The North Alabama Lions finished their non-conference schedule with a dramatic victory, getting to 3-2 by way of defeating Western Illinois 23-20 in a game that took a fourth quarter comeback to secure a win.

After a touchdown scored on a quarterback sneak by team captain Destin Wade with less than a minute on the clock, Western Illinois was able to get the ball down the field to the goal line and set up a chance to steal the game – and break the hearts of fans at Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium.

On first and goal with no timeouts remaining, a bad snap for Western Illinois allowed the Lions to make a tackle for loss, and the clock ran out as the Leathernecks had nothing they could do to stop the clock.

What a crazy finish at Bank Independent Stadium 😲

📺: ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/jgzbg3N32S

— North Alabama Football (@UNAFootball) September 27, 2026

In front of a capacity crowd of 9,872, North Alabama earned a huge victory to create some momentum headed into United Athletic Conference play. The victory is the second straight for the Lions and already gets them over their win total from last year after a rough 2-10 campaign. Clearly, Coach Brent Dearmon is building something, and in his fourth year, the program may be ready to compete in the conference.

Opening with Eastern Kentucky on the road next week, the Lions will return home next for their first-ever on-campus conference game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats on October 17 coming off a bye week.