CONWAY - Central Arkansas junior quarterback Ryan Howard recalled a conversation with left tackle Dominique Allen earlier in the week leading up to Saturday’s game against Stephen F. Austin.
“We’ve got to score 50,” Howard told Allen.
Then he went out and made it happen.
Howard threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns in only his second career start as the Bears scored 38 third-quarter points en route to routing Stephen F. Austin 66-31 in front of an announced crowd of 10,827 at Estes Stadium.
The Bears (5-3, 2-1 Southland Conference), ranked No. 20 in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll and No. 23 in the FCS Sports Network poll, and the Lumberjacks (3-5, 1-2) each compiled 681 yards of offense and combined for nine scoring drives that took less than a minute. In fact, UCA’s 10 scoring drives used a combined 33 plays.
Howard completed 18 of 30 passes in his first start at Estes Stadium. He took over as UCA’s starter last Saturday against Lamar in place of senior Wynrick Smothers, who sustained a season-ending ankle injury Oct. 12 against Nebraska-Kearney.
“The momentum from last week carried over into this week,” said Howard, who engineered a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 26-24 victory at Lamar. “I had confidence coming in. I wasn’t as shaky as I was in the first quarter last week. As a quarterback, as soon as you get that first completion, your rhythm gets going. You start getting confidence.”
Stephen F. Austin Coach J.C. Harper said his defense had no answer for Howard or the Bears’ receivers.
“He had some really good receivers,” said Harper, whose Lumberjacks have lost 10 consecutive road games. “His receivers made physical plays. He did a great job.”
Junior receiver Dezmin Lewis, who has been hampered with an ankle injury this season, caught 5 passes for a career-high 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. Lewis has been impressed with Howard’s command of the Bears’ offense through two games.
“I felt really confident in Ryan,” Lewis said. “We communicate on things. He lets me know how exactly every throw will be.”
Freshman Kelton Warren rushed for 106 yards on 10 carries and an 81-yard touchdown run for the Bears, who rushed for a season-high 235 yards.
UCA led 21-10 going into halftime, and the Bears poured it on in the third quarter.
Freshman Jatavious Wilson returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-10. Tyler Boyd’s 4-yard touchdown reception from Brady Attaway cut UCA’s lead to 28-17, but it took the Bears just four plays and 55 seconds to answer as sophomore Taylor Reed threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Lewis for a 35-17 advantage.
Stephen F. Austin pulled to within 35-24 on Boyd’s 10-yard touchdown reception, but Howard threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to a wideopen Jose Moore to give UCA a 42-24 lead with 6:47 left in the third quarter.
Howard’s fourth touchdown pass - a 41-yarder to Damien Watts - gave UCA a 49-24 lead at the 5:22 mark.
UCA’s defense added to the scoring in the third quarter when free safety Marvin Mitchell intercepted Attaway at the Stephen F. Austin 2and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 56-24. It was the Bears’ first interception return for a touchdown since Marcus Peters did it against Northwestern (La.) State in 2011.
Jace Denker tacked on a 29-yard field goal with 42 seconds left in the quarter for a 59-24 advantage that all but put away Stephen F. Austin.
“I thought it was important to re-establish ourselves in the third quarter,” UCA Coach Clint Conque said. “I thought we did that.”
Howard threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to sophomore Courtney Whitehead and 45 yards to Lewis in the first half, and Reed added a 12-yard scoring run to help UCA take a 21-10 lead into halftime.
Attaway, a senior who was fourth in the FCS in passing yards and touchdowns entering Saturday’s game, completed 41 of 63 passes for 442 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he also threw 2 interceptions.
Senior linebacker Justin Heard, who led UCA with a career-high 15 tackles, said it was important for the Bears to contain the high-powered Lumberjacks, who came in with the FCS’s second-best offense that was averaging 563.7 yards per game.
“We had to stop the run,” Heard said. “Obviously, they can light it up in the passing game. We slowed them down just a little bit, enough to get what we needed.”SAM HOUSTON STATE 44, NORTHWESTERN (LA.) STATE 10
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Brian Bell threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as Sam Houston State (6-2, 2-1) extended its home winning streak to 20 with a rout of Northwestern (La.) State (3-5, 0-3).
After scoring just a field goal on its first four drives, Sam Houston scored touchdowns on each of its next six possessions to break open a game that was tied 3-3 midway through the second quarter.
Timothy Flanders began the string of touchdowns with a 7-yard scoring run. Bell then tossed touchdown passes on three consecutive drives, connecting with Richard Sincere for a 17-yard score, with Torrance Williams for a 44-yarder and with Chance Nelson for a 9-yarder. Bell then ran for an 18-yard score and Steven Hicks added a 2-yard touchdown run on the following drive.
SE LOUISIANA 56, LAMAR 34
HAMMOND, La. - Bryan Bennett threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 95 yards to lead Southeastern Louisiana (6-2, 3-0) past Lamar.
Lamar (3-5, 0-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Caleb Berry scoring passes of 40 yards to Mark Roberts and 19 yards to Michael Handy.
The Lions quickly regrouped and scored the next four touchdowns to lead 28-14 at halftime. They also scored on their first possession of the second half when Bennett hit Marquis Fruge on a 31-yard scoring strike. Rasheed Harrell scored on a 27-yard run to put the Lions ahead 42-14 in the third.
MCNEESE STATE 55, NICHOLLS STATE 30
THIBODAUX, La. - Dylan Long and Marcus Wiltz each had two rushing touchdowns to help McNeese State (7-1, 3-0) put away Nicholls State (4-4, 1-2).
Wiltz finished with 98 yards rushing on 14 carries. Kelvin Bennett ran for 169 yards on 13 attempts.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Sam Houston St. 44, NW (La.) State 10 Central Arkansas 66, Stephen F. Austin 31 McNeese State 55, Nicholls State 30 Southeastern Louisiana 56, Lamar 34 New Mexico St. 34, Abilene Christian 29
Sports, Pages 30 on 10/27/2013