Freshman QB Ward leads Cardinals in rout

Freshman quarterback Cameron Ward threw for four touchdowns in his first college start as UIW rolled to a 48-20 win in its season opener against McNeese State on Saturday at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La.

Ward completed 24 of 35 passes for 306 yards, helping UIW build a 31-3 halftime lead. He hit Caleb Ducross out of the backfield for a 35-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1, connected with Darion Chafin on a 56-yard scoring bomb down the right sideline, and floated a 27-yard touchdown toss to Jaelin Campbell.

UIW moves to 1-0 in the sixgame spring Southland Conference season and will travel to face Lamar at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Cardinals also reached the end zone on a 101-yard kickoff return from Ce’Cori Tolds after he hurdled through a pack of defenders, made a quick cut toward the middle of the field and then broke free up the right sideline.

McNeese (1-1, 0-1 Southland), led by former UTSA coach Frank Wilson, scored its first touchdown of the game late in the third quarter to cut UIW’s lead to 31-10, but the Cardinals rebuild the cushion early in the fourth. Ward scrambled to his right and threw across his body to Roger McCuller in the back of the left side of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 41-10.

Kevin Brown paced UIW on the ground with 10 carries for 117 yards, while Campbell led the Cardinals receivers with six grabs for 93 yards.

Chafin finished with three catches for 70 yards as UIW gained 518 yards of total offense.

Linebacker Kelechi Anyalebechi posted a team-high nine tackles, and defensive end Chance Main notched two sacks. The Cardinals forced the Cowboys to punt on eight of their first of 10 drives.

Ward, a freshman from Columbia, played in a wing-T offense in high school but was praised by UIW coach Eric Morris at the time of his signing in February 2020 for boasting the strongest passing arm on the Cardinals’ roster.

Also a basketball standout in high school, Ward showed off his athleticism at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, scrambling around the pocket and unleashing passes from a variety of arm angles.

Ward was competing with sophomore Kevin Yeager through the past few months of practice as UIW searched for a new starter following Jon Copeland’s decision to enter the transfer portal before his junior season.

In just two years at UIW, Copeland became the second-leading passer in program history with 6,325 yards, setting program records for touchdown passes (44), single-season passing yards (3,341), and single-season passing touchdowns (22).