FLORENCE, Ala. — With Hurricane Matthew expected to impact Central Florida beginning Thursday evening, the University of North Alabama’s football game with Florida Tech, scheduled for Saturday in Melbourne, Fla., has been cancelled.

Early Wednesday, Florida Tech announced that it would be suspending operations and weekend athletic [...]]]>

Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Cuba

FLORENCE, Ala. — With Hurricane Matthew expected to impact Central Florida beginning Thursday evening, the University of North Alabama’s football game with Florida Tech, scheduled for Saturday in Melbourne, Fla., has been cancelled.

Early Wednesday, Florida Tech announced that it would be suspending operations and weekend athletic events beginning Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 12:50 p.m. ET until Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Discussions between UNA and Florida Tech were not able to work out an alternate solution.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at Florida Tech and everyone in the path of this storm,” Linder said. “We explored every option as far as playing the game at an alternate site or alternate date but neither of those would work.”

With both FIT and UNA having a full slate of games scheduled for the remainder of the season, there is not an opportunity for this game to be rescheduled.

While disappointed that the game will not be played, Linder said there were no other options.

“It comes down to a safety concern and that has to be the top priority,” Linder said.

UNA, currently 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the Gulf South Conference, will have five regular-season games remaining, beginning with a Homecoming contest against Shorter on Oct. 15.

The cancellation of the Florida Tech game will leave North Alabama with just nine regular-season contests. While a minimum 10-game schedule is required to be eligible for NCAA Division II Playoff consideration, Linder said UNA would immediately begin the process of filing a waiver with the NCAA in regards to post-season eligibilty.

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – North Alabama scored three first quarter touchdowns and the 19th ranked Lions rolled to a 45-7 Gulf South Conference road win over West Alabama at Tiger Stadium.

With the win, North Alabama improves to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the GSC. West Alabama falls to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the [...]]]>

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – North Alabama scored three first quarter touchdowns and the 19th ranked Lions rolled to a 45-7 Gulf South Conference road win over West Alabama at Tiger Stadium.

With the win, North Alabama improves to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the GSC. West Alabama falls to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the GSC.

It was the 70th all-time meeting between the Lions and Tigers and UNA now holds a 52-17-1 advantage.

UNA senior quarterback Jacob Tucker rushed for 39 yards and three touchdowns and completed 16-of-30 passes for 271 yards and one touchdown to lead the Lions. Dre Hall had nine catches for 125 yards and one touchdown.

North Alabama finished with 427 total yards, rushing for 117 and passing for 310. West Alabama was held to 262 yards and completed 22 of 52 pass attempts.

North Alabama forced a fumble on the game’s opening play from scrimmage and Khyle Jackson recovered at the West Alabama 33-yard line. Three Jacob Tucker rushes later and the Lions had a 7-0 lead. Tucker gained 30 yards on first down to the three, then two yards to the one. His score came on a one-yard blast up the middle. Kevin Henke’s PAT made it 7-0 at 13:53 of the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, a Jordan Jones interception of a Tucker pass gave UWA the ball at the UNA 25. Aided by two Lion penalties that kept the drive alive, the Tigers scored on a three-yard run by Rashaad Lee. Reed James PAT tied the game at 7-7 at 9:13 of the first quarter.

UNA answered immediately with a seven-play, 65-yard drive to regain the lead. The key play was a 51-yard pass by Tucker to Jacob Thomas to the UWA one-yard line. Tucker scored two plays later and Henke’s PAT made it 14-7 with 6:52 left in the first period.

A 27-yard pass from Tucker to Julius Jones set up UNA’s next score. Ray Beasley scored the touchdown on a two-yard run and Henke’s kick made it 21-7 at 4:20 of the first quarter.

A 14-play West Alabama drive came up empty when Tyler Smith blocked a 39-yard James field goal attempt with 28 seconds left in the opening period.

The only other score of the half was a 22-yard Henke field goal with 12:74 left in the second quarter to make it 24-7.

