16 Oct 2024 Bears hold off Wolves to improve to 5-2

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Bears did just enough to hold off the West Georgia Wolves 34-33 in United Athletic Conference action on Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The No. 12/13 Bears had a 34-10 lead after a Darius Hale 1-yard touchdown run with 11:37 left in the third quarter. The Wolves (1-5, 0-5) then reeled off the final 23 points of the game to put a scare in the Bears. UWG got a four-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Casey to Dylan Gary with 27 seconds remaining to close it to 34-33.

The Wolves chose to go for the win but UCA cornerback T.D. Williams knocked away a pass to the right corner of the end zone to seal the win.

UCA won despite a season-low 361 yards of total offense. The Wolves ran a whopping 96 plays for 562 yards of offense, with 418 passing yards. Two receivers topped 100 yards for UWG, led by Gary with 12 catches for 138 yards and Karmello English with 9 for 143.

UCA got first-half touchdowns from junior Tyion Berry on a 15-yard pass from Will McElvain, ShunDerrick Powell on a 19-yard run and a huge 89-yard pick six from sophomore safety Dillon Williams with just 10 seconds left in the half. That interception return for a touchdown was UCA’s first since the 2021 season and gave the Bears a 21-10 halftime lead.

The Bears opened the second half with a five-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 48-yard catch and run by sophomore Arlie Lee, his first career touchdown, that gave the Bears a 27-10 cushion at the 13:28 mark of the third period.

Hale finished off UCA’s next drive with his short burst, set up by a nifty 89-yard run up the middle by Powell down to the UWG 1. From there, the Wolves got a field goal from Chance Gagnon, a 6-yard touchdown pass from Casey to Cedric Seabrough, a 24-yarder to Gary and the final four-yarder in the final seconds. UWG’s final drive was aided by two UCA penalties that kept the drive alive.

UCA was forced to punt on its final five possessions until they took over with 25 seconds left after Jalen Hodo recovered UWG’s onside kick.

McElvain, a senior who has surpassed 10,000 career passing yards at Northern Iowa and UCA, completed 19 of 31 passes for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Powell rushed 19 times for 140 yards and had seven receptions for 16 yards. Berry caught a career-high 5 passes for 67 yards and his second touchdown of the season. Trejan Bridges had three catches for 67 yards.

Defensively, senior safety TaMuarion Wilson had a team-high 13 tackles and a forced fumble, while junior linebacker Jace Benesch had 11 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. UCA totaled three sacks, by Williams, Sam Horton and a combined sack by Bradley Clark and Buck Cobbs.

UCA has its only open date of the season this week before hosting North Alabama for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 26.