Bears tied for 1st in Southland

CONWAY -- Central Arkansas rolled up an even 500 yards of total offense on Saturday in a convincing 38-17 victory against Northwestern State to earn a share of first place in the Southland Conference.

The win for the Bears (5-2, 4-1), coupled with losses by other teams, moved them into a tie for first place with Incarnate Word (4-3, 4-1) and McNeese State (5-2, 4-1). Their only conference loss was a 34-31 overtime defeat at Sam Houston State (4-3, 3-2) in Huntsville, Texas, in September, but the Bearkats lost, 41-23, against Lamar (3-4, 2-3) on Saturday in Beaumont, Texas.

Central Arkansas has four regular season games remaining, including a matchup with McNeese on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Lake Charles, La. The Bears will then host Lamar and Incarnate Word in consecutive weeks on "The Stripes" at First Security Field at Estes Stadium before closing out the season on the road against Abilene Christian (4-4, 3-3).

Redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Hales had his second five-touchdown passing game in his third career start Saturday in Conway. He completed 12 of 28 passes for 278 yards.

Hales inherited the starting role after starting sophomore Breylin Smith left in the fourth quarter of the loss at Sam Houston. Backup Kirk Baugh was also injured.

Senior Jakari Dillard caught a pair of touchdown passes Saturday, while senior Lester Wells, redshirt freshman Lujuan Winningham and junior running back Carlos Blackman each caught one apiece. Hales now has 11 touchdown passes in three games under center.

The Bears grabbed a 28-3 lead midway through the second quarter after scoring tossed of 31 and 25 yards to Dillard, 53 yards to Wells and 15 yards to Winningham. They have won three consecutive games since the road loss at Sam Houston, settling for a 28-10 halftime lead after putting up 325 yards of offense and holding the Demons to just 119, including only 27 yards on the ground.

Northwestern was held to 32 net yards on 26 rushing attempts. Stephen F. Austin (2-5, 2-4) lost 20 net yards the previous week in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Central Arkansas opponents are now averaging 99.1 yards per game through seven games. Saturday's loss was Northwestern's fifth straight to the Bears.

Third-team quarterback Kaleb Fletcher took over for the Demons after second string quarterback Clay Holgorsen left the game with an injury in the first quarter. Their starter, Shelton Eppler, has 1,679 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, but he missed the game with a concussion.

Junior running back Jared West is the No. 4 rusher in the Southland, but he was held to 52 yards on 10 carries. Junior receiver Jazz Ferguson caught eight passes and matched his league-leading season average of 108 yards.

The Demons scored on a 35-yard field goal by Austyn Fendrick in the second quarter, a seven-yard run by Fletcher in the final minute of the first half and a 53-yard pass from Fletcher to Jaylen Watson with 39 seconds left in the game.

Central Arkansas had 26 different players record a tackle, with five Bears tying with a high of four. The Bears made seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a net loss of 54 yards.

Sophomores Jackie Harvell and Austin Norris each made 1.5 tackles for a loss. Sophomore quarterback Robert Rochell claimed the defense's only turnover with an interception on the Demons' second possession of the game.

Hales connected with Wells for a touchdown on the ensuing drive. The score gave Central Arkansas a 21-0 lead at the 13:41 mark of the second period.

Blackman led all rushers with 84 yards, he caught his first touchdown pass of the season and he is now 103 rushing yards from 2,000 in his career. Sophomore running back D'erek Fernandez ran for a career-high 59 yards on 11 carries.

Dillard caught four passes for 109 yards. Wells caught three passes for 79 yards.

Sports on 10/22/2018

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