Football
Easier Than Expected: Bears Pound Lamar, 34-14
Bears running back ShunDerrick Powell runs for part of his big night in win over Cardinals.
CONWAY, Ark. — No. 7 Central Arkansas Bears made it look easier than expected.
Another solid ground attack Saturday with 281 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-14 victory over No. 19/25 Lamar at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
UCA probably found out some things about this team and did it with a ground game producing more explosive plays.
Darius Hale | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
Senior running backs ShunDerrick Powell and Darius Hale combined for 274 rushing yards. Powell carried 25 times for 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Hale with 19 carries for 96 yards and another score.
The Bears finished with 439 yards of total offense and held Lamar to just 220 in what was expected to be a solid test. The Cardinals, who entered the game with an average of 165 rushing yards per game, was held to just 108.
Nathan Brown | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
“Excited about the win, proud of our team and our effort,” said UCA coach Nathan Brown later. “We had three great days of practice this week, which translated to tonight. I was not shy about talking about how good Lamar is. There’s a reason why they are the No. 19 ranked team in the country.
“That coaching staff has done as good a job as maybe anyone in the Southland (Conference) the last few years at turning a program around. Going 6-5 last year and getting to 3-1 this year going into this game, getting a Top 20 ranking. We knew coming in this was an opportunity for us to gauge ourselves against a really good opponent, and obviously we met the challenge.”
Dax Courtney scoring first touchdown in win over Lamar | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images
The Bears opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Will McElvain to sophomore tight end Dax Courtney, his first career catch and touchdown, with 6:32 left in the period.
Jake Gasteradded a 23-yard field goal in the quarter before Lamar found the end zone on a one-yard run at the midway point of the second quarter.
From there, it was all UCA as the Bears scored on four of their next five possessions to put the game out of reach. Powel had an 11-yard scoring run, Gaster added another field goal from 28 yards, Hale went in from the 5 and Powell closed the scoring with an 18-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
