CONWAY, Ark. _ For the fourth consecutive week, a University of Central Arkansas Bear was named one of the Southland Conference Players of the Week on Monday.

    Junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers earned his second SLC Offensive Player of the Week honor after the Bears’ 24-20 victory over No. 3 Sam Houston State on Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

    Smothers, from Destrehan, La., completed 24 of 41 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown. He engineered two scoring drives in the final 5:24 with only one timeout to give the Bears the comeback win.

    Smothers scored the first touchdown on a 17-yard run at the 3:18 mark, then hit senior Dominique Croom for 41 yards, and again from 26 yards out for the game-winner with 57 seconds left. Smothers also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass in the first half and finished with 40 rushing yards on 10 carries.

    Smothers earned his first SLC award in Week 2 after UCA’s 42-20 road victory over Murray State.