SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The first game of the 2012 season was a sloppy affair for University of the Incarnate Word football team, but they prevailed 19-12 over visiting Texas College on Saturday night at Benson Stadium. (Box Score)



 The Cardinals (1-0) never trailed in the game, but never led by more than seven points.  They fumbled the ball seven times and the Steers (0-2) were able to recover three of them and turned them into a pair of touchdowns.  The two teams combined to convert only 1-of-5 extra-point tries as UIW had two blocked and the Steers missed a pair
Incarnate Word head coach Larry Kennan picked up the win in his first game on the sidelines and was complimentary of Texas College.  “That was a different team than we have seen on film,” said the coach.  “They played really hard and really well.  I think it took our guys by surprise.”

The Cardinals made the final few moments of the game a little more interesting than they would have liked to.  After stopping Texas College on downs with 1:28 remaining in the game they needed one first down to ice the game.  They did not get the first down, but freshman punter Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS) pinned the Steers inside the 10-yard line with a 48 yard punt with 21 seconds left on the clock.  TC quarterback Vincent McNeil completed a 39 yards pass to Ja'Marius Allen with four seconds remaining and then an offsides penalty gave then one more chance from near midfield.  McNeil completed a short pass, but the Cardinals quickly swept in for the tackle to end the game.

The game started perfectly for the Cardinals.  They forced the Steers to punt and then scored in just three plays.  Senior Zach Rhodes (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) completed a 48-yard pass to Devan Avery (Converse/Wagner HS) and then Trent Rios (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) scored on a 7-yard run with 10:58 left in the first quarter.

Avery pulled two-way duty for the Cardinals starting on defense and offense.  He pulled down two catches for 99 yards and made five tackles and had two pass breakups on defense.  “I've played offense since high school,” said Avery.  “This is my senior year so I'm willing to do anything whatever it takes to win.”

The Cardinals forced the Steers to punt on their next drive and then appeared to be on their way for another score.  They drove down to the TC 18-yard line, but were stopped on fourth-and-2.  They would not threaten to score the rest of the half.

The Steers took advantage of a fumbled UIW snap early in the second quarter.  They put together their best drive of the game going 59 yards in nine plays.  They did the majority of their damage on the ground getting a 19-yard run from McNeil and a 12-yard scoring romp by Taylor Gray with 7:47 left in the half.  Houston Creighton's extra-point attempt was wide right.

The Cardinals got off to another in the second half.  They took the opening kickoff and went 72 yards in six plays.  Rhodes connected with fullback Matt Bass (Alvin/Alvin HS) on a flare pass that went for 47 yards as Bass ran over a pair of defenders.  Rios finished off the drive with his second touchdown of the night, this one an 11-yard jaunt with 12:27 left in the third quarter.  Jake Wilcox's (San Antonio/Reagan HS) extra-point attempt was blocked by Ronnie Green.

The Cardinals turned the ball over on fumbles on their next two possessions putting the defense in a hole.  The defensive unit came up strong after the first fumble preventing the Steers from scoring on a short field, but the second fumble was recovered on UIW's own 15-yard line leading to a McNeil 2-yard touchdown run. Fortunately, Creighton missed his second PAT leaving the Cardinals in the lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech transfer Marcus Wright (San Antonio/Reagan HS) came on strong for the Cardinals.  He carried the ball seven times for 44 yards on the first drive of the quarter and scored on a 1-yard plunge with 11:30 remaining in the game.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Cardinals had a chance to put the game away.  Freshman Taylor Woods (Fort Bend/Austin HS) connected on a 39-yard pass to Brandon Yates (San Antonio/Clark HS) to put the team in scoring position.  It was the third time that the Cardinals were able to go over the top against a Steers defense that had a strong pass rush all night long.  “When a team gambles like they did you have to make them pay,” said Kennan.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals were not able to score after the long gain to Yates and it led to a final few moments of unrest.

The Cardinals gained 344 yards on offense with 250 coming through the air.  Rhodes was 12-of-18 for 205 yards while Woods was 2-for-2 for 45 yards.  Avery led the receivers with 99 yards.  Rios finished with 15 carries for 52 yards while Wright added 44 yards on 13 carries.  The team picked up 18 first downs and had the ball for 31:35.

The Cardinal defense limited the Steers to 256 yards total.  Dakota Mawyer (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) led the team with 10 tackles while Juan Asencio (Pflugerville/Hendrickson HS) had nine tackles and a sack.  Padyn Giebler (Stephenville/Stephenville HS) and Robert Moorman (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) each had a sack as well.  Sadler averaged 45.0 yards on three punts.

McNeil led the Steers offense going 13-of-22 passing for 120 yards while rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown.  Gray finished with a game high 57 yards rushing on 14 carries.  Johnny Thomas had six catches for 55 yards.  They picked up 15 first downs as a team.

Texas College had four sacks in the game as Luis Castro got through for a pair.  He finished with nine tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a blocked kick and a fumble recovery.  Demanuel Bailey led the team with 11 tackles.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at Sam Houston State, an NCAA Division I FCS opponent.