CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears ran for a season-high 306 yards and rolled to a 58-35 victory over the Northwestern State Demons on Saturday night in front of a Homecoming crowd of 11,163 at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

    The Bears (5-4), who moved back into a first-place tie with Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference race at 4-1, pounded the ball on the ground in the first half, running for six touchdowns and a 37-21 lead at halftime. On the night, three different UCA running backs scored at least two touchdowns on the ground, with senior Willie Matthews finding the end zone three times.

    Matthews, from Bartlett, Tenn., finished with 114 yards on 22 carries to earn the L.B. Jackman Award that goes to the Most Valuable Player of the UCA Homecoming game. Matthews scored on runs of 1, 37 and 5 yards. Freshman Dominique Thomas followed with a career-high 96 rushing yards and had touchdown runs of 4 and 13 yards. Junior Blake Veasley had a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs and totaled 81 yards on just 12 carries, an average of 6.8 yards per carry.

    The Bears, coming off a road loss to Top 10 Southeastern Louisiana last week, threw just 16 passes in the game. Senior quarterback Ryan Howard completed 14 of 16 for 150 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Cody Dauksch early in the second quarter. UCA attempted just three passes in the second half, all on its opening drive that ended with Matthews' second touchdown.

    The Bears, playing without junior quarterback Taylor Reed due to injury, finished with 456 yards of total offense, while the UCA defense held the Demons to 360 yards. The Demons (4-4, 2-2), one of five one-loss SLC teams entering the game, had two touchdown passes in the final 8:45 to set the final. NSU quarterback Zach Adkins completed 19 of 32 passes for 245 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception.



    UCA, the No. 2 scoring team in the SLC, dominated the field-position battle in the first half, scoring six times with no drive covering more than 48 yards. The Bears took advantage of solid kickoff returns by sophomore Jatavious Wilson ( three for 99 yards), an interception by sophomore safety Bobby Watkins (his team-high third) at the Northwestern 38 and a failed fake punt by the Demons deep in their own territory.

    Matthews opened the second-half scoring with a 37-yarder that gave the Bears a 44-21 lead. UCA then added rushing touchdowns from Thomas and Matthews again to push the margin to 58-21 early in the fourth quarter. UCA punter Matt Spencer, who entered the contest ranked second in the league with a 44.9 average, punted only twice for an average of 43 yards.

    UCA's defense recorded nine tackles for loss, with junior linebacker Ricky Wyatt recording a career-high three for minus six yards.

    The Bears topped the 50-point mark for the third time this season after being held to just 24 points a week ago. UCA also controlled the clock, with a wide margin in possession time (35:22 to 24:38). The Bears controlled the ball for 10:02 of the third quarter. 

    The Bears will face Abilene Christian in SLC action next Saturday at a neutral site in Plano, Texas. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at John Clark Stadium.