CONWAY, Ark. – The UCA Bears turned in the offensive drive of the night and the defensive play of the night to pull out a 26-24 victory over the UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday night at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
The Bears (1-1), trailing 24-20 with 3:20 left to play and no time outs remaining, drove 80 yards in 13 plays under the direction of senior quarterback Ryan Howard, who finished off the scoring drive with a 14-yard pass to sophomore Courtney Whitehead. A missed extra point left UCA with a 26-24 lead.
The Skyhawks (0-2), who blocked a UCA field goal attempt as time expired last year to win 24-23, got the ball back on their own 20 with 1:06 remaining. After an incomplete pass on first down, UCA sophomore safety Bobby Watkins stepped in front of Jarod Neal’s pass on the left sideline to seal the victory.
The Bears, who improved to 16-2 on “The Stripes,” finished with 399 yards of total offense, including 284 through the air. UCA averaged 6.2 yards per play on the night but managed only seven points in the first half and trailed 21-7 at the break. The Bears then outscored the Skyhawks 19-3 in the second half.
UCA, coming off a near-miss at Texas Tech a week ago and back at home in front of 10,727 fans at Estes Stadium, opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Reed to Blake Veasley midway through the first quarter. But UT Martin scored the next 21 points on a four-yard run by Neal, a 4-yard pass from Neal to Kyle Kerrick and a 14-yarder to Corey Jordan.
The Bears got back within a touchdown with 11;25 left in the third quarter on Willie Matthews’ 7-yard scoring run before UT Martin’s Jackson Redditt connected on a 34-yard field goal at the 6:45 mark of the third period.
UCA then had to settle for field goals on consecutive possessions at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter, with Denker hitting from 34 and 20 yards to close the gap to 24-20 and set up the late heroics. The Bears had the Skyhawks pinned back in their own territory, facing a second and 28, but a personal foul on UCA gave UT Martin new life. UCA’s defense finally held at its own 35, forcing a decision to attempt a field goal or punt. The eventual punt found the end zone for a touchback, giving UCA the ball at the 20 with 3:20 to play.
Howard came on and passed completed to Desmond Smith for 10 yards and Matthews for 10 more. Matthews rushed for another first down to cross midfield. Howard hit Dezmin Lewis for 4 yards, threw imcomplete to Damien Wattws, then found Matthews for 7 and another first down at the UT Martin 38.
After three consecutive incomplete passes, UCA took a delay of game and faced fourth and 15 from the 38. Howard then hit Watts for 17 yards to the Skyhawk 26, and Matthews for 12 to the 14. After a UTM timeout, Howard found Whitehead down the right sideline and the sophomore made it to the end zone for the game winner, just his second catch of the night.
Howard completed 10 of 17 passes for 94 yards, while Reed was 18 of 30 for 157 and a touchdown. Reed also led the Bears in rushing with 66 yards on 10 carries. Smith caught a team-high six passes for 66 yards. Denker remained perfect on field goals for the season, going 2 for 2. Defensively, linebacker Blake Childress had eight tackles, including half a tackle for loss. George Odum and Jonathan Woodard had seven tackles each, with Woodard recording 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack.
UCA hits the road again next week, playing at perennial FCS power Montana State in Bozeman. Game time is 4:30 (CST).
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