University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach Doc Gamble said he hopes to have kicker Zack Piwniczka back in action for Thursday’s game at Prairie View A&M University (6:30 p.m. on ESPNU) after the redshirt junior was injured in last Thursday’s home loss to Alcorn State University.
Gamble said after Alcorn State’s come-from-behind, 39-38 victory that Piwniczka, of San Tan Valley, Ariz., was injured on a muffed extra point attempt late in the second quarter, but did not describe the extent of the injury. Without another placekicker on the team, Piwniczka’s loss kept UAPB (1-2, 0-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) from attempting a field goal with the ball at the Alcorn State 6 on a third-quarter drive.
With Dollarway High School graduate Kavareous Lowe returning a kickoff 63 yards to the Alcorn State 3, running Daniel Ingram was stuffed for a 3-yard loss and quarterback Skyler Perry threw three incompletions.
“No. 1, we didn’t get it done,” Gamble said, lamenting the Golden Lions blowing a 26-7 halftime lead that was also a 32-13 edge with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
“We didn’t finish,” he added. “It’s a testament of playing a good, well-coached Alcorn State football team. Very tough. They didn’t flinch. We played well for 3½ quarters.” Gamble said he held kicker tryouts with two UAPB women’s soccer players at a recent practice.
“It’s two of them who can kick it pretty good,” Gamble said. “Our soccer coach, Coach [Erik] Solberg, was real good about it. He said, ‘I hope you never have to use them.’ I said, ‘I hope so, too.’” If Piwniczka — who is 5 for 5 in field goals and 8 for 10 in extra points this season — cannot play, punter Josh Sanchez will have to take over place kicking duties. Sanchez was named SWAC Specialist of the Week after the Sept. 18 loss at the University of Central Arkansas.
“He’s a punter, not a kicker,” Gamble said of Sanchez. “Both players are two different guys. As coaches, we’ve got to make sure we put our players in position to be successful. Somebody wanted us to run Josh out there to kick a field goal. Well, if you’ve ever been to one of our practices, Josh is probably 1 for 50, so I couldn’t do him like that.” At the end of the day, Gamble stressed, the Golden Lions will need to play defense and make key stops.
“I hope Zack will be back, but I told Josh, in front of the team, we all know Josh is not our placekicker, but if he has to get it done, he’s going to have to get it done,” Gamble said. “He’ll have to get some extra work in, bottom line. We’ll have a plan, going forward, and we’ll make it work.”
FIRST LOOK AT PANTHERS
Prairie View (3-1, 2-0 SWAC) has won two straight following Saturday’s 24-10 win over Grambling State University in the State Fair Classic at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl.
Quarterback Jawon Pass threw for 201 yards and two touchdown passes in the win. Five different running backs combined to rush 52 times for 208 yards, each of the rushers gaining double-digit yardage.
The Panthers began the season beating greater Houston rival Texas Southern University and then weathered a 31-point loss to the University of the Incarnate Word before topping Houston Baptist University.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Alcorn State quarterback Felix Harper was named SWAC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 16 of 32 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns against UAPB. Alcorn State strong safety Keyron Kinsler, who forced a fumble and recovered one in addition to collecting 12 tackles, won the Defensive Player of the Week honor.
BOXTOROW POLL
UAPB dropped four spots to No. 8 in the BOXTOROW HBCU Championship Subdivision Coaches’ poll and four spots to No. 7 in the multi-division BOXTOROW Media Poll.
The top six are the same in both polls, with the exception of Southern University tying for No. 6 in the coaches’ poll: from first through sixth, Alabama A&M University (3-0), Jackson State University (3-1), North Carolina A&T State University (1-2), Prairie View, Alcorn State (2-2), and Florida A&M University (1-2). South Carolina State (0-3) and North Carolina Central (2-2) universities rank ninth and 10th by the coaches. Southern (2-2), N.C. Central and Bowie State (3-1) round out the top 10 in the media poll.