Bears emerge victorious from Southland seesaw

UCA 31, ABILENE CHRISTIAN 30

CONWAY — Control flipflopped throughout, but finally landed with the University of Central Arkansas in its 31-30 victory over Abilene Christian at Estes Stadium on Saturday night in the Bears’ Southland Conference opener.

Trailing by six points with 5:23 left, UCA followed passes of 23 and 35 yards from sophomore quarterback Breylin Smith to sophomore receiver Lujuan Winningham to a 3-yard touchdown run by senior running back Carlos Blackman with 1:30 remaining.

Abilene Christian sophomore kicker Blair Zepeda’s 46-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right with 30 seconds left, and Smith took a knee to run out the clock.

ACU held a slight edge through the first half but seemed to take command when a 13-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tracy James gave it a 17-9 lead with 3:29 left in the third quarter.

UCA, which had failed to score a touchdown in four previous trips inside ACU’s 20, drove 70 yards on 11 plays, highlighted by Smith’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Blackman with 14:54 left in the fourth quarter. Freshman BeSean McCray ran in the two-point conversion to tie the score.

ACU retook the lead on its next possession with Zepeda’s 51-yard field goal, and built on it when junior quarterback Luke Brown’s 20-yard touchdown pass to senior back Tyrese Miles gave it a 27-17 lead with 11:07 to play.

UCA responded with a three-play drive capped by Smith’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Winningham to cut ACU’s lead to 27-24 with 10:09 left.

An ACU punt was followed by a fumble from Smith that gave ACU possession at UCA’s 19. Zepeda’s 33-yard field goal gave ACU a 30-24 lead with 5:28 left.

The game began with an exchange of four punts before ACU completed a 57-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tracy James with 1:11 left in the first quarter.

UCA responded with an 80-yard kickoff return by freshman Cameron Myers, followed by an 11-yard pass from Smith on first down that put UCA at first and goal from the ACU 8. Three plays, including a dropped pass in the end zone by Winningham, put UCA at fourth and goal from the 3, and Hayden Ray’s 21-yard field goal cut ACU’s lead to 7-3.

On ACU’s following drive, A fumble by sophomore quarterback Sema’J Davis was recovered by sophomore nose guard Caden Brown at the ACU 19.

Three plays later, including a dropped pass near the 5 by junior receiver Dwight Blakey, left UCA with a fourth down from the 19. Ray’s 37-yard field goal put UCA within 7-6 with 10:50 left in the second quarter.

UCA’s next possession began at the ACU 23. Behind passes of 15 yards to Blackman and 19 yards to freshman Tyler Hudson, UCA had possession at the ACU 8. On first and goal from the 8, Smith was intercepted by junior linebacker Jack Gibbens.

ACU followed with a drive to UCA’s 25 and increased its lead to 10-6 on Zepeda’s 42-yard field goal.

UCA’s final first-half drive covered 70 yards, and included five passes from Smith to Blackman for a total of 33 yards, but was stalled at the 5 and concluded by Ray’s 23-yard field goal that pulled UCA within 10-9 with 15 seconds before halftime.