HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS – Incarnate Word traveled to Sam Houston State, the #1 team in FCS, on Saturday night and lost, 54-7 at Elliot Bowers Stadium. (Box Score) 

The Cardinals (1-1) played the Bearkats (1-0) tightly in the first half, but SHSU kicked things into high gear in the second half.  UIW forced a pair of turnovers in the first half, including an interception by junior Chavis Barron (Texas City/Texas City HS).

The Cardinals had a number of highlights in the game, but none bigger than when they took the lead 7-6 on a Zach Rhodes (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) 18-yard screen pass to Trent Rios (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley HS) with 5:13 remaining in the first half.  That capped a 4-play, 36-yard drive that started with Barron's interception.  Jake Wilcox's (San Antonio/Reagan HS) extra point gave the Cardinals the lead.

The Bearkats would regain the lead on Timothy Flanders' second touchdown of the game with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.  He finished the game with 117 yards rushing on 15 carries and became the SHSU all-time career rushing leader in the game.  They added another touchdown before half time on a Trey Diller 21-yard romp to make it 20-7.

The third quarter was all Bearkats as they scored 20 points to put the game out of reach.  They added 14 more points in the fourth quarter including a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by Terrance Robinson.

The Cardinals were stifled on offense as the top-ranked Bearkat defense held them to -46 rushing yards on 20 attempts.  Rhodes had some success in the passing game going 16-for-27 for 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception.  Senior tight end Andrew Mocio (Waco/Reicher HS) set a career high with eight receptions for 51 yards.

On defense, the Cardinals kept the high-powered Bearkat offense under 500 total yards.  Devin Haywood (San Antonio/Roosevelt HS) led the team with 12 tackles and had a tackle for loss.  Barron finished with five tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.  Defensive back Devan Avery (Converse/Wagner HS) had another outstanding performance making three stops and breaking up three passes.

On special teams, Jordan Scelfo (Tucson, AZ/Salpoint HS) had nine punts for an average of 44.6 yards, including a long of 58 yards.  Rios returned five kick returns for 93 yards.

The Bearkats had the #6 rushing offense in the nation a year ago and showed the same type of performance in their season opener.  They racked up 327 yards on 50 carries.  In addition to Flanders, Keshawn Hill picked up 47 yards on four carries and scored twice and Ryan Wilson had 31 yards on six carries.

Brian Bell went 12-of-19 for 157 yards passing and two touchdowns.  Chance Nelson was his favorite target with three catches for 49 yards and a score.

The Bearkat defense held the Cardinals to 88 total yards of offense.  Darius Taylor led the way with nine tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.  J.T. Cleveland added five tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss.  The team finished the game with three sacks and forced two turnovers.

The Bearkats had the ball for 31:23 and converted 7-of-13 third down chances while the Cardinals converted 3-of-15 chances.  The Cards had 6 penalties for 52 yards while the Kats committed seven penalties for 65 yards.

The Cardinals are back in action on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Cowboys Stadium when they take on Lone Star Conference rival Eastern New Mexico as part of the Lone Star Football Festival.
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