MONTICELLO -- The University of Arkansas at Monticello football team held off Southern Nazarene University for a 30-23 season-opening victory at Convoy Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium on Thursday night.
Demilon Brown had the offense clicking early to help UAM build a 30-7 lead at the half. But then, the defense was forced to step up to secure the victory. Kaytron Allen batted the ball away on fourth-down deep pass with under a minute left in the game.
The Boll Weevils struck first on their second drive of the first quarter when Brown found LaCedric Smith deep down the right side for a 39-yard touchdown.
Defensively, UAM stifled the SNU offense holding them scoreless and forcing three three-and-outs before Brown and the offense struck again. The Weevils started the second quarter rolling down the field inside the 10-yard line. UAM wasted no time punching it into the end zone on the first play of the quarter as Brown rushed around the end for the score to put the Weevils up 14-0.
The Crimson Storm managed to respond on the next drive when Gage Porter took a quarterback keeper into the end zone for a touchdown.
UAM and the offense went back on the attack quickly to close the first half scoring on three consecutive drives.
After Cole Crenshaw punched through a 40-yard field goal, Justin Legier forced a fumble recovered by Bryce Anthony on the ensuing kick return. Two plays later Brown connected with DeAndre Washington for a 5-yard score pushing the lead up to 23-7.
On the next drive for the Weevils, Brown found Washington again in the red zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Both teams traded scoreless possessions throughout the third quarter until SNU flipped the script a bit in the fourth and began to find the end zone. The Crimson Storm scored on back-to-back drives in the final quarter to cut the UAM lead to 30-23 with less than 7 minutes to play.
The Weevils put together a solid drive to eat away at the clock, but fell inches shy of converting a fourth down in the red zone to keep the drive alive.
With less than 4 minutes left in the contest, the UAM defense stepped up to the task. SNU pushed the ball into UAM territory before the Weevils forced three straight incompletions, including a clutch pass breakup by Allen on fourth-and-9 to shut down the drive.
The Weevils hit the road to face Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee on Sept. 11. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.