The UCA football team picked up its sixth win of the season against the University of North Alabama on Oct. 26, 24-19.
Coach Nathan Brown said the bottom line is “a win is a win.”
“We knew we were playing a team coming off of a top 10 win against Abilene and winners of three straight, ” Brown said.
UNA (3-6, UAC 3-2) would get the ball first, and after a third down for the Lions, a pass from redshirt senior quarterback TJ Smith was completed to redshirt senior wide receiver Dakota Warfield for a 21-yard gain. Two plays later, on a third down and two, Smith was sacked for a loss of 12 by senior linebacker David Walker. That was Walker’s single sack of the night and his seventh of the season.
Walker surpassed UCA alum defensive end Jonathan Woodard for tackles for losses in a career at UCA, making him the new school record holder, with 54.5.
Brown described Walker as “invaluable” and said he is “the best player in division one FCS [Football Championship Subdivision] football, and I don’t think it is close.”
“I love the records, ” Walker said. “But it is a team thing, and if they do their job, I do my job.”
No team would score until late in the first quarter when UCA senior kicker Jake Gaster made a field goal from 30 yards, making the score 3-0 Bears.
After a drive that ended in a punt by the Lions, UCA (6-2, UAC 3-1) got the ball back with 14 minutes left in the second quarter. A pass on third down was incomplete by senior quarterback Will McElvain, but a pass interference was called on UNA, leading to an automatic first down for the Bears. UCA got another reception complete to senior receiver Trejan Bridges, and immediately after, a touchdown pass was completed to junior tight end Jordan Owens. After the point-after kick, the score was 10-0 Bears.
North Alabama set itself up in a position to score after an 82-yard punt return by redshirt junior receiver Justin Luke.
Two plays later, freshman running back Jalen Fletcher scored the first touchdown of the game for the Lions on an 8-yard rush.
The point-after kick made the score 10-7 UCA.
After the Bears went three and out on their next drive, the Lions struck again with an 11-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Tanaka Scott, giving UNA its first lead of the game with five minutes left in the second quarter. The halftime score was 13-10 UNA.
Brown changed his shirt during halftime because the team was down. “I’m the most weird superstitious person in the world, ” Brown said. “We won the second half, we won the game. So my sickness of superstition is going to continue because in my sick head, it worked.”
Nobody would score again until the third quarter when McElvain completed a 21-yard pass to redshirt freshman receiver Malachi Henry, putting the Bears back on top, 17-13 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
The next score of the game was another Henry touchdown reception, this one going for 69 yards down the sideline. This made the score 24-13 UCA with 14 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Lions’ next drive wouldn’t last long as Walker forced and recovered a fumble and then proceeded to hurdle a UNA player for a three-yard gain.
The Lions would score one more time, but it wouldn’t be enough to seal a victory. UCA would hold on for a 24-19 win.
Henry was the leading offensive player for the Bears, picking up 90 yards on two touchdowns.
“Will talks to us all the time about coming back to the ball, “ Henry said. “That’s receiver one-on-one, you want to beat the DB [defensive back] to the ball and make the defender miss, and that’s what happened.”
UCA will be on the road against Utah Tech (0-9, UAC 0-5) at 3 p.m. on Nov. 2.