HUNTSVILLE, Texas _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears saw their 2014 season end Saturday but they did not go down without a fight.

    The Bears (6-6, 5-3) answered four consecutive scores by the Sam Houston State Bearkats with 10 fourth-quarter points of their own to get within a touchdown with 3:03 to play. But they failed to recover an onside kick that allowed the Bearkats (8-4, 7-1) to hold on for the 38-31 victory, sealing their FCS playoff appearance and ending the season for the Bears.

    UCA needed a victory to possibly receive an at-large bid to the playoffs in Coach Steve Campbell's first season with the Bears. Trailing 38-21, his Bears got a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior Ryan Howard to senior Joe Carmical to open the fourth quarter and close the gap to 38-28. 

    The UCA defense held the Bearkats scoreless in the final 15 minutes _ including a Dillion Winfrey interception and a missed field goal _ and senior Eddie Camara made it a one-score game with a 39-yard field goal with 3:03 to play. UCA forced a punt but it was muffed at the UCA 21 and Sam Houston State recovered and ran out the clock.

    Howard completed 26 of 44 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions, in his final game at UCA. Senior wide receiver Dezmin Lewis caught eight passes for 105 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass from Howard. Senior linebacker Blake Childress closed out his career with 20 tackles, one short of tying the school record held by Quentin Maxfield (2004). Sophomore safety George Odum (15) and junior linebacker Ricky Wyatt (10) were also in double-figure tackles, with Wyatt recording 3.5 tackles for loss.  

    Sophomore wide receiver Jatavious Wilson got the scoring started with a 66-yard catch-and-run over the middle from Howard at the 8:19 mark of the first quarter. SHSU scored twice for a 14-7 lead before Howard found Lewis for the 4-yard touchdown and a 14-14 tie with 3:52 left in the first half.

    Junior defensive end Jonathan Woodard then picked off a tipped pass and Howard connected with sophomore Desmond Howard on the Bears' first play for 22 yards and a score. Camara's point-after made it 21-14 with 2:40 left in the half. However, the Bearkats scored twice in the final 1:35, on a 52-yard pass and a 32-yard field goal for a 24-21 halftime advantage. SHSU got two more scores in the third quarter before UCA made it close down the stretch.

    Lewis finishes second in UCA history in career receptions (197), third in career touchdown receptions (24) and third in career receiving yards (2,668). For the season, Lewis had 64 catches for 945 yards and nine touchdowns. The 64 receptions is fourth-best in school history, while the yardage is the fifth-best total.