Dominating running duo easily lifts Bears past Austin Peay

CONWAY, Ark. — Last year’s matchup with Austin Peay was essentially for the UAC title. Saturday night’s 45-17 win by Central Arkansas on The Stripes may not be that big, but don’t tell Darius Hale and ShunDerrick Powell.

What is becoming a big-time double dose of trouble for opponents combined for 318 yards rushing to open league play on First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The senior duo of Darius Hale and ShunDerrick Powell had two rushing touchdowns apiece, with Powell carrying 22 times for 173 yards (7.9 yards per carry) and Hale going for 145 yards on 14 carries (10.4 per carry). UCA finished with 427 yards of total offense and averaged 7.0 yards per play.

“ShunDerrick had a down night, he only averaged eight yards a carry,” UCA coach Nathan Brown was joking after the game. “Darius averaged 10 and a half. Shame on us if we’re not (getting them the ball), right? We’ve got a chance to be really good, but we’ve got to continue to get those two horses involved, because when you get the ball in 27’s hands, or you get the ball in 4’s hands — and they complement each other so well — good things happen.”

ShunDerrick Powell | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images

After settling for a 3-3 tie after the first quarter, UCA (2-1, 1-0) got the spark it needed with a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown from senior Trejan Bridges on the second play of the second quarter that fueled a 42-14 run for the Bears.

After Austin Peay (0-3, 0-1) tied it at 10-10, UCA scored the next 28 points, including touchdowns runs of 51 and 4 yards by Hale, and 11 and 63 yards by Powell on four straight possessions. Powell also added a 12-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Will McElvain among his four catches for 37 yards.

“Proud of our guys,” said Brown. “You have your home opener, third game of the season, coming off a 21-point win. Our challenge last Sunday was how much can we improve off a 21-point win.

“That’s the challenge as a good team. Right now we are, quote-unquote, the 7th-ranked team in the country. Whether we are or aren’t, I don’t know. I mean, I think we’re pretty good.

“I know Top 10 teams get better as the weeks go on. Maybe for the first time since Abilene Christian last year, we kind of rolled one out like this. It was a dominating night.

“There was enough resistance and headache in this game, enough adversity that it made it even more impressive in my eyes as a head coach. Because it didn’t come easy early.”

Nathan Brown | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images

The Bears also got a 40-yard field goal from senior Jake Gaster in the first quarter as the Bears avenged last season’s 14-12 loss in the season finale that knocked the Bears out of a possible FCS Playoff appearance.

“You can see the explosiveness, you can see the talent, you can see the ability we have times,” said Brown. “And if I’m sitting here splitting hairs in a 45-17 win, we can be better for four quarters. And I think that’s the part that makes you excited to go to work tomorrow, finding ways to continue to improve this team.

“We’re 1-0 in the United Athletic Conference, which is where you want to be playing a conference game this early in the season. But we have a lot of work to do and we’ve got to get better if we’re going to play the schedule we have ahead of us against some talented teams, not only in our conference, but two more non-conference games. We have to improve. And I think our players know that and our coaches know that. It’s just a matter of how hard are we going to work for it.”

Jacoby McQuiller | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images

UCA defense, which lost senior All-American safety TaMuarion Wilson to a targeting call early in the second quarter, finished with eight tackles for loss, including five sacks by five different players. All-American defensive end David Walker had a sack among hit three tackles for loss, while Bradley Clark, Javeon Jones, Sam Horton and Jabreal Woodall also turned in sacks.

Junior transfer Jacoby McQuiller, Walker’s replacement, was UCA’s second-leading tackler with six stops. Junior cornerback James Jordan had UCA’s lone interception, while Ashtyn Williams forced a fumble and Carline Davis recovered.

“What was big was us getting up a couple of scores and taking them out of their game plan,” said Brown. “And now you get a chance for D-Walk and those guys to pin their ears back. There’s no doubt that quarterback was feeling their presence.

“And it’s great to see the statistic sheet spread out. You don’t want it to just be David Walker with three or four sacks and everybody else is just kind of in the area. And that’s what’s going to take us from being a really good defense to possibly being a great defense.

“And we have not sent one blitz in two weeks. We’re doing it with three and four-man rushes the whole game. Now we brought a couple of blitzes against Arkansas State because we felt like we had to. But the last two weeks our blitz percentage is zero percent. That’s when you’re on to something special.”

UCA returns to the road next weekend, taking on the UAPB Golden Lions at 6 p.m. in Pine Bluff.

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.