SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A big first half effort from the University of the Incarnate Word offense and defense led to the team picking up a 31-9 victory over visiting Lone Star Conference rival Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday night at Benson Stadium. (Box Score)


The Cardinals (2-4, 1-3) halted a four-game losing streak with the win and improved to 3-0 all-time against the Lions (1-4, 1-3).  UIW dominated all aspects of the first half.  They gained 238 yards on offense while limiting the Lions to 90 yards.  The defense recorded seven sacks in the half en route to a school-record eight sack performance.  On special teams, Jake Wilcox (San Antonio/Reagan HS) converted a 22-yard field goal for the Cardinals while the Lions missed a field goal and muffed a punt that was eventually recovered in the end zone by Grady Achilles (San Antonio/Bracken Christian HS).

The Cardinals received the opening kickoff of the game and got started right away.  They drove the ball 53 yards in eight plays before being stopped at the Lion 5-yard line.  Head coach Larry Kennan sent on the field goal unit and Wilcox repaid the coach with his second career field goal at 12:06.

After the teams traded punts, the Cardinals got the ball at their own 20-yard line.  Zach Rhodes (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) quickly completed a pair of quick passes on the first two plays of the drive before connecting on a crossing pass with tight end Andrew Mocio (Waco/Reicher Catholic HS) who rumbled 61 yards for a touchdown with 6:38 to play in the first quarter.

The Cardinals forced another three-and-out and were on the march again looking for a third score before the end of the period.  After getting a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line, Rhodes' pass was intercepted by Marcus Fore and the 1-yard and returned 85 yards giving the Lions excellent field position at the UIW 14-yard line.

The Cardinal defense was ready for the challenge as they sacked the Lions three times and took over on downs.  The offense took it from there and scored six plays later on a Trent Rios (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) 3-yard run.  The touchdown was set up by a halfback pass from Rios to Dominic Hamilton (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) that was good for a 22-yard gain.

The Lions finally started to move the ball on the ensuing possession.  They drove to the UIW 9-yard line, but were stopped once again by the Cardinal defense.  The Lions settled for a 31-yard field goal try, but Jacob O'Neil's attempt was wide to the left with 4:34 left in the second quarter.

The Cardinals next touchdown came on a special teams play.  Emmanuel Nunez (Dallas/Seguin HS) boomed a 55-yard punt down to the 5-yard line that Israel Hughes attempted to field for the Lions, but he kicked it instead and then the loose ball bounced off a Cardinal player into the end zone where freshman Grady Achilles (San Antonio/Bracken Christian HS) recovered the ball with 2:22 left in the first half to give UIW a 24-0 lead.

In the second half, the Lions played a much improved brand of football.  After they were forced to punt on their first possession, they finally found the end zone on their second possession of the half.  Quarterback Deric Davis accounted for 66 of the team's 77 yards on the drive either through the air or on the ground.  He scored on a scramble from seven yards out with 6:53 left in the third quarter.  The two-point attempt was no good.

The Cardinals were forced to quickly punt again and the Lions were on the prowl.  Davis drove the team into the red zone before the offense stalled.  O'Neil booted a 32-yard field goal to cut the UIW lead to 24-9 with 57 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Both teams followed with punt on their next two possessions and then the Cardinals put the game away late in the fourth quarter.  Rhodes converted a third down with a 10-yard rush and then Marcus Wright (San Antonio/Reagan HS) converted a third-and-13 with a 16-yard rush.  The Cardinals then faced a fourth-and-8 at the Lion 26-yard line when Rhodes lofted a pass near the goal line that freshman Brandon Yates (San Antonio/Clark HS) came down with for the final score of the evening with 3:56 left in the game.

Rhodes led the UIW offense going 17-for-28 passing for 189 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.  He added 19 yards on the ground as the team gained 335 total yards.  Yates led the team with four catches for 41 yards and the score while Wright carried the ball six times for 49 yards.  Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS) added 25 yards rushing on six carries, three catches for 29 yards and two punt returns for 15 yards.

The Cardinal defense was led by Dravannti Johnson (Nederland/Nederland HS) and Robby Horton (Beeville/Jones HS) as each had a pair of sacks.  Johnson also forced a fumble and made five tackles.  Seven different players had at least a half sack on the night.  Devin Haywood (San Antonio/Roosevelt HS) led the team with eight tackles.

Davis led the Lions going 20-of-34 passing for 204 yards.  He finished with 13 yards rushing, including a rushing touchdown.  Garrett Smith led all receivers with seven catches for 66 yards.  Jamar Mosley led the team's rushing attack with nine carries for 44 yards.  Overall, the Lions gained 295 yards and had 21 first downs, one more than the Cardinals.

Danny Mason led the Lion defense with nine tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.

The Cardinals committed three penalties for 20 yards while the Lions were flagged with 11 penalties for 119 yards.

The Cardinals are back in action next week at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 7 p.m.