SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word football team closes out their home schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Southland Conference foe Lamar University. It is the annual military appreciation game and also senior day at Benson Stadium.
LTG Perry L. Wiggins, Commanding General, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) and Senior Commander, Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis will be on hand to conduct an enlistment ceremony at halftime of the game and he will participate in the pregame coin toss.
The Cardinals (5-4, 4-3) moved into fourth place by themselves in the Southland Conference with their victory last week at Southeastern Louisiana. A win this week would guarantee only the second winning season in the program's history. UIW is 4-0 at home this season and can post the program's first undefeated home record with a victory.
UIW comes into the contest averaging 352 yards and 19.4 points per game. Sophomore quarterback
Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) directs the offensive attack and is 145-of-284 for 1,861 yards, eight touchdowns and 11 interceptions passing. He leads the team with 370 rushing yards as well. He needs 33 passing yards and 55 yards of total offense to break his own single season school records.
Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic HS),
Kody Edwards (Mesquite/Poteet HS) and
Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Seguin HS) are the top receivers on the team. Wick, a tight end, has 28 catches for 346 yards and a touchdown. Edwards has 27 grabs for 402 yards and two scores while also leading the conference with 25.6 yards per kick return. Hicks has 27 catches for 313 yards and three touchdowns and is averaging 18.7 yards per punt return. Running back
Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) is expected back in the lineup after missing most of the last two games. He has 360 yards rushing and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
The Cardinals are coming off their best defensive performance of the season against Southeastern Louisiana. Senior outside linebacker
Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS) is the headliner, but there are a number of other players backing him up with strong play. Tavarres has set school records tackles, tackles for loss and sacks already this year and he leads the nation in tackles for loss. Inside linebackers
Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) and
Josh Zellars (Baytown/Lee HS) have combined for 128 tackles. Cornerback
Kobie Douglas (Plano/Plano HS) is among the national leaders and is tied for the conference lead with 12 pass breakups on the season.
Lamar (4-5, 3-4) is led by their running back, Kade Harrington. He leads the nation with over 200 yards rushing per game and has 1,805 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns on 8.3 yards per carry this year. He has already broken the conference record for rushing yards in a season. In addition, he has 15 catches for 216 yards and two more scores.
Joe Minden and Carson Earp have split time at quarterback for LU. Minden is 98-of-160 for 1,110 yards, 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions while Earp is 42-of-76 for 576 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. Earp is also second on the team with 316 rushing yards. Reggie Begelton is the top receiver on the squad with 48 catches for 477 yards and five touchdowns while Devonn Brown has 22 catches for 440 yards and four scores.
The defense is allowing over 32 points per game, but they have some strong players. Defensive lineman Larance Hale has 69 tackles and he is second in the conference to Tavarres with 17.0 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Xavier Bethany, Shawn Jones and Ronnie Jones all have between 65 and 70 tackles on the year.
One of the strengths of Lamar is place kicker Alex Ball. He is a perfect 46-of-46 on extra-point tries and he is 10-of-13 on field goal attempts.
The game will be broadcast on CBS SportsRadio 860 AM with Gabe Farias and Shawn Morris on the call. It will also be broadcast online at
www.tsrnsports.com. The webstream is available for free at portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw. The Cardinals have 17 seniors who will be honored following the conclusion of the game.
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