater said. "We didn't have to go through this ceremony too many times before this year, and we have done it three times this year. We could have very easily not been doing it all, we were in that position. I am proud of our guys, and proud of their effort."
Not to mention the many records that were broken, or tied this season, as the Golden Tigers recorded five interceptions against Morehouse (tying a record set in 1986) and they set a new single-season interception mark with 23. The team also had 10 all-conference selections, three all-region selections, the SIAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year, and a Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-America.
"We had a lot of young players," Slater said. "We had a lot of first-year players that have not gone through an offseason program with us. That makes me look forward to the offseason program. We demand a lot of during the offseason, and we need to get bigger, faster and stronger before they leave."
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