Bears break through with Dumas’ block
The University of Central Arkansas’ Marcus Dumas’ did more than what met the eye when he blocked a field goal attempt in the final seconds to preserve the Bears’ 21-20 victory Saturday night over Murray State.
He gave a kayo punch to a ghost of last season.
He also gave a slap to the a six-game “jinx” im matchups between UCA’s Clint Conque and Murray State coach Chris Hatcher, formerly the coach at Valdosta State.
Dumas blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt, which would have been a career high for Kianen Cullen, with 34 seconds left to assure that the Bears got off to a 3-0 start to the season.Cullen booted field goals of 43 and 39 yards.
“On his first field goal, I almost got to it,” Dumas said. “On his second attempt (an extra point), I came closer. On the third one (the 39-yarder), I came closer. Coach (special teams coach Dan Augustine) told me I needed to shorten the angle to get it.
“Earlier in the game, I had the chance for a big interception and dropped it. I got down, but my teammates kept telling me to keep my head up. They kept believing I could make a big play. It was time to make a play.”
“He got a great get-off (on the block),” said Conque, who received a plaque before the game commemorating his becoming the winningest football coach in school history.
Dumas’ heroics followed the offensive producing an 81-yard drive in 11 plays for what proved to be the winning touchdown (a 22-yard run by Jackie Hinton). Prior to that drive, the Bears had been held to 27 yards in 17 plays and scoreless since the first quarter.
Last season, UCA lost seven games by a total of 23 points with a chance to win them all in the final minutes.
“We lost those games last year because with our backs against the wall and we needed one play, one stop, one drive, one run, one catch for one block, we didn’t make it,” Conque said. “In all three phases tonight, we found a way to make a play when he had to.
“We got an 81-yard drive when we had to have it and broke the touchdown run. We got the PAT, which was crucial. On second and third down on their final drive, we made defensive plays to force a longer field goal. Then, we got the block. This team has a different mindset.”
The tightly contested game with improbable plays was a mirror image of just about every UCA-Valdosta State matchup of teams coached by Hatcher and Conque, who was 0-6 against his rival going into a hot September night at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
“The players win games,” Conque said. “If it was about coaches, I’m bigger than he (Hatcher) is.”
The Murray State defense, using a mixture of looks that seemed to throw the Bears out of sync seemed totally in control and gave the Racer offense opportunity for 17 straight points after UCA took a 14-3 lead in the first quarter.
The Bears took over on their 19 with the offense sputtering and leaking all over the field.Quarterback Nathan Dick, flustered after completing almost everything he tried in the first quarter, got things started with passes of 16 yards to Terence Bobo and 11 to Dominque Croom.His biggest play occurred on third and 12 with UCA at its 44. The play seemed to break down early when Dick found a seam and, while not the fastest Bear, outran the Racer support and dove out of bounds, just across the chains for the first time.
“That’s probably a play he couldn’t have made last year,” Conque said. “But he’s retooled his body, he’s slimmer and he’s fast enough to make some plays when he has to.”
Backup quarterback Wynrick Smothers changed the pace with a 9-yard run, then, after Smothers was stopped for no gain, Dick found another opening in the Murray defense for a 9-yard run to the 22 with 4:48 left.
Then, it was Hinton’s turn. He had been held to a net of 10 yards and for most of the game he was contained scrambling east and west.
This time, he broke a tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage on a quick burst and ran through at least two arm-tackle attempts for a 22-yard touchdown with 4:39 left. Eddie Carmona’s extra point gave UCA a 21-20 lead.
“I told the team we were going to score on that drive,” Hinton said. “The line opened a big hole. I made a couple of people miss and got in. We kept believing.”
The Bears stil had to survive a final Murray State drive that began at the 24 but quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt, who was 25 of 46 with two interceptions and two touchdowns, quickly guided them to the UCA 32. Seth Allison and Jerrel McKnight kept a pass attempt to no gain, then Tok Opeloye wrapped up Duane Brady for a loss of 1, forcing the 50-yard attempt.
“I was worried because in our game preparation, I was not pleased with our game prep all week,” Conque said. “And some of the same players who had problems in practice had the same problems in the game. We did not play well but we found a way to win against an 0-2 team that was playing like their season was on the line.”
The Bears took a 14-3 lead in the first quarter on a 50-yard pass from Dick to Ken Robey, who was alone behind the Racer defense on a wheel rout. Hinton capped a 54-yard drive with a 7-yard run.
Murray State got back in it with a 59-yard drive, culminating in a 16-yard scoring pass from Ehrhardt to Daniel Ard and a 22-yard drive that resulted in an 8-yard TD pass fro Ehrhardt to Ard.
“A few players thought that once we got up 14-3 out of the box, we could relax,” Dumas said. “We we learned last year we have to keep the foot on the gas whether the score is 35-0 or 15-0. We can’t get complacent if we won’t to win.”
“There will likely be more one-score games this year,” Conque said.
The game was played before an announced crowd of 12,088. The capacity of Estes Stadium is 8,500 with both sides full. There was no significant overflow and the visitors stands were mainly occupied by high school bands on “Band Day.”
UCA goes on the road next week to Tulsa for its final nonconference game.
Comments (1)
Add commentMost of the game was pretty
Most of the game was pretty upsetting because it was obvious we weren't playing well and Murray State kept taking advantage, but man oh man that was a great satisfactory win. :-)