The Tigers ran 54 offensive plays in the half and held the ball for over 16 minutes but UNA’s defense turned in one fourth-down stop and forced six punts when the Tigers moved into Lion territory.

UNA out-gained the Tigers 245 to 163 in the half.

The Lions put the game away on the opening possession of the second half as UNA marched 75 yards on 10 plays and took 3:17 off the clock to make it 31-7.

Tucker scored on a four-yard run and Henke’s PAT at the11:43 mark gave UNA a 24-point advantage over the Tigers.

The Lions also scored on their second possession of the half on an 80-yard, 16-play that ate 7:18 off the clock. Tucker passed to Dre Hall for the touchdown from seven yards out with 1:35 left in the third and Henke’s PAT made it 38-7.

Blake Hawkins led a 10-play, 52-yard touchdown drive for UNA’s final score of the game. Hawkins walked into the end zone from four yards out and Henke’s PAT made it 45-7 with 7:23 left in the game.

North Alabama host West Georgia on October 1 at 6 p.m. at Braly Stadium in Florence.

  Dajzon Dukes, 20, of Louisville, Kentucky was arrested for first degree robbery and burglary on Tuesday.

Dukes allegedly robbed a man at Alpine Village apartments in May.

He has been suspended indefinitely by the UNA football team. He faces up to ten years in prison. He is [...]]]>

                                    Dajzon Dukes

 
Dajzon Dukes, 20, of Louisville, Kentucky was arrested for first degree robbery and burglary on Tuesday.

Dukes allegedly robbed a man at Alpine Village apartments in May.

He has been suspended indefinitely by the UNA football team. He faces up to ten years in prison. He is being held at the Lauderdale County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.

Dukes was a wide receiver for the team. He played in 11 games last year and had one touchdown.

FLORENCE, Ala. — After serving the last four seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of North Alabama, Cody Gross has resigned his position at UNA to accept a position as the head football coach at Athens High School.

Sources close [...]]]>

Coach Cody Gross headed to Athens (Photo courtesy of UNA Athletics)

FLORENCE, Ala. — After serving the last four seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of North Alabama, Cody Gross has resigned his position at UNA to accept a position as the head football coach at Athens High School.

Sources close to the situation tell the Shoals Insider, Gross was chosen over 100 other candidates for the Athens job.

Gross previously served as an assistant football coach at Athens from 2003-06 and has 11 years experience on the high school level, including three seasons as head coach at Colbert County High School (2007-09) and one at Wilson High School (2011). Gross has coached on the collegiate level for nine years, with seven of those at UNA.

A member of the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame and the Division II Football Hall of Fame as a player, Gross served as an assistant coach at UNA from 1998-00 under Bill Hyde and as as offensive coordinator under Bobby Wallace from 2012-15.

“Cody has meant so much to me as not only a player and a coach, but first he was like a son and now, as time has gone by, like a brother,” said UNA Head Football Coach Bobby Wallace, who Gross played under from 1992-95 and coached under from 2012-15.

“I am happy for Cody and Karin and their wonderful family to have this opportunity and wish them the best,” Wallace added. “His contributions to UNA as a student-athlete and as a coach are unsurpassed. Athens is getting a great coach.”

As UNA’s offensive coordinator over the last four years, Gross has helped lead the Lions to a 33-13 record that includes three consecutive Gulf South Conference Championships and three straight trips to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

In 2013 he directed a UNA offense that averaged 39.8 points and 406 yards of total offense per game. Both averages were among the best in school history and helped propel the Lions to a 10-3 record. The Lions then averaged 35.9 points in 2014 and 37.9 last season.

As a player, Gross had a 41-2 record as a starting quarterback while leading the Lions to three consecutive NCAA Division II National Championships from 1993-95. He led UNA to 14-0, 13-1 and 14-0 records during the championship seasons and played on UNA teams with a combined 48-5-1 record.

