CONWAY — Hints of a rout came early and grew more pronounced with each passing minute.
The Central Arkansas Bears blew out the Houston Baptist Huskies 56-13 at Estes Stadium on Thursday night in the season-opener for both teams.
“I think our defense came out and really set a tone early,” UCA Coach Steve Campbell said. “Those front guys really set a tempo and created a new line of scrimmage.”
UCA’s defense held Houston Baptist to 242 yards, and it stopped the Huskies for losses on 15 plays.
UCA’s offense scored on three of its first four possessions on a 3-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand to senior receiver Desmond Smith; a 14-yard run by senior running back Kelton Warren; and a 1-yard sneak by Hildebrand.
“Their skill kids on offense are exceptional, and they’re very good on defense,” Houston Baptist Coach Vic Shealy said. “If they keep playing like they did tonight, I’m sure they’ll be at the top of the league.”
Houston Baptist’s first scoring opportunity — a 54-yard field-goal attempt by Alec Chadwick — turned into another touchdown for the Bears. Junior George Odum blocked the kick, and senior Tyler Williams scooped the free ball and returned it 46 yards to give UCA a 28-0 lead with 12:17 left in the second quarter.
A 37-yard touchdown pass from Hildebrand to junior receiver Brandon Cox and a 2-yard fumble return by senior defensive back Devin Spurlock pushed UCA’s lead to 42-0 with six minutes left before halftime. It was 42-3 at the half.
Hildebrand completed 17 of 21 passes for 238 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed 3 times for 52 yards and another touchdown. Freshman running back Carlos Blackman rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries, all in the second half.
UCA 56, HOUSTON BAPTIST 13
“I have to give a lot of credit to the people around me, particularly the offensive line,” Hildebrand said. “I think I only hit the ground one time tonight. Our defense played well, and our receivers made good catches. When everyone around me plays well, it makes it easier on me.”
Chadwick’s 26-yard field goal put Houston Baptist (0-1, 0-1) on the scoreboard with 3:34 left in the second quarter as the Huskies. The spark continued on the Huskies’ final first-half possession but was stopped after moving 45 yards. On the seventh play of the drive, UCA senior defensive lineman Dawson Hadnot sacked senior quarterback Tony Dawson for a 5-yard loss on fourth down to end the Huskies’ scoring bid at the UCA 12.
“We just wanted to show dominance, period, as far as playing hard and physical,” Hadnot said. “We wanted to play physical, so that when people see us on film, we want them to have to think about that.”
A 44-yard pass from Hildebrand to Smith set up senior running back Antwon Wells’ 2-yard touchdown run with 9:09 left in the third quarter.
Chadwick’s 32-yard field goal on the Huskies’ subsequent possession cut UCA’s lead to 49-6, but UCA freshman Keshawn Ledet extended it to 56-6 after his 13-yard touchdown run with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
Houston Baptist capped the scoring with a a 31-yard touchdown from junior quarterback Max Staver to sophomore David Racine midway through the fourth quarter.
UCA’s victory improved its series record against Houston Baptist to 3-0. The Bears have won those by a combined score of 169-20.
“This was a tough bunch to open up with, but we’ll go to work, and we have a lot of things to work on,” Shealy said. “But we know we just played a playoff-caliber team.”
“What we have to do is take care of business, one week at a time,” Campbell said. “All we have to do is keep getting better. I’m real proud of our guys tonight, but there’s still some things we need to work on.”
Sports on 09/02/2016