THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA – The University of the Incarnate Word picked up a nice road victory in Southland Conference football action on Saturday night at Nicholls, 38-20.

The UIW offense moved the ball well all game long picking up 287 yards of offense in the first half and they finished with a season high 463 yards with 203 on the ground and 260 through the air.  The team had three receivers with at least 60 yards and four players with at least 30 yards rushing.  The defense kept up their end of the bargain as well with four sacks and a blocked punt in the contest.

The Cardinals (2-7, 2-5) got off to a good start to the game.  After giving up one first down to the Colonels, the defense brought pressure and a Daryl Irby (Pearland/Dawson HS) sack stopped the home team.  After a punt, the Cardinals drove 65 yards in seven plays to take the early lead.  Jordan Scelfo (Tucson, AZ/Salpointe HS) hit Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic HS) for a big 33-yard pass down the middle to set up first-and-goal.  Three plays later, Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) bulled his way in from a yard out.

On their next drive, the Cardinals went 75 yards in nine plays, but were stopped inside the 10-yard and had to settle for a Ramon Coto (Houston/Westfield HS) 22-yard field goal.  The big play of the drive was a 35-yard pass to Wick.

The Colonels (0-10, 0-6) got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter.  After forcing a UIW punt, Beaux Hebert connected on a big 43-yard pass play to Demon Bolt to put the Colonels in the Red Zone.  Three plays later, Michael Henry scored from the 1-yard line with 10:12 left in the second quarter.

Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Seguin HS) returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards for the Cardinals to put the team in great field position.  On the third play of the drive, Scelfo hit Wick in stride for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 8:55 left in the half.  Wick would finish the game with four catches for a career high 116 yards.

After taking a 17-7 lead, the Cardinals forced a punt to get the ball back, but a fumble by Scelfo gave the ball back to the Colonels.  Two plays later Tobias Lofton streaked past the UIW defense and scored on a 34-yard run with 5:03 left in the first half.

The Cardinals responded quickly after the Colonels tried a surprise on-side kick that did not travel 10 yards.  They took only 2:17 to drive the 34 yards needed for the score.  Scelfo hit Daryl Brooks (Teague/Teague HS) for a 22-yard score on a third-and-8 situation with 2:46 left in the first half to make it 24-14.

In the second half, the Cardinals were able to score first.  The offense went back on the ground to Sessions who carried it six times on the drive, including a 1-yard touchdown with 7:06 left in the third quarter.  The drive covered 59 yards on nine plays in 4:41.

The score remained 31-14 until the fourth quarter when the Cardinals embarked on their longest time of possession drive of the game.  UIW ran the ball nine times on the drive, including a 19-yard scamper by Scelfo.  Scelfo completed a pair of passes to Casey Jennings (Fremont, CA/Washington HS) for 32 yards.  Joseph Sadler (Devine/Devine HS) finally pushed the ball across the goal line with a two-yard touchdown run with 9:30 left in the game.  It capped off a 12-play, 67-yard drive encompassing 7:08.

The Colonels came back with their best drive of the game going 78 yards in seven plays.  They scored on a 25-yard pass from Hebert to Keenan Canty.  The two-point conversion failed.

The win was the first Southland Conference road victory for the Cardinals since joining the conference in 2013.  UIW had 24 first downs compared to 15 for Nicholls and converted 8-of-14 on third downs while the Colonels were 3-of-13.

Scelfo finished the game 16-of-30 for 260 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.  He also had 31 yards rushing.  Brooks led the team with five catches for a career high 70 yards and a touchdown.  In addition to Wick's 116 yards, Jennings added five grabs for 61 yards.  Sessions was the rushing leader for the team with 89 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.  Broderick Reeves (Mexia/Mexia HS) added 13 carries for 50 yards.

The UIW defense held the Colonels to 351 yards of offense.  Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS) led the team with seven tackles while Nick Ginn (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) had four tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.  Kobie Douglas (Plano/Plano HS) added three tackles, a half tackle for loss and three pass breakups.

The Colonels also had a balanced offense with over 200 yards passing and nearly 150 rushing.  Henry led all players with 96 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.  Hebert went 16-of-29 for 209 yards and a touchdown through the air.  Canty had four catches for 45 yards and a score while Bolt had three grabs for 70 yards.

Davin Bovie and Ronnie Walker led the Colonels with 10 tackles apiece while Byron Cobb added eight solo tackles, a fumble recovery and two pass breakups.  Toren Joseph and Andrew Carter each had an interception.

The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday at 6 p.m. against Sam Houston State at home.  It is the final home game of the year for UIW.
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