Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. – Dominique Brown returned an interception 33 yards with 4:47 remaining in the game and Jestin Love sealed it with an interception with 1:49 left as Central Arkansas held on and defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 30-23, in a Southland Conference televised contest Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

Love intercepted a pair of passes, including one for a touchdown, for the second week in a row as UCA (5-3, 2-2 Southland) forced five turnovers and gained 221 of its 304 total yards in the second half.

Terence Bobo rushed for 105 yards for the Bears, icing the game with a 56-yard run in the final minute that enabled UCA to run out the clock. Nathan Dick went 26-for-44 for 209 yards with two touchdowns with Kenneth Robey catching six passes to lead the Bears.

Southeastern (2-6, 1-3 Southland) took the opening possession and drove 74 yards in 12 plays as Seth Sebastian capped the drive with a 23-yard field goal with 9:03 remaining in the first half.

After forcing UCA to punt on its first possession, Southeastern fumbled on its second drive and UCA's Markell Carter recovered at the SLU 14. The Bears were unable to score as Curtis Strong knocked away a third-down pass and Eddie Carmona missed a 34-yard field goal.

UCA got on the board on Southeatsern's second turnover of the quarter as Love stepped in front of a Tyler Beatty pass and returned it 25 yards to give the Bears a 6-3 lead.

The Lions re-gained the lead in the second quarter as they drove 72 yards in seven plays. Beatty, who finished 20-for-34 for 295 yards a pair of touchdowns, found Brandon Collins for a 26-yard on third-and-8 to the UCA 22 and the duo connected again three plays later on a 21-yard scoring pass and a 10-6 lead.

UCA took the lead for good, 13-10, as it went 61 yards in 11 plays and converting twice on fourth down. Dick connected with Kenneth Robey for a 6-yard gain on fourth-and-5 to the SLU 24 and would connect with Dominique Croom on a 28-yard scoring pass with 12 seconds remaining on fourth-and-14.

The Bears, who gained 83 yards total offense in the first half, extended their lead to 20-10 on their opening possession of the second half as Dick connected with Bobo on 12-yard pass to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive.

After Nathan Clophus intercepted a pass and returned it to the UCA 10, Southeastern cut into the lead as Sebastian kicked a 29-yard field goal with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter. Sebastian, a freshman, went 3-for-3 added a second 29-yard field that cut the UCA lead to 23-16 with 8:01 remaining.

A Carmona punt was downed at the SLU 10 and Brown gave UCA a 30-16 lead when he stepped in front of Collins and weaved his way to the end zone.

Southeastern cut the lead to 30-23 with 2:17 left when Beatty hit Collins for a 54-yard touchdown and forced a turnover on UCA's next possession when Tommy Connors forced a fumble that was recovered by Re'Keem Wilson and returned to the UCA 26.

On the next play, Beatty attempted a pass to Andre Cryer but was intercepted by Love and the Bears were able to run out the clock.

Collins caught six passes for a career-high 164 yards and two touchdowns for Southeastern, which played without leading receiver Simmie Yarborough with an ankle injury. Mark Newbill added 15 tackles for the Lions while Clophus had 10, including two sacks, three tackles for loss and an interception.

Beatty added a team-high 55 yards on the ground for Southeastern, which outgained UCA 385-304, but was flagged for 12 penalties including 10 in the first half.

Southeastern will close out its home schedule on Saturday when it faces in-state rival Northwestern State in a 6 p.m. contest. The game will mark the final home appearance for 19 seniors. Tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Southeastern La..... 3 7 3 10 - 23 Record: (2-6,1-3)
Central Arkansas.... 6 7 7 10 - 30 Record: (5-3,2-2)

Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
SLU – FG Sebastian 23
UCA – Love 25 interception return (kick failed)

2nd Quarter
SLU – Collins 21 pass from Beatty (Sebastian kick)
UCA – Croom 28 pass from Dick (Carmona kick)

3rd Quarter
UCA – Bobo 12 pass from Dick (Carmona kick)
SLU – FG Sebastian 29

4th Quarter
UCA – FG Carmona 23
SLU – FG Sebastian 29
UCA – Brown 33 interception return (Carmona kick)
SLU – Collins 54 pass from Beatty (Sebastian kick)

SLU UCA
FIRST DOWNS................... 17 18
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 32-90 32-95
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 295 209
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 34-20-3 44-26-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 66-385 76-304
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 4-45.0 6-45.2
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-2 1-1
Penalties-Yards............... 12-82 8-54
Possession Time............... 28:07 31:53

RUSHING
SLU – Beatty 16-55; Jones 7-21; Fairley 8-14; Team 1-0. UCA –Bobo 13-105; Hinton 9-10; Threat 1-minus 2; Team 3-minus 2; Dick 6-minus 16.

PASSING
SLU – Beatty 20-34-3-295. UCA – Dick 26-44-2-209.

RECEIVING
SLU – Collins 6-164; Cryer 4-36; Theodore 3-34; Wardell 3-25; McCrea 2-24; Fairley 2-12. UCA – Robey 6-41; Bobo 5-52; Croom 4-46; Jackson 3-24; Hinton 3-16; Dixon 2-15; Ragland 1-11; Harris 1-8; Landers 1-minus 4.