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CONWAY, Ark. _ Two old football rivals will meet for the first time in 17 years on Saturday when the University of Central Arkansas Bears host the North Alabama Lions in ASUN Conference action at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

    The last time UCA and UNA met in football was the 2005 season in the NCAA Division II era. In fact they met twice, and both games were classics. UCA prevailed in the regular-season matchup 29-26 in double overtime at Estes Stadium, with the Lions taking the rematch 41-38 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

    Both the Bears and Lions went on to finish 11-3 that season. Current UCA head coach Nathan Brown was UCA's starting quarterback that season as a redshirt freshman and threw for a combined 546 yards and five touchdowns in the two games.

    "Those were two great football games between two Top 20 teams at the Division II level,' said Brown, who drew his first career start in the first UNA game. "We had some great battles with UNA back in the day and it's nice to get back in the same conference with them and to start playing again."

     The Bears moved up to NCAA Division I FCS level in 2006 and the Lions just completed their four-year transition last season and are fully eligible in 2022. UCA sits in first place in the ASUN with a 2-0 record (3-4 overall) while UNA is 0-3 in league play and 1-6 overall.

    UCA is coming off its only bye week of the season, and a solid 51-24 road victory over Kennesaw State the week before that. UNA lost a shootout 56-53 at Eastern Kentucky last week, with the Colonels scoring the game-winning touchdown with just eight seconds remaining. The Lions beat Division II Virginia-Wise on Sept. 10 for their lone victory.

    UCA piled up 543 yards of total offense at Kennesaw, scored on five of its first six possessions and held KSU's vaunted triple option offense attack to just 181 rushing yards. UCA actually out-rushed KSU with 196 yards on the ground, 170 of those coming from sophomore tailback Darius Hale. It was Hale's second consecutive game with 170 rushing yards. The Pearland, Texas native has averaged 7.7 yards per carry over the past two games.

    UCA quarterback Will McElvain completed 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns, both to junior wide receiver Christian Richmond, who had an ASUN record 12 receptions for 156 yards to earn the conference's Offensive Player of the Week Award. Senior placekicker Hayden Ray did his part as well with three field goals from 43, 48 and 23 yards and also added six extra points. The 48-yard kick was a career best for Ray, who is now second in career PATs (158), fourth in career field goals (39) and fourth in career scoring (275 points) at UCA.
 

    The Lions have the top rusher in the ASUN in Hoxie, Ark., native ShunDerrick Powell, who is nearing the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 956 yards and a league-best 136-yard average per game. Powell ran for 218 yards against EKU, his third 200+ game this season. Freshman quarterback Noah Walters (Lincoln, Neb.) leads the UNA offense, while junior receiver Takairee Kenebrew (Childersburg, Ala.) is a serious deep threat outside for the Lions.

    "We're playing a good North Alabama football team, don't let the record fool you," said Brown. "To me, if you watch their offense, one of the best offenses we'll play all year. They are very, very, very good on offense. They can score with anybody. Their running back, ShunDerrick Powell, is an unbelievable player. He'll be one of the best running backs we'll play all year. Very, very special player."

    UNA leads the overall series with UCA 15-5.

    The Bears will be celebrating Homecoming for the 93rd time on Saturday. UCA has an all-time record of 64-27-1 in Homecoming games, and has won 18 of the past 19 games. Kickoff is 4 p.m. on "The Stripes." The game can be heard live on The Bear 91.3, The Point 94.1 and on ESPN+.