SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – In the first ever meeting between the University of the Incarnate Word and McMurry University in football, it was the War Hawks holding on for a 28-20 victory at Benson Stadium on Saturday night. (Box Score)

The Cardinals (2-6) jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but the War Hawks (4-3) scored 28 straight points to take a commanding lead going into the fourth quarter where UIW's comeback bid fell short. 

The War Hawks used a dominating short passing game to keep the Cardinal defense on its heels while their pass rush amassed eight sacks in the game.  Quarterback Jake Mullin went 45-of-61 for 322 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to lead a McMurry offense that ran 94 plays and gained 427 yards.

The game started on the right foot for the Cardinals.  Freshman linebacker Padyn Giebler (Stephenville/Stephenville HS) intercepted Mullin's second pass of the game after it was deflected into the air.  Giebler returned it 28 yards to the McMurry 15-yard line.  The Cardinals were not able to punch the ball in the end zone, but settled for a 30-yard field goal by Saul Meza (San Antonio/O'Connor HS) with 12:29 left in the first quarter.

The War Hawks drove down into field goal range on their ensuing possession, but Josh King's 37-yarder was wide right.

After the team's traded punts, the Cardinals embarked upon their best drive of the night.  They ran the ball on eight straight plays.  Marcus Wright (San Antonio/Reagan HS) ran five straight times and picked up a pair of first downs before Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS) had a 5-yard run followed by a 32-yard run.  Then, Wright finished off the drive with a 15-yard sweep around the right end for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 12 ticks left in the first quarter.

McMurry responded with their first points of the game coming on a 31-yard field goal by King with 12:51 left in the second quarter.  It came after a 10-play, 43-yard drive stalled out at the UIW 14-yard line.

It looked the Cardinals would answer the War Hawk score with one of their own after Sadler and Wright picked up a combined 41 yards on two carries to start the next drive.  However, a holding penalty set the Cardinals back and they were unable to convert a long third down.  Emmanuel Nunez (Dallas/Seguin HS) was able to pin McMurry at their own 1-yard line after a beautiful pooch punt.

The War Hawks were unfazed by their poor field position.  Mullin methodically drove McMurry down the field with nothing longer than a 16-yard pick up.  He connected with Chris Simpson from three yards out to cap off the 17-play, 99-yard drive that took 6:17.

Following the touchdown, Juan Asencio (Pflugerville/Hendrickson HS) had an electrifying kick return for the Cardinals that nearly went for six points, but was still good for 49 yards and great field position at the McMurry 42-yard line with 3:39 remaining in the half.  Unfortunately, the Cardinals quickly turned the ball over on downs and gave the ball back with 2:20 to play.

The War Hawks took advantage of the situation and drove 64 yards in 12 plays and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a five-yard toss to the corner of the end zone from Mullin to Jeret Smith with only two seconds remaining in the half.

In the third quarter, things went from bad to worse for the Cardinals as they lost a fumble on the second play of the half.  Once again, the War Hawks were able to drive down the field for a third straight touchdown.  Paxton Grayer capped off the 9-play, 48-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 11:47 remaining in the quarter to make it a 22-10 ball game.

McMurry was not done for the quarter though.  After the teams traded punts, the War Hawks got the ball at their own 33-yard line with 4:35 left in the third quarter.  Mullin once again dinked and dunked McMurry down the field.  Simpson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 12-yard scamper with 1:07 remaining.  A third straight extra point miss kept the score at 28-10.

The Cardinals turned things around some in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough.  First, they drove to the MCM 8-yard line and had first-and-goal, but had to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Meza after a pair of sacks pushed the team back.

The Cardinals gained a flicker of life late in the game after Taylor Woods (Fort Bend/Austin HS) went 10-for-13 through the air and connected with freshman Brandon Yates (San Antonio/Clark HS) on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:17 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing onsides kick, the ball was dislodged from the first War Hawk who touched it, but the second one was able to come down with it.  From there McMurry was able to take a knee three times to end the game.

The Cardinals were able to score 10 points in both the first and fourth quarters, but were unable to get any offense going in the middle two quarters.  Woods was 22-of-32 for 156 yards and a touchdown passing.  Sadler had seven carries for 64 yards on the ground and Wright added 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown.  Tight end Andrew Mocio (Waco/Reicher Catholic HS) led the team with six catches for 43 yards.  The Cardinals picked up 18 first downs on the night.

The War Hawks racked up 30 first downs on offense.  Greg Livingston had 13 catches for 134 yards while Smith finished with 11 catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.  Grayer led the rushing attack with 13 carries for 53 yards and a score.

The Cardinals did a good job on kick returns.  Asencio finished with 109 yards on three returns while Wright had two returns for 58 yards.  Wright finished with a team high 146 all-purpose yards.

The UIW defense was led by Robert Williams (Floresville/Floresville HS) and Dakota Mawyer (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) who each record double digit tackles.  Williams had a career high 11 stops while Mawyer finished with 10.  Aaron Willis (San Antonio/Churchill HS) and Nick Ginn (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) each picked up a sack in the game. 

The War Hawks held the Cardinals to 296 yards of total offense.  Cory Hall had seven tackles, three sacks, a pass breakup and a forced fumble to lead the way.  Greg Pinckney led the team with 11 tackles.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at home against Lone Star Conference rival Tarleton State at 7 p.m.
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