Swipe on kickoff ignites Bears to sixth-straight win
The University of Central Arkansas’ Al Lasker made a rip on the second-half kickoff that opened the floodgates to a pivotal victory for the Bears on Saturday at Natchitoches, La.
With the Bears trailing Northwestern Louisiana, 20-14, after what UCA coach Clint Conque termed “the worst half of football we have played all year,” Lasker stripped the ball from Jeremy Lane and returned the resulting fumble 20 yards for a touchdown that ignited a 39-point onslaught resulting in a pivotal, 45-20 victory over the Demons at Turpin Stadium.
The victory kept the Bears, who have won six straight, in contention in the Southland Conference race and possibly gave them a wave to ride into postseason. UCA finished the conference season at 6-1 (equaling its conference-leading record in 2008). The Bears can finish no worse than a tie for second in the league standings. UCA closes the regular season next week in Conway with a non-conference game against Texas State.
However, the Bears (since one win was over Division II Henderson State) need seven NCAA Division I victories to reach the top pool of possible wild-card candidates for the FCS playoffs. UCA, which has played 10 straight weeks, has an open date the last playing date of the regular season.
The Demons scored on four straight possessions on the way to the six-point halftime lead.
“It was a minor miracle that we were just behind six at the half,” Conque said.
Things turned completely around the second half as UCA’s special teams, defense and offense all came up with big plays.
“We played about as badly as we can play the first half,” Conque said. “We had five dropped passes, six or eight penalties, we couldn’t get our defense off the field on third down and we couldn’t tackle. We just needed to come out and do what we do. We caught the football, made some plays and obviously that kickoff was a big lift for us.”
After Lasker’s touchdown gave UCA a 21-20 lead, the Bears’ defense, which had an assortment of breakdowns on third down in the first half, forced the Demons into their first punt.
Nathan Dick, who completed 18 of 34 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, began a 73-yard, seven-play drive with three straight completions to Dezmin Lewis. On fourth and six, he connected with Dominque Croom on a slant rout for a 25-yard touchdown.
After another three-and-out effort from the UCA defense. Dick connected with Terence Bobo over the middle and he found a seam for a 39-yard gain that sparked another 73-yard drive. On third down from the 1, Dick rolled one way and threw the other to a wide-open Thomas Hart in the end zone on a tight end route that was similar to plays the Bears ran with Marquez Branson a couple of years ago.
The UCA defense held NSU to 3 total yards in the third quarter and 103 for the second half.
“I was proud of our coaching staff and players for how they competed the second half,” Conque said. “I was proud of how the defense shut them down. Once we got ahead of them by two scores (35-20), that took their offense out of their game and forced them to try to be something they didn’t want to be. They want to run the football and play-action off that.”
UCA added a 25-yard field goal by Eddie Carmara that put it up 38-20 with 13:12 left, then punctuated the victory when Marcus Peters returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown with 42 seconds left.
“I like the way this team finishes,” Conque said.
Things started out well for the Bears after the Demons’ Kevin Shief muffed a punt and UCA recovered on the NSU 12. That led to Bobo’s 8-yard touchdown run to put UCA up 7-0 with 11:51 left in the first quarter.
The Demons came back to mix their offense in an 81-yard touchdown drive in nine plays. Rumeall Morris scored on a well-blocked, 18-yard run. NSU then added a 29-yard field goal by Jo Shaughnessy.
UCA regained the lead with a 74-yard, 12-play drive capped by a 29-yard pass from Dick to Brett Soft, who broke a couple of tackles in powering to the end zone.
The Demons then overcame third and 20 and third and 10 on the way to a 75-yard touchdown drive that began with a late-hit penalty. Quarterback Brad Henderson connected with Louis Hollier on a nicely executed fade route for the touchdown.
A personal-foul penalty and a pass interference penalty helped keep alive a drive that resulted in a 28-yard field goal by Shaughnessy.
UCA safety Jestin Love was suspended for the first half by the SLC after making contact with an official during a melee last week against Southeastern Louisiana. Conque suspended running back Jackie Hinton and offensive lineman Corey Howard for the first quarter for leaving the bench during that same incident.
Hinton came back to gain 83 yards on 20 carries.
Seth Allison led the UCA defense with 10 tackles and two sacks. The Bears, with plays by end Markeith Gaines that gave the Demon offense problems on the edge, forced 12 negative-yardage plays.
They close the regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon against Texas State, a former SLC member that is competing as an FCS independent because it is offering more scholarships in a transition to Division I FBS.
Northwestern State (5-4, 3-2) plays at conference leader Sam Houston State next week.
“Next week, I’m Northwestern State’s biggest fan,” Conque said.
