NATCHITOCHES, La. _ A dominant third quarter carried the University of Central Arkansas Bears to their sixth consecutive victory Saturday, a 45-20 win over the Northwestern State Demons in Southland Conference action at Turpin Stadium.
UCA, down 20-14 at halftime, scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to pull ahead 35-14. UCA tallied more yards of offense in the third quarter than it had in the entire first half. The Bears then added their fourth straight score, a 25-yard field goal by Eddie Camara, at the 13:!8 mark of the fourth period, good for a 38-20 lead. A late interception return for a touchdown capped off the 31-0 scoring run by the Bears.
“In the first half, we played about as badly as we possibly could,’ said 12th-year head coach Clint Conque. “We had dropped passes, penalties, we didn’t tackle well, and we couldn’t get off the field on third down. They had 18 minutes in time of possession and 2 to 1 in yards. We just needed to come out and do what we do. We caught the football, we made some big plays, and obviously the kickoff was a big momentum lift for us.
“And once we got ahead, we knew we could probably get them out of their game, which is running the football and play-action passes. And certainly the defense responded. I thought they (the defense) dominated the third quarter and the offense made some plays.
The Bears (7-3, 6-1) finish SLC play with a 6-1 record and a solid hold on second play. UCA finishes the regular season with a non-conference game against former SLC team Texas State at home next weekend before having an open date on Nov. 19. The Bears need one more victory to try and secure their first NCAA FCS playoff berth.
The Bears finished the game with 340 total yards of offense, after gaining just 130 in the first half. The UCA defense pitched a shutout, holding the Demons to 103 yards of offense in the second half, and closed the game with the 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by sophomore cornerback Marcus Peters with just 42 seconds remaining.
“I’m very proud of our coaching staff and our entire team how we competed in the second half,’ said Conque. “Give Northwestern State credit, they came out and did what they wanted in the first half. That’s the worst half of football we’ve had this season. We were fortunate to only be down six. But give out defense credit, we really shut them down in the second half.’
UCA took an early 7-0 lead on Terence Bobo’s 8-yard touchdown run up the middle with 11:51 to play in the first quarter. The touchdown came after Northwestern State’s Kevin Shief muffed UCA’s opening punt and the Bears took over at the Demons’ 12.
The Demons then scored the next 10 points, on an 18-yard run by Rumeall Morris and a 29-yard field goal by John Shaughnessy. UCA quarterback Nathan Dick, who finished 18 of 34 for 217 yards and three touchdowns, hit junior receiver Brett Soft with a 29-yard touchdown pass to give the Bears a 14-10 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter.
Northwestern State answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brad Henderson to Louis Hollier. Shaughnessy added a 28-yard field goal to give the Demons their 20-14 lead at the half.
The momentum shifted quickly toward the Bears in the second half as NSU’s Jeremy Lane fumbled the opening kickoff and Al Lasker returned the loose ball 20 yards for a touchdown and a 21-20 lead. The Bears would continue to pile up the yards and touchdowns as Dick hit Dominique Croom with a 25-yard touchdown pass, and tight end Thomas Hart with a 1-yarder. It was Hart’s second touchdown reception in two weeks and gave the Bears a 35-20 lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
Camara added a 25-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter and Peters ended it with UCA’s sixth defensive score of the season in the final minute.
After a conference-opening loss to fourth-ranked Sam Houston State, the Bears have reeled off six consecutive wins to tie their best finish in Southland Conference play. UCA was 6-1 in 2008, the best record in the league, but was ineligible for the conference title during its transition period.
“Any time you go on the road, it’s very, very difficult. They are all precious wins,’ said Conque. “We knew coming in here this was going to be a tough get. We didn’t start out very well, but I sure like the way this football team finished.’
UCA forced three turnovers and did not turn the ball over to improve to +16 in turnover margin on the season. Junior linebacker Seth Allison had 10 tackles and two sacks, while senior linebacker Frank Newsome had 7 tackles and two for loss. In all, UCA forced 12 negative-yardage plays.
The Bears host Texas State at 4 p.m. Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
