Bears bathe after clinching Southland title, playoff bid
CONWAY — As the clock ticked down on their 35-14 victory over Northwestern (La.) State on Saturday night, several Central Arkansas players conspired to pour a bucket of orange drink on Coach Clint Conque and strength and conditioning coach Henry Briscoe.
The Gatorade bath, instigated by senior receiver Jesse Grandy and junior defensive back Jestin Love, isn’t how the Bears normally celebrate victory, but earning a share of the Southland Conference title and an automatic berth to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs was deemed as a special occasion as a homecoming crowd of 11,579 watched at Estes Stadium.
“The thing that I’m proud of, whatever benchmark we’ve set for our program, we’ve been able to achieve it,” Conque said. “We’re happy to represent the conference. But just talking to our young men after the game, they’re going to enjoy this, but this could be a really special team. They have aspirations of doing a little bit more.”
Junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers completed 18 of 27 passes for 225 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for 97 yards and 1 touchdown. Senior receiver Dominique Croom caught 3 passes for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns, both in the second quarter.
Conque will lead the Bears (8-2, 6-1 Southland), who have won five consecutive, to their second consecutive FCS playoff appearance. This year, they’ll likely get to play at least one playoff game at
Estes Stadium, where they are 11-0 dating to 2010.
The Bears can earn the outright conference title if Sam Houston State loses to Northwestern State on Saturday. But with the Bears’ head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bearkats (a 24-20 victory Sept. 22 at home), they have the Southland’s automatic FCS berth in hand.
UCA led 21-14 with 15 seconds remaining in the first half when Croom caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Smothers between two Northwestern State defenders to stretch the Bears’ lead to 28-14, providing a momentum shift for UCA, which held the Demons to 77 yards in the second half.
“It was actually a great catch,” Smothers said. “I [saw] that he had one-on-one backside. My thought was I wanted to throw it to him, but I didn’t want to throw it too far. I threw it too short and he came back. I don’t know how he caught the ball. I’m just glad he had it. It wasn’t a great ball, but he happened to come down with it.”
Grandy’s 61-yard punt return touchdown was called back because of a penalty, but UCA responded with a 20-yard touchdown from Smothers to senior receiver Brett Soft for a 7-0 lead with 11:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Northwestern State responded with a 17-play, 85yard drive that was capped by quarterback Brad Henderson’s 3-yard run that tied the game at 7-7.
UCA came right back as Smothers bounced off a defender and ran 57 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-7 Bears with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter.
“I just ran and put my head down,” Smothers said. “I’m no bruiser-type of person. I was still up. I guess he didn’t hit me that hard. I just kept running.”
UCA linebacker Seth Allison recovered a Demon fumble and the Bears took advantage, with Smothers hitting Croom for a 33-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-7.
Henderson scored his second touchdown of the half, a 1-yard run, to pull the Demons within 21-14.
UCA added another score in the third quarter when Smothers connected with sophomore receiver Dezmin Lewis on a 42-yard touchdown pass as Lewis fell in the end zone.
Henderson finished 18 of 35 passing for 177 yards and had 65 rushing yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns for the Demons (4-5, 2-3).
The Bears are off next Saturday before hosting Eastern Illinois of the Ohio Valley Conference in their regularseason finale Nov. 17. With the FCS playoff bracket being released Nov. 18, the Eastern Illinois game may be crucial for seeding purposes, whether UCA hosts a first-round game or receives a bye into the second round.
Conque said he believes that the open date couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It’s huge. Déjà vu from last year,” Conque said. “We had to play 10 straight, 14 consecutive weeks of ball without a break. Our young men rose up to that challenge. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do as a coaching staff.
“This should motivate them to push forward and press on to other goals that we’ve set as an organization.” SAM HOUSTON STATE 70, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 0
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Tim Flanders and Keshawn Hill led the rush as Sam Houston State dominated Southeastern Louisiana.
Flanders rushed for 146 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown run. After a lightning delay of over an hour at the start of the third quarter, Flanders had a 71-yard touchdown run. Hill rushed for 132 yards, with two touchdowns, including a 55-yarder. Richard Sincere, Ryan Wilson and Chris Grett rushed for touchdowns, and Kenneth Jenkins returned a blocked field goal to score. The Bearkats had 405 yards rushing.
Brian Bell was 8 of 9 for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns — a 70-yard pass to Chance Nelson and a 23-yard pass to Torrance Williams.
Nathan Stanley was 11 of 27 for 106 yards for the Lions (3-6, 3-2). Xavier Roberson had eight carries for 22 yards.
The Bearkats (7-2, 5-1) set a record, scoring its most points in a Southland Conference game. MCNEESE STATE 42, NICHOLLS STATE 10
THIBODAUX, La. — Cody Stroud threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns, and McNeese State’s balanced attack overwhelmed Nicholls State.
The Cowboys (6-3, 3-3 Southland), who led 21-3 at halftime and built a 35-3 advantage in the fourth quarter, also rang up 276 yards rushing for an offensive output of 550 yards.
Darius Carey led the Cowboys’ receiver corps — eight players caught at least one pass — with six catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. The Colonels (1-7, 0-5) totaled 375 yards. Landry Klann passed for 177 yards for Nicholls State, but he threw two interceptions. Backup Beaux Hebert also threw two interceptions.
Dalton Hilliard Jr. scored Nicholls State’s touchdown on a 10-yard run, his only carry of the game. The Colonels have lost 12 consecutive conference games.