FLORENCE, Ala. – A swarming defensive unit set the tone this evening for the University of Tennessee at Martin football squad as the Skyhawks piled up 27 unanswered second-half points in a 37-21 nonconference victory at North Alabama.
UT Martin (3-1) rolled to its third straight win after mounting a memorable comeback in the final 30 minutes. Trailing 21-7 at the halftime break, the Skyhawk defense limited the host Lions to only 160 yards of total offense on 48 plays from that point forward – keeping North Alabama off the scoreboard in the process.
Meanwhile, the UT Martin offense dialed up four touchdowns in the final 19:46 to seize momentum and silence the crowd of 8,836 fans in Braly Municipal Stadium. Zoe Roberts caught the go-ahead touchdown with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter before Sam Franklin iced the game with scoring runs of 74 and 43 yards in the fourth stanza.
“We figured out a way to win,” Skyhawk head coach Jason Simpson said. “I’m proud of our defense – I challenged them at halftime and they responded in a big way. We have a lot of things to clean up but for us to go on the road and get a victory against another quality opponent is huge. Our schedule has allowed us to be battle-tested and has prepared us to get into conference play.”
Jack Lucas wrapped up a team-best nine tackles (seven solo) for UT Martin with Jaylon Sharpe and Jay Rogers following closely behind with eight stops apiece. Chris Hunter, Jr. snagged his first career interception to stall a Lion drive in the fourth quarter while Jarid Johnson (two tackles for loss), Daylan Dotson (two tackles for loss) and Giovanni Davis each came away with sacks. In the secondary, Oshae Baker batted away three of the Skyhawks’ eight pass breakups tonight.
Offensively, Franklin shouldered a heavy load with a career-high 32 carries for 221 yards. This evening’s performance marked his second 200-plus yard rushing outing in three weeks for the redshirt sophomore out of Little Rock, Ark., who tied Bobby Fowler (1956-59) for the second-most 200-yard rushing games in school history in just his 17th career game.
Narkel LeFlore registered the first rushing touchdown of his young UT Martin career, finding the endzone on the opening drive of the game. Marlon Cook, Jr. capped off a 17-play drive with a rushing touchdown on a reverse to open the scoring in the second half.
Kinkead Dent completed 13 passes for 172 yards and the aforementioned touchdown to Roberts, also extending several drives with 37 rushing yards on eight carries. Remaining upright for the entire evening thanks to zero sacks allowed from the Skyhawk offensive line, Dent’s favorite targets consisted of Trevonte Rucker (team-highs of four receptions and 60 yards), Roberts (four catches, 44 yards) and DeVonte Tanksley (three receptions for 44 yards).
On special teams, Aidan Laros split the uprights for a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter while additionally placing four of his five punts inside the Lions’ 20-yard line. The redshirt sophomore from Cape Town, South Africa averaged 44.6 yards per punt and successfully converted four PAT’s.
North Alabama (2-3) could only muster 95 yards of rushing on 36 carries. Noah Walters passed for 286 yards and three touchdowns while Kobe Warden posted 11 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. Takairee Kenebrew and Dakota Warfield additionally tallied catches for scores in the first quarter. Defensively, Edwin White Schultz secured a game-high 10 tackles and had a fumble recovery to guide the Lions.
UT Martin returns to Hardy Graham Stadium next Saturday to open Big South-OVC Football Association play against in-state rival Tennessee State. The “Hall of Fame Game” is set to kick off at 6 p.m. live on ESPN+.