His high school coaching career includes two seasons as an assistant coach at Lauderdale County High School (1996-97), four seasons as an assistant at Athens High School (2003-06), three seasons as a head coach at Colbert County High School (2007-09), one season as assistant head coach at Sparkman High School (2010) and one season as head coach at Wilson (2011).

In his three seasons as offensive coordinator at Athens, the Golden Eagles advanced to the state playoffs every year and won the 2006 Alabama Class 5A State Championship. In his three seasons as head coach at Colbert County, the Indians had a combined 26-13 record, reaching the semifinals of the state Class 3A playoffs twice and the first round the other year.

Gross coached in the 2008 Alabama High School Athletic Association North-South Football All-Star Game and he served as District 7 Representative on the AHSAA Football Coaches Committee in 2008-09.

After his first coaching stint at UNA, Gross was offensive coordinator at Delta State in 2001 and assistant head coach for the Statesmen in 2002.

During his career as quarterback for the Lions, Gross was responsible for 65 touchdowns, rushing for 40 and throwing for 25. He had 5,614 yards of career total offense, rushing for 1,930 and passing for 3,684. His only two collegiate losses as a starter were to a pair of eventual national championship teams by a combined five points. UNA lost 14-12 to eventual Division II National Champion Jacksonville State in the quarterfinals of the 1992 playoffs, and 17-14 at eventual Division I-AA National Champion Youngstown State in 1994.

Gross played in 14 career NCAA Division II playoff games, throwing for 1,138 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for another 564 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He was chosen All-Gulf South Conference and GSC Offensive Player of the Year in 1995, was selected for the 50th Anniversary UNA Football Team for 1949-98, the Gulf South Conference “Team of the Quarter Century” for 1971-95 and the Gulf South Conference Team of the 1990s.

He has been inducted into the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame, the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame and the Division II Football Hall of Fame. His Division II Football Hall of Fame Class included John Randle of Texas A&M-Kingsville and Sean Landetta of Towson.

A recipient of the 1996 Gulf South Conference Commissioner’s Trophy as the top male student athlete in the league, Gross holds three degrees from UNA, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education – Social Science (1996), a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education – Social Science (2003) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Education (2007).

He and his wife Karin have three sons, Peyton (17), Braden (14) and Brogan (9).

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The University of North Alabama is ranked prominently in many of the final 2015 NCAA Division II football statistics, including having faced the nation’s fifth-toughest schedule this past season.

UNA’s opponents in 2015 had a combined 73-40 record for a 64.6 winning percentage. Humboldt State faced the toughest [...]]]>  

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The University of North Alabama is ranked prominently in many of the final 2015 NCAA Division II football statistics, including having faced the nation’s fifth-toughest schedule this past season.

UNA’s opponents in 2015 had a combined 73-40 record for a 64.6 winning percentage. Humboldt State faced the toughest schedule with an opponent’s winning percentage of 67.1.

North Alabama finished its season with a 9-3 record, winning a share of a third straight Gulf South Conference Championship and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

As a team, North Alabama ranked fourth nationally in pass completion percentage (66.9), sixth in team passing efficiency (162.02), tied for ninth in total first downs (300), 13th in red zone offense (88.5) 23rd in total offense (468.9) and 23rd in scoring offense (37.9). .

UNA finished 10th in passing efficiency defense (101.15) and 13th in red zone defense (74.2).

Individually, UNA senior quarterback Luke Wingo of Tuscaloosa, Ala., finished third in most touchdowns per pass attempt (9.34), sixth in the nation in passing efficiency (162.8), 18th for most passing yards (3,203), 19th for most points responsible for (200), 28th in passing yards per game (266.9) and 28th in points responsible for per game (16.8).

Junior kicker Kevin Henke of St. Charles, Mo., ranked seventh in field goals made per game (1.50) and tied for 30th in field goal percentage (75.0). He was 18-of-24 for the season.

Senior running back Lamonte Thompson of Florence, Ala., finished tied for 24th nationally in rushing yards with 1,212. Junior receiver Dre Hall of Columbia, Tenn., tied for 28th in receiving touchdowns with 10.