Box Score HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word played their second road game of the season against their second top 10 ranked team on Saturday and lost at #5 Sam Houston State, 52-21 at Bowers Stadium.

The Cardinals (2-2) traded punches with the Bearkats (3-1) for much of the first half, but Sam Houston State was able to pull away with a pair of quick touchdowns to start the third quarter.

The game began perfectly for the Cardinals as they marched 82 yards in eight plays after the opening kickoff.  Quarterback Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) completed a 9-yard pass on third-and-8 to keep the drive alive and later connected with Junior Sessions (Mesquite/North Mesquite HS) on a 50-yard screen pass to put the ball in the red zone.  After an incompletion and an offsides penalty against Sam Houston, Brittain hit Jennings on a nice comeback route for the touchdown.

The Bearkats responded with long kick return and an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Cardinals gave them great field position.  They drove inside the 5-yard line, but the UIW defense held strong and limited SHSU to a 19-yard field goal by Luc Swimberghe with 7:49 left in the first quarter.

The Cardinals were moving the ball well again on their second drive getting into SHSU territory, but a dropped deep ball forced the team to punt.  The Bearkats responded with a 7-play, 76-yard drive that included a fourth down conversion and was highlighted by Chance Nelson's 39-yard touchdown reception with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

The Cardinals would not stay behind for long.  Brittain used his elusive scrambling ability to buy time to find Jennings for a 44-yard gain that put UIW in business on the next drive.  The start of the second quarter began with another completion to Jennings for 11 yards and a first down followed by a swing pass to Matt Bass (Alvin/Alvin HS) setting up a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.  Sessions bulled his way in for the touchdown on the next play to make it 14-10 UIW 1:01 into the second quarter.

SHSU stopped the Cardinals on their next drive and forced a punt.  It only took the Bearkats three plays to go 62 yards for a score.  A 36-yard run by Tim Flanders was followed by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Bell to Richard Sincere with 5:29 to play in the first half.  The Bearkats added another touchdown before the half on a 39-yard bomb to Torrance Williams to make it 31-14 heading into the break.

The Bearkats did not give the Cardinals much hope in the second half when they opened the third quarter by scoring on their first drive.  Flanders picked up 19 yards on his first carry and then Bell hit Shane Young for another big gain.  The touchdown came on a 16-yard pass to Williams.

An interception that snapped Brittain's school-record streak of 106 passes without an interception turned into seven more points for Sam Houston on a Flanders 41-yard touchdown run.  Flanders broke the Southland Conference record for career rushing yards on the play surpassing former Southwest Texas State running back Claude Mathis who had 4,694 yards in his career.

After the teams traded punts, the Cardinals took advantage of a short field.  They kept the ball on the ground for the most part picking up a trio of first downs on runs by John Oglesby (Katy/Seven Lakes HS) and Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Seguin HS).  The drive appeared stalled when UIW faced fourth-and-3 at the SHSU 19-yard line, but Brittain hit tight end Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic HS) on a quick pass over the middle and he rumbled in for the touchdown late in the third quarter to make it 45-21 Bearkats.

The Bearkats tacked on another score on their first drive of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Bell giving him five total touchdowns for the game.

Brittain finished the game 16-of-33 for 226 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception.  His favorite target was Jennings who had six catches for 87 yards and a touchdown while Sessions added two catches for 60 yards.  UIW struggled to move the ball on the ground only picking up 77 yards on 31 carries with Sessions leading the way with 28 yards on nine carries.

The Bearkats racked up 566 yards of total offense in the game with 285 through the air and 281 on the ground.  Bell went 19-of-25 for 285 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 35 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.  Flanders rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries giving him 4,710 career rushing yards.  Williams led the receivers with nine catches for 122 yards and two scores while Nelson had 63 yards and a touchdown on three catches.

The UIW defense was led by linebacker Nick Ginn (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) who made eight unassisted tackles, including a tackle for loss.  Adrian Norwood, Jr. (Waco/Waco HS) and Juston Edwards (Pasadena/Dobie HS) each added seven tackles.  Emmanuel Nunez (Dallas/Seguin HS) averaged 36.1 yards per punt on eight tries with two ending inside the 20-yard line.

Sam Houston's defense was led by De'Antrey Loche and Johntel Franklin.  Loche led the team with eight tackles and a pass breakup while Franklin had seven tackles and an interception.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at home against former Lone Star Conference rival Eastern New Mexico.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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