By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Brad Welborn
SAN ANTONIO – Speed is the name of the game for UIW, and the Cardinals displayed plenty of it from the opening minutes Saturday.
UIW scored three touchdowns before the midpoint of the first quarter, using a pair of scoring drives that lasted less than 90 seconds and an interception return for a touchdown to build an early lead on its way to a 66-14 victory against Northwestern State.
The Cardinals (5-4, 4-2) scored on five of their first six possessions, with each of those scoring drives lasting less than two minutes, as Northwestern State (0-9, 0-6) was unable to recover from the fast start.
“They are exactly who I thought they would be,” head coach Blaine McCorkle said. “We got beat in all three phases. There’s no other way to describe it. The score is what it is, but the thing that is most disappointing is that for eight straight weeks we’ve gotten better and I don’t know that we did this week.
“We’ll go back to work. We’ve got three more games to try and find a win or two, and the biggest thing we have to do is piece together some bodies because we are beat up right now injury-wise.”
Despite UIW’s offensive efficiency, Northwestern State’s defense had chances to get off the field. The Cardinals went just 1-for-6 on third down in the first half, although they converted both fourth-down attempts, scoring touchdowns on each of their first two fourth-down conversions.
The Demons’ best offensive drive began late in the first quarter.
A pair of 15-yard penalties against the Cardinals helped Northwestern State move down the field before quarterback Zach Wilcke found Amaaz Eugene across the middle for a 12-yard completion to set up the score.
Camryn Davis capped the 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown catch on a post route near the back of the end zone early in the second quarter. It was Davis’ fourth touchdown reception of the season, tying him for the team lead, and his second straight game with a scoring catch.
“We did a good job taking advantage on that drive,” McCorkle said. “Abram (Johnston) did the same thing late in the game to take us down to score. Defense did get some pressure at times and we saw some spurts of that, but just wasn’t anywhere near enough today.”
UIW answered six plays later to push its lead to 35-7.
NSU continued to create pressure throughout the first half but could not fully capitalize on its opportunities.
KB Anderson-Dale recorded a 10-yard strip sack in the first quarter, with Blake Fann recovering the fumble, but the Demons were forced to punt three plays later. Anderson-Dale had another fumble in the second quarter that UIW recovered, leading to another Cardinal punt.
Braden Woods added a forced fumble on a second-quarter sack-fumble that knocked UIW out of field-goal range and helped force another punt.
The Demon defense opened the second half by forcing a punt and holding UIW to a missed field goal on its first two possessions. A Demon turnover, the fourth of the game, however, led to a 20-yard Cardinal touchdown pass and sparked three straight UIW scoring drives to close the game.
The Demons added one final score late in the contest.
Jake Peveto made his first catch as a Demon count, hauling in a one-handed, over-the-shoulder catch along the sideline for 47 yards on the first play of the drive. Backup quarterback Abram Johnston later connected with Eugene on a 12-yard crossing route before finishing the drive himself with a one-yard touchdown run.
Northwestern State returns to Turpin Stadium next week to begin its final two-game homestand of the season, hosting UTRGV in the first meeting between the programs. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 7.