Photo GalleryHOUSTON – HBU set a school record with 314 passing yards, but Central Arkansas used a balanced attack to outgain the Huskies by an even 200 yards in a 43-7 victory in Southland Conference football Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
Quarterback
Max Staver completed 22-of-40 passes for 276 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions for HBU (2-4, 0-3 SLC), setting school records for completions, attempts and yards. Wide receiver
Wesley Lewis set a school record with 90 receiving yards on four catches.
D'Angelo Wallace set the Huskies' single-game record with nine receptions for 72 yards, while
Ricardo Barnett caught five passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Entering the game, HBU ranked 24
th in the nation with 212.0 rushing yards per game, but the Huskies were held to minus-nine yards on the ground.
B.J. Kelly was held to 13 yards on seven carries, while
Terrance Peters was held to four yards on eight carries.
Linebacker
Cody Moncure led the Huskies with 11 tackles, while safeties
Taylor Thompson and
La'Travien Gee and linebacker
Garrett Dolan each had eight.
Hayden Hildebrand completed 19-of-24 passes for 274 yards, four touchdowns and an interception for UCA (3-2, 3-0). Dominique Thomas rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown and caught another, while Desmond Smith caught four passes for 78 yards for the Bears. Blake Veasley caught a pair of touchdown passes.
Dillion Winfrey and Tremon Smith each made six tackles for the Bears, with Smith adding an interception. Tyler Williams also made an interception and Derek Floyd recorded a pair of sacks for a UCA defense that had six for the game.
UCA gained 505 yards, 304 passing and 201 rushing, while HBU totaled 305 yards of offense.
On UCA's second drive, Hildebrand completed a 39-yard pass to Jatavious Wilson down to the HBU 12, then Thomas caught a six-yard pass for a touchdown. The Bears tried a two-point conversion, but the Huskies intercepted the pass.
On HBU's ensuing possession, the Huskies drove into UCA territory, but stalled at the 47. Brandon Cox then returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown to put the Bears ahead, 13-0, with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Hildebrand hit Smith for a 38-yard gain to the HBU 3, before Thomas ran it in from three yards out. The extra point hit the upright and missed, as UCA led 19-0. HBU moved the ball effectively on its next drive, going 45 yards on nine plays, but could only get to the 30, before
Travis Shinn had a 48-yard field goal attempt blocked.
HBU stuffed UCA on fourth-and-one, then took over near midfield. Staver completed a pair of passes to Wallace and three to Barnett on a six-play, 51-yard drive. A 15-yard completion to Barnett, led to an 18-yard touchdown strike to the 6-5 target to cut the deficit to 19-7 with 2:26 left in the opening half.
The Bears quickly drove down the field and Hildebrand's 19-yard completion to Tyler Williams led to Veasley's six-yard TD reception, giving UCA a 26-7 lead heading into the break.
After stopping the Huskies' opening drive of the second half, the Bears went on a nine-play, 72-yard drive, capped by Hildebrand's 11-yard touchdown to Veasley.
The Huskies drove from their own 8-yard line all the way to the Bears' 8, which included a 19-yard rush for a first down on a fake by punter
Christian Guzman. Staver completed a 18-yard pass to Barnett, a seven-yarder to Wallces and an eight-yard pass to Lewis, but was picked off in the endzone by Williams as time expired in the third quarter.
Linebacker
Taylor Holmes intercepted Hildebrand in the fourth quarter, but fumbled the ball, which was recovered by UCA. The Bears then scored a touchdown on a 12-yard reception by Roman Gordon from Hildebrand. They added a 22-yard field goal by Jace Denker for the games final margin.
The Huskies will hit the road next week to face Nicholls Saturday at 3 p.m. at Guidry Stadium in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
