Bears blank Demons in more ways than one
LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER
NATCHITOCHES, La. — On a dreary, foggy evening at Turpin Stadium, the University of Central Arkansas Bears pulled the cloth over their former offensive coordinator’s eyes, unveiled a new weapon, christened some “Magic” and had four different players score their first career touchdowns.
The Bears breezed to a 34-0 victory over winless Northwestern State in their Southland Conference opener setting up a showdown in Conway next week.
Largely because of a conflict with the televised Florida-LSU game at the same time and a cool drizzle most of the night, the game was played before only 4,829 witnesses.
The Bears started the romp working the sidelines in interesting fashion. They were on the sideline directly in front of the press box. Todd Cooley, who left UCA in the spring to become offensive coordinator at Northwestern State, was in the press box. The UCA coaches had some trainers and assistants carry large sheets and towels draped about them like caped crusaders. When it came time to call offensive or defensive signals, they would stand directly behind the coach giving the signal and throw up the towel to obscure Cooley being able to read the hand signals.
After taking a 14-0 lead in a grind-it-out first half, the Bears (4-1, 1-0) took advantage of man coverage in the secondary to steadily pull away from the Demons (0-5, 0-1).
In the process, four UCA players scored their first career touchdowns: running back Jackie Hinton on a 48-yard run on the Bears’ second play from scrimmage; quarterback Robbie Park (as a receiver) on a 5-yard halfback pass from Brent Grimes; wide receiver Dominque Croom on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Park; and Conway’s Isaiah Jackson on a 48-yard pass from Park.
“(Hinton) is an explosive athlete who was very limited in what we had him do,” said UCA coach Clint Conque. “Be assured, he will be more involved. We can’t have enough explosive athletes on the field.”
Hinton is a redshirt freshman who is a transfer from the University of Houston and whose paperwork for eligibility was just completed this week. He scored his touchdown on a sweep on the Bears’ second play from scrimmage, completing a 68-yard drive in 29 seconds.
The Bears compiled 433 total yards (268 on 39 rushes and 165 passing) while holding the Demons to 196 yards and an average of 2.9 a play. It was UCA’s first road shutout since the Bears blanked Harding in 1988.
“We grinded it out in practice this week, and I thought our players responded to the challenge,” Conque said. “We threw and caught the ball pretty good, and for the most part, we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
After Hinton gave UCA a 7-0 lead, the Bears held the Demons in check until the Bears mixed the run and pass nicely on a 68-yard, eight-play drive that resulted in the pass from Grimes to Park for a 14-0 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Bears had two dominating drives that each consumed 5:11 (10 and 11 plays) that resulted in field goals of 30 and 37 yards by Eddie Carmona.
The Bears built their cushion in the fourth quarter as both Croom, a true freshman, and Jackson, a sophomore, burned the Demon defense with the long ball. Conque had claimed that he wouldn’t call Jackson by his nickname of “Magic” until he scored, and he did that with 6:22 left. Croom’s touchdown followed an interception by Larry Hart. Jackson’s came after a fumble recovery by Jessie Sims after a Carson Knowlton hit on a kickoff.
“I was most proud of how we came out in the second half and kept the gas on,” Conque said. “Two years ago, we were in here with a two-touchdown lead and we ended up losing on a last-second field goal. But tonight we kept it going.”
NSU, using two quarterbacks, was only three of 16 on third down conversion attempts.
UCA safety Pieri Feazell tackled Adrian Reese at the UCA 7 late in the fourth quarter to halt the Demons’ most promising drive and salvage the shutout.
Leonard Ceaser led UCA rushers with 92 yards on 13 carries, but he had plenty of help. Grimes added 75 yards on 14 carries and Hinton 62 on three carries.
In an often sloppily executed contest, the Bears had eight penalties for 97 yards while the Demons were penalized 12 times for 119 yards.
The game sets up an early showdown of conference unbeatens Saturday in Conway when the Bears take on Stephen F. Austin, which defeated McNeese State.
