PENSACOLA, FLA.- The Chowan football team fell to West Florida 51-23 in a non-conference road contest on Saturday evening as West Florida pulled away late in the fourth quarter.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 23, West Florida 51
RECORDS | Chowan 0-3, West Florida 2-0
LOCATION | Pensacola, Fla. (Blue Wahoos Stadium)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Bryce Witt completed 21-35 for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Witt connected with Torry Baker twice on scores of 28 and 20 yards. Baker hauled in eight receptions for 97 yards.
Herman Dupas Jr. recorded five receptions for 80 yards. Edwin Thomas scored on his only reception of the contest on an eight yard strike.
Tyler Bembry and Treielle Pearson notched seven tackles. Antwuan Hicks recorded the only take away for the Hawks with an 18-yd interception.
Michael Offutt Jr. returned six kicks for 117 yards. Offutt Jr. was the leading rusher for the Hawks with 39 yards on 12 carries.
West Florida's defense had an interception return for a touchdown and a blocked punt for a score.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Quarter
West Florida received the opening kick-off of the contest. The Argos moved the ball down the field to the Chowan 37 yard-line. A third down sack by Ulysses Amanfu and David Harden shut down the drive for the Argos.
Chowan's first drive of the contest started at their own two yard-line as the Argo punter pinned the Hawks deep. The Hawks drive featured a three-and-out as Connor Killeen flipped the field with a 61 yard punt.
On the Hawks' second drive, the Argos intercepted a Bryce Witt pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Chowan would block the ensuing kick but was negated by a flag as the Argos converted the second kick to take a 7-0 lead.
West Florida tried to catch the Hawks off guard with an onside kick. West Florida was flagged for interference giving the Hawks the ball at the UWF 36. Chowan used the good field possession to knot the contest at 7-all.
The Hawks used a double pass to start the drive. Isaiah Alexander received the pass behind the line of scrimmage and found Michael Offutt Jr. for a 13 yard completion. Bryce Witt connected with a short pass to Torry Baker for five yards and capped the drive off with a pass out to the left hash to Edwin Thomas for the score.
On the kick-off, the Argos return man found space up the right side of the field as kicker Connor Killeen made the tackle to save the touchdown. West Florida scored three plays later to regain the lead at 14-7.
2nd Quarter
As the Argos were marching down the field, UWF was intercepted by Antwuan Hicks and returned the pass to midfield. The Hawks used the momentum to cut into the deficit. Chowan faced a fourth down and two yards to go in the drive but Michael Offutt Jr. converted with an 11 yard scamper to the left. The drive was aided by a pass interference near the endzone allowing a first and goal situation.
The UWF defense held its ground forcing a field goal by Connor Killeen. Killeen connected on the 20-yd chip shot to cut the Argos' lead to 14-10.
West Florida used two plays to get into the endzone as time ran down in the half. The Argos led the Hawks 21-10 at the break.
3rd Quarter
On the second drive of the half, West Florida moved the ball down the field into the redzone. The Argos set up for a first and goal at the Hawks' two yard line. The defense put up a wall as the Argos turned the ball over on downs.
The Argos tacked on a field goal on their next possession to push their advantage to 24-10 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter.
Chowan closed the gap on their next possession as Bryce Witt capped off the six play, 75-yd drive with a 20-yd pass to Torry Baker. Witt sparked the drive with a 23-yd rush as the Hawks were backed up in their own territory.   Witt connected with Herman Dupas Jr. for 44 yards to move the ball into the redzone. Three plays later, Witt found Torry Baker for the score closing the gap to 24-17.
4th Quarter
The first drive of the quarter featured three penalties against the Hawks allowing the Argos to find the score. On the ensuing drive for the Hawks, a bad snapped on a punt attempt gave the Argos great field position setting up another UWF score. Ulysses Amanfu blocked the kick making the score 37-17.
West Florida pulled away late as the Argos added two more scores in the quarter including a blocked punt for a touchdown.
Chowan added a score late in the quarter as Bryce Witt connected on three of his four passes in the drive. Witt found Herman Dupas Jr. for 14 yards before connecting with Torry Baker on strikes of 26 and 28 yards with the final reception finding pay dirt.
UP NEXT
Chowan returns home to open CIAA play as the Hawks host Livingstone in a league cross-over contest on September 23. Kick-off is slated for 6pm.
