SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word football team played a complete game on Saturday night against visiting Southland Conference rival Houston Baptist University and picked up a 31-8 victory at Benson Stadium.

The Cardinals (1-5, 1-2) were able to move the ball all game long as they maintained possession for 37:41.  The team converted 10-of-16 third down opportunities into first downs after entering the game with a 23 percent conversion rate for the season.  The key was the team's power running game that featured sophomore Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) and quarterback Breylann McCollum (Cibolo/Steele HS).  Sessions went over 100 yards rushing for the first time this year while McCollum picked up four first downs on quarterback sneaks.

The UIW defense also played their best game of the year holding the Huskies to 217 total yards of offense.  The UIW pass defense was particularly effective by limiting HBU to 7-of-19 for 71 yards with 52 coming on the second play of the game.  The defense forced two turnovers and had a shutout until midway through the fourth quarter.

"I thought we had a good mindset with each player focusing on winning their individual battles over 60 minutes," said UIW head coach Larry Kenna.  "They (HBU) are better than last year and we were able to beat them worse than last year which is a good thing.  They are coming though and we have great respect for their team and coaching staff."

Playing in perfect weather conditions, the game got off to a nearly perfect start for the Cardinals.  The Huskies (1-4, 0-2) received the ball to start the game and after Ka'Darius Baker hit Maxwell Brown for a 52-yard gain, the defense made a big play.  Baker botched a hand-off to his running back and Juston Edwards (Pasadena/Dobie HS) pounced on the ball for the Cardinals at the UIW 24-yard line.

The UIW offense followed with a great drive.  Sessions ran the ball on seven of the team's first eight plays moving it into HBU territory.  On third-and-2 from the HBU 37-yard line, McCollum hit tight end Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic HS) with a perfect pass over the middle for a 22-yard gain.  Broderick Reeves (Mexia/Mexia HS) was able to punch the ball in the end zone with a 12-yard run followed by a 3-yard touchdown jaunt with 7:17 left in the first quarter.  Ramon Coto's (Houston/Westfield HS) extra-point made it 7-0.

The teams traded punts until the Cardinals regained possession with 9:28 to play in the first half at their own 27-yard line.  McCollum was nearly a one-man show on the drive picking up a pair of first downs with his legs and another with his arm.  Facing a 2-and-11 at the HBU 34, the Cardinals went into their bag of tricks and executed a flea-flicker to perfection.  Sessions plunged into the line with the ball and then tossed it back to McCollum who delivered a perfect pass to Casey Jennings (Fremont, CA/Washington HS) who was all alone in the end zone.  The 34-yard score put Jennings over 1,000 yards for his career and was his first touchdown of the season.  The extra point made it 14-0 with 4:25 left in the half.

The Cardinals caught a break right before halftime.  The Huskies through a flare pass to Craig Bell who caught the ball, but fumbled it after a hit by Josh Zellars (Baytown/Baytown Lee HS).  The ball bounced back toward the HBU end zone and was recovered by Kobie Douglas (Plano/Plano HS) who returned it to the 30-yard line before being tackled.  UIW only moved the ball seven yards on the drive, but Coto drilled a 40-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half.

Coming out of halftime, the Cardinals tried to put the game away.  Kody Edwards (Mesquite/Mesquite Poteet HS) returned the kickoff 35 yards to give the team good field position.  They quickly moved the ball into HBU territory, but the slowed after crossing the 30-yard line.  A sack and another negative play pushed the ball back to the 35-yard line.  Coto's 52-yard field goal try was well short of the mark.

The Cardinals got on the board on their next drive.  After David Dunkin pinned the team deep with a 53-yard punt that was downed at the 5-yard line, the Cardinals embarked on their most impressive drive of the season.  Facing a third-and-7 from the UIW 8-yard line, McCollum calmly connected with Jennings on a 14-yard gain to give the team some breathing room.  A Sessions run followed by a completion to Daryl Brooks (Teague/Teague HS) were two more first downs.  Three more first downs pushed the ball into the Red Zone.  Sessions finished the drive with a great 20-yard touchdown run where he broke three tackles on the play.  Coto's kick made it 24-0 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.  The drive covered 95 yards on 14 plays in 7:28.

The Huskies finally got their offense going on the ensuing possession.  They took over at their own 22-yard line and would eventually score.  The drive nearly came to a screeching halt when they faced fourth-and-1 at their own 31-yard line.  The team ran a fake punt and Dunkin found Garrett Dolan for an 8-yard gain to keep the drive alive.  From there, the team picked up five more first downs with all but six yards coming on the ground.  B.J. Kelly scored on a 16-yard scamper off an option and then Baker connected with Kenneth Bibbins on the 2-point conversion with 8:33 to play.

The Cardinals went 3-and-out on their next drive, but then the defense came up big again to clinch the game.  Robert Moorman (Bulverde/Smithson Valley HS) and Jerome McElroy (Oakland, CA/Temecula Valley HS) combined on a sack to start the drive and then it ended when Corey Lee (Humble/La Porte HS) sacked Baker for an 18-yard loss on fourth down.  UIW would tack on another touchdown behind the running of Sessions and Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS).  Sessions added his second score of the night on a 3-yard run with 1:12 left in the game.

The Cardinals finished with 27 first downs and season high 357 yards of offense.  The running game picked up 179 yards led by Sessions' 118 and two scored.  McCollum added 33 yards while Sadler had 24 yards on three carries.  McCollum went 16-of-22 for 162 yards and one touchdown through the air.  Jennings led the team with five receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown while Wick finished with four catches for 44 yards.

The UIW defense limited the Huskies to 3.2 yards per play.  Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS) and Zellars led the team with eight tackles and one tackle for loss each.  Norwood also had a pass breakup while Zellars had a forced fumble.  Lee added five tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack from his nose tackle position.  Douglas finished with two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Kelly led the HBU offense with 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground.  Terrance Peters and Larry Day each had over 30 yards.  Baker went 6-of-18 for 63 yards passing.  La'Travien Gee and Eric Amoako each had double digit tackles for the Huskies.  Josh Jones had 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at Northwestern State at 6 p.m.
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