UNA falls in double-overtime thriller in Braly Stadium finale

FLORENCE – North Alabama has played 424 football games inside Braly Stadium — and Saturday was the last.

The Lions wrapped up a 77-year era of football at historic Braly Stadium on Saturday with a double-overtime game against Southern Utah, falling by a 36-34 score.

Next season, UNA will move into Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium – the school’s first on-campus football stadium since opening the doors in 1830. The football program ran from 1912-1928 and then restarted full-time in 1949.

The Lions end their 77-year run at Braly with a home record of 281-135-8.

As for the 2025 season, UNA finishes with a 2-10 record overall and 1-7 in the United Athletic Conference. Southern Utah, battling for an at-large FCS playoff bid, won their sixth straight and improves to 7-5, 6-2.

This game also allowed Southern Utah to rewrite the record books a bit, as UNA won its first game as an FCS member with a 34-30 win at Southern Utah in 2018. Now, SUU claims a win in UNA’s final game at Braly.

Prior to the game, UNA celebrated nearly 100 student-athletes, coaches and staff members from the 1990s decade. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 NCAA Division II National Championship at North Alabama.

The Lions also celebrated 22 seniors with a special senior day celebration.

With the momentum of a championship celebration and the crowd engaged, UNA jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Southern Utah cut the lead to seven at halftime, then tied the game with 56 seconds to go to force overtime.

The Lions’ defense came up with a crucial stop on fourth and short on a stuff by Kaleb Brown to start overtime. However, SUU survived the testy situation with a fumble recovery. UNA started second overtime with a score, but then failed on the two-point try. The Thunderbirds scored and converted to spoil the final game at Braly.

True freshman quarterback John Austin Wood had his best start to date, going 15-for-22 through the air for 227 yards and two touchdowns. His top target was redshirt senior Tanaka Scott, who finished with six catches for 114 yards and a score. This matched a career-high in catches set in last season’s finale at EKU.

Redshirt senior running back Jayvian Allen brought the juice early on with eight rushes for 33 yards and two touchdowns, but left the game with an injury early in the second quarter. Another senior, Jalyn Daniels, added 39 rushing yards while Wood rushed for 50 when taking out his sacks.

Defensive back Lonell Cunningham was the leading tackler for UNA with eight, followed by senior Demarcious Robinson with seven. Sophomore Fred Vili was a force on defense with six solo tackles and three tackles for loss, including two sacks.

The Thunderbirds stormed back behind one of FCS’s leading rushers, running back Joshua Dye, who finished with three touchdowns and ranks second in school history for single-season rushing yards. Another potential all-conference selection, Lando Brown, led the SUU defense with 11 stops.

FIRST QUARTER

• North Alabama 7, Southern Utah 0: The final opening drive at Braly Stadium went perfectly for UNA, as Vili and Avery Howard recorded sacks. After a punt, UNA drove 78 yards down the field on 10 plays and scored on a one-yard plunge by Juice Allen. The play was set up by a 39-yard pass from Wood to senior tight end Kaleb Heatherly. Chandler Dixon’s extra point made it 7-0 with 5:24 on the clock.
• North Alabama 14, Southern Utah 0: Another three-and-out for the defense — or four-and-out if you count an illegal shift penalty — allowed UNA to take over again before the quarter break. A near-three minute drive that went 60 yards put UNA on the board again with 1:01 left in the quarter. Allen ran this one from 13 yards out to make it 14-0.

SECOND QUARTER

• North Alabama 14, Southern Utah 7: Punts were traded to open the second quarter, but SUU answered with 8:10 remaining on a two-yard run by Dye. A 56-yard pass set up the T-Birds near the goal line, but what was believed to be a long touchdown pass was deemed two-yards short of a touchdown. UNA’s Cameron Jamar helped force the receiver out of bounds.
• North Alabama 21, Southern Utah 7: UNA’s longest play of the game resulted in a two-score lead with 5:44 left in the half. Wood hit a striding Tanaka Scott over the middle for a 61-yard touchdown. This came shortly after Allen’s injury, as hard-nosed rushes from Roderick Taylor Jr. helped set up the long pass.
• North Alabama 21, Southern Utah 14: SUU quarterback Will Burns rushed in a three-yard touchdown with 2:19 remaining, then UNA punted with 1:56 left. Despite having a red zone opportunity that would have tied the game, SUU was stopped on fourth and short at the seven yard line after a stuff by Demarcious Robinson. UNA knelt out the clock to send it to half with the lead.

THIRD QUARTER

• North Alabama 21, Southern Utah 14: There was no scoring in the third quarter, as three punts opened the frame. UNA came up with a huge turnover as Lance Bassett recovered a quarterback fumble just outside the red zone. This essentially led into the fourth quarter in the early stages of a new UNA drive.

FOURTH QUARTER

• North Alabama 28, Southern Utah 14: The drive that started in the third quarter later became a two-score lead for UNA as Wood connected with Heatherly for a 27-yard touchdown.
• North Alabama 28, Southern Utah 21: The T-Birds kept themselves alive with a quick score, as Dye ran one in from nine-yards out to make it 28-21 with 9:42 on the clock.
• North Alabama 28, Southern Utah 28: UNA led an impressive, time-consuming drive that ate up over seven minutes. The drive included four first downs, a third-down conversion on a pass from Wood to Scott and a fourth-down conversion with a rush by Taylor. With 2:22 left, UNA attempted a 35-yard field goal that would have pushed the lead to 10, but it missed wide right. Down seven, SUU scored with 56 seconds left to tie the game. On the next drive, UNA was sacked on third down and let the time expire.

OVERTIME

• North Alabama 28, Southern Utah 28: The first overtime started with SUU stalling out on fourth down, electing to go for it on fourth-and-short instead of kicking a field goal. The gamble did not pay off, as senior Kaleb Brown made a huge stop short of the marker. However, UNA fumbled on the second play of the next drive and SUU recovered it to send it to the next overtime.
• North Alabama 34, Southern Utah 28: The Lions started with the ball and scored in the second overtime on a short run by Taylor. A defensive holding penalty moved the chains and set up the short runs. Going for the two-point conversion in the new overtime rules, the Lions were stopped as Ty Watkins was brought down in the backfield.
• Southern Utah 36, North Alabama 34: The comeback was completed and hearts were shattered at Braly Stadium as the T-Birds scored on a 15-yard pass to Gabe Nunez. A sweep rush by Shane Carr on the two-point conversion won the game.