10 CHAMPIONS WAY (September 19, 2026) – The first one was a memorable one.
For the first time ever, the University of North Alabama hosted a football game on campus. The grand opening of Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium brought a sell-out crowd and included a bevy of festivities, but the main event resulted in a 38-20 win over Alcorn State on Saturday in Florence, Ala.
The Lions (2-2) led the whole way and kept the crowd engaged with an electric offensive performance. Today marked the most points since last year’s home opener against Northeastern State (49). Meanwhile, the defense forced an early turnover and limited Alcorn to 4.7 yards per play.
The official attendance for the first game at Bank Independent Stadium was 11,830 — factoring in standing room only.
Redshirt sophomore Snap Reed went down in the history books as the first player to score a touchdown in the new stadium early in the first quarter. He caught a 31-yard pass from quarterback Destin Wade and skated in past the right pylon.
It did not take long for the next score, as on the second defensive play, hometown senior Jyheam Ingram tipped a pass that was intercepted by redshirt junior linebacker Nolan Forsha and taken inside the red zone. This set up a 19-yard touchdown pass on the next play from Wade to senior KJ Fields with 11:47 on the clock.
UNA took a 14-0 lead into the break, but Alcorn State (2-2) got on the board with a touchdown with 5:21 left in the half.
Once again, UNA had a swift response.
On the first play of the next drive, redshirt freshman wide receiver ran a reverse play and broke multiple tackles en route to a 75-yard touchdown run. Johnson, who entered Saturday as the leading receiver in FCS football, split defenders on a run play, cut past two more near the red zone and spun out of one final effort from the Alcorn defense for the score with 5:00 remaining.
UNA took a 21-14 lead into the break after Alcorn scored with 3:04 remaining, then cut it to 21-17 with a field goal early in the third quarter. UNA had its first field goal in the new stadium with 1:43 left in the third quarter, as redshirt senior Ian Vachon made a 31-yarder to make it 24-17.
UNA put the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter, outscoring Alcorn 14-3 to pull away. An electric catch and run from redshirt junior TJ Holmes made it 31-17 with 12:02 remaining. The Memphis transfer broke multiple tackles and met up with Johnson at the five-yard line, high-fiving his former Memphis teammate and current UNA teammate the final few steps into paydirt.
UNA’s final score came from Wade on a 13-yard quarterback run in the final two minutes. The defense capped off the win with back-to-back sacks from sophomore Cayden Adkins and redshirt junior Avery Howard from opposite edges.
Wade went 15-for-30 passing for 296 yards and three touchdowns. He added 37 yards and another touchdown on the ground. Wade engineered an offense that did not have any turnovers for the second time this season — both wins.
Johnson led with 161 all-purpose yards, including 86 on catches and 75 on his only run attempt. The leading target was Reed with six catches for 85 yards — including his history-making catch early in the first quarter. After Johnson, senior Chris McMillian was the leading rusher for UNA with 14 carries for 39 yards.
Defensively, Howard led with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Adkins joined junior Fred Vili with six tackles apiece. Vili also had a major pass breakup on third down to end a drive. True freshman Charles Chappelle had a breakout game with five tackles to match his career-high set at Arkansas.
Tonight marked the first new-build FCS stadium grand opening since 2017. This drew national headlines from ESPN College Gameday, CBS Sports, NBC Sports and other major outlets.
This is just the second time in program history UNA has won a game by a 38-20 final. The last time came at Braly Stadium in 2006 against a nationally-ranked Newberry team during the Division II era.
COMING UP NEXT
UNA will play its second home game at Bank Independent Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 26 against Western Illinois. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
