Early edge not enough for UCA

Bears lead 14-0, but give up 31 consecutive

Central Arkansas running back Antwon Wells (center) squeezes by three Eastern Washington defenders for a touchdown in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. Eastern Washington overcame a 14-point defi cit to beat the Bears 31-14.
Central Arkansas running back Antwon Wells (center) squeezes by three Eastern Washington defenders for a touchdown in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash. Eastern Washington overcame a 14-point defi cit to beat the Bears 31-14.

CHENEY, Wash. -- The fourth-down pass fell to the bright red turf and Hayden Hildebrand hung his head as he trotted to the Central Arkansas sideline.

There was still time left on the clock at Roos Field, but UCA's last real chance to threaten No. 2 Eastern Washington had just ended in a game in which it played with one of the Football Championship Subdivision's top teams for almost a full four quarters.

Rather than an upset that was made possible by its defense, UCA fell 31-14 in its second trip to the second round of the FCS playoffs when its offense couldn't take advantage of its opportunities.

"Bitterly disappointing to us," UCA Coach Steve Campbell said. "Because we felt like we had opportunities today."

The Bears (10-3) were forced to defend 100 plays while giving up 531 yards to the Eagles (11-1), who advanced to the FCS quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years. While giving up yards, the Bears were stingy on points, holding twice on downs, forcing three punts and a missed field goal, they held them to a season-low point total.

With chances to keep up, UCA was held to a season-low 244 yards, and to just 24 yards rushing in the second half. Carlos Blackman and Antwon Wells scored on second-quarter touchdown runs to take a 14-0 lead in front of an announced crowd of 6,065, but Eastern Washington's defense, considered the weaker of its two units, tightened up after that.

The Eagles held the Bears scoreless after Wells' 2-yard run with 9:49 left in the first half, and at one point forced five consecutive punts. Wells had 89 yards, but the Bears had 129 yards rushing as a team.

"Our defense has just grown so much," Eastern Washington Coach Beau Baldwin said. "They keep playing great football."

It was a successful compliment to Eastern Washington's offense, which took advantage of what Campbell described as a "softer zone" from UCA's defense.

Led by Gage Gubrud, who completed a school record 47 of 64 for 449 yards and 2 touchdowns, both in the second quarter to Cooper Kupp. Kupp, last year's Walter Payton Award winner, didn't play in the second half with a shoulder injury after catching 10 passes for 95 yards in the first. The Eagles, third in the FCS in scoring, were left with plenty of weapons.

Kendrick Bourne caught 13 passes for 126 yards, and Shaq Hill caught 7 passes for 63 yards and capped the game with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:18 left, the only second-half touchdown allowed by the UCA defense.

"We wanted to get to the quarterback," said linebacker Chris Chambers, who had one of UCA's three sacks. "But when the quarterback is running around completing balls [it's hard]."

Two special teams plays helped turn momentum, too.

Gubrud capped a 94-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7 in the second quarter. Then UCA's Dwayne Smith fumbled the kickoff to put Eastern Washington on the UCA 22 and three players later Gubrud lofted a pass to Kupp, who came down with the 19-yard touchdown.

On the next drive, UCA looked to have gotten a stop when Reilly Hennessy popped up from his holder position on a field-goal attempt to throw a pass to tight end Zach Wimberly. Garrett Sharp looked to have stopped Wimberly short, but he let him go and Wimberly converted the first down. Three plays later Gubrud found Kupp, this time on a 6-yard slant that made it 21-14.

"We had a guy there," Campbell said. "We weren't fooled, we've just got to wrap up."

UCA's defense did what it could in the second half, giving up yards, but not surrendering points that would have put the game out of reach.

Eastern Washington missed a field goal in the third quarter, then Roldan Alcobendas made a 20-yard field goal to make it 24-14 entering the fourth.

The Bears then forced three consecutive punts, giving their offense a chance to stay in it. But, the Eagles answered with forced punts each time, before Hildebrand's fourth-and-7 incomplete pass with 5:23 left ended its last real chance.

"That's what, the best offense in the nation right now?" Hildebrand said. "We held them to 30 points, and it sucks to sit here and say that when we lost. ... You can't ask for much more. With a team like that you've got to get up and stay up and put them away."

It was hard to do when Eastern Washington eventually slowed UCA's running game. Campbell thought the Bears could run on a defense that allowed 206.5 rushing yards per game. The strategy produced a 14-0 lead, but it didn't carry over to the second half, as UCA's season ended one victory short of what would have been its third 11-victory season.

"I'm sure they wish they knew why people could run the football on them early and then they rev it up a coupe of notches," Campbell said. "They did that. We had some opportunities, we just needed to take advantage of them."

Sports on 12/04/2016

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