CONWAY -- Two plays made the difference for the Central Arkansas Bears.
A touchdown on a pass caught by an unintended receiver gave UCA its first lead, and a turnover that led to another touchdown gave UCA a two-score advantage in what would become a 24-10 victory over the Northwestern (La.) State Demons at Estes Stadium on Saturday night.
On its third possession, UCA (2-1, 2-0 Southland) faced fourth and 1 at its 49 early in the second quarter. Junior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand dropped back to pass, was forced from the pocket, and scrambled to his right before he attempted to throw to receiver Desmond Howard. Apparently no one told Jatavious Wilson, who said he thought the pass was for him. Wilson leapt for the ball, made the catch and raced 49 yards to the end zone to give UCA a 7-0 lead with 14:11 left before halftime.
"I was looking further down field," Hildebrand said. "Luckily, Jatavious was in a good spot. He jumped up and got it and took care of the rest."
Wilson led all receivers with five catches for 72 yards. He said he thought Hildebrand was looking at him.
"I never saw Desmond behind me," Wilson said. "I saw the ball in the air, and I just attacked it."
"Sometimes you have to have that to get you going," UCA Coach Steve Campbell said. "Sometimes you just need to have a guy make a play for you. That was definitely a huge play for us."
UCA's next drive featured three third-down conversions, including third-and-goal from the 5 when Hildebrand threw for a touchdown to Smith, whose diving catch behind cornerback Justin Barnes gave the Bears a 14-0 lead.
Northwestern State (0-3, 0-2) responded with two big plays, the first a 52-yard run by senior running back Chris Jones, and the second a 23-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Joel Blumenthal to senior receiver Shakeir Ryan with 4:46 left in the first half.
"Overall, I was pleased with our effort," Northwestern State Coach Jay Thomas said.
UCA took advantage of Northwestern State's first turnover at the start of the second half.
A fumble by Northwestern State receiver Tuff McClain was forced and recovered by seniors Tyler Williams and Roy Sutton, respectively. Williams' 14-yard return put UCA at the Demons' 35 with 12:57 left in the third quarter.
"I really wanted a pick on the play," Williams said. "After that, I was just trying to make a play to give us an opportunity to get the ball back."
"That turnover was huge for us," Campbell said.
UCA took five plays to advance to the 12. From there, on third and 3, Hildebrand was again forced from the pocket, but this time he rolled to his left into open field and kept it for a touchdown to give UCA a 21-7 lead with 9:55 left in the third quarter.
Sophomore Matt Cummins' 33-yard field put UCA up 24-7 on its next possession.
Northwestern State responded with a 44-yard field by Eric Piccione that completed the scoring with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter.
UCA was limited to 136 passing yards, but 227 yards on the ground gave the Bears a nine-minute advantage in time of possession.
Senior running back Antwon Wells led UCA with 129 yards on 25 carries. He had 45 yards in UCA's first two games. Last season, his first at UCA, he carried once for 2 yards.
"I knew that Antwon was due to break out," Campbell said. "He's too good of a football player. He works so hard and does the right things."
"I felt like I had to do what I did when they called my number," Wells said. "I was just trying to help us get a win."
Sports on 09/18/2016