HAMMOND, LOUISIANA – The University of the Incarnate Word pulled off one of the best victories in the program's history on Saturday night with their 16-2 win at Southland Conference rival Southeastern Louisiana at Strawberry Stadium.

The win was the first road victory of the season for the Cardinals (5-4, 4-3) and came against the two-time defending conference champions, a team that had outscored UIW 98-10 in their previous two meetings.  The UIW defense played their best game of the season as they forced a school record five turnovers and held a running attack that was averaging 220 yards per game to just 39 yards.

The UIW offense struggled with the difficult weather conditions, but they did enough to get the win.  The most important thing they were able to do was keep possession of the ball committing only one turnover.  They won the time of possession battle and held the ball for 33:33 of the contest.

UIW head coach Larry Kennan was understandably emotion after the game.  "It's beyond belief," said Kennan.  "These guys have worked so hard and done so much.  We knew we were going to have a chance to win and we did.  We wanted to set the tone for the program for years to come and we just did it.  We beat a good football team on the road."

The game started brilliantly for the Cardinals.  After stopping the Lions on the opening drive of the game, Jawun Jiles (Shreveport, LA/Byrd HS) blocked the punt giving UIW the ball at the 2-yard line.  Two plays later, Sean Flannel (Brazoria/West Columbia HS) pushed it into the end zone from a yard out. 

The Cardinals had a chance to extend the lead almost immediately.  Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS) broke through the SLU line and forced a fumble that was pounced on by Darrius Montgomery (Baytown/Goose Creek Memorial HS) at the Lions 27-yard line.  UIW was unable to move the ball and ended up giving it back on downs.

The UIW defense forced another punt on the next possession and they had another chance to score after a big 46-yard pass completion from Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) to Stefon Martin (Atlanta, GA/Chabot College) moved the ball down to the 10-yard line.  The drive stalled at the 5-yard line, but the Cardinals missed a 22-yard field goal.

The Cardinals finally put some more points on the board at the beginning of the second quarter.  Brittain completed a pair of passes to Clint Killough (San Antonio/MacArthur HS) for 41 yards to move the ball into the Red Zone.  A sack halted the drive, but Cody Seidel (Keller/Fossil Ridge HS) was able to boot a 29-yard field goal with 13:01 left in the quarter.  The drive went 54 yards in eight plays.

The Lions were able to put their first points on the board thanks to a mistake by the Cardinals.  After pinning the Cardinals inside their own 5-yard line, the Lions defense held tough and forced a punt.  The snap was mishandled and bounced out of the end zone for a safety with 4:44 left in the half.

Following the safety, the Lions immediately went for a big play.  Donovan Isom completed a deep pass over the middle to William French.  As French was trying to get into the end zone, Robert Johnson (Richmond, CA/Berkeley HS) ripped the ball away to give UIW the ball at their own 1-yard line.  The Cardinals would take a 10-2 lead into the halftime break.

The second half opened with a pair of turnovers as the rainy weather did not let up.  The Cardinals recovered a Lions fumble, but two plays later SLU picked off a Brittain pass.

The Cardinals forced a punt off their turnover and Brittain immediately made up for his mistake.  On third down, he scrambled around the pocket and then found a hole to run through and went 58 yards for a touchdown with 8:06 left in the third quarter.  The extra point was blocked to make it 16-2.

Early in the fourth quarter it looked like the Lions might have something going on offense.  Brandon Acker made an unbelievable catch for a 24-yard gain and then a pass interference call put Southeastern into UIW territory.  Troy Lara (San Antonio/Madison HS) ended the threat with his second interception of the season and his 25-yard return gave the ball back at the UIW 38-yard line.

The UIW defense stepped up again on the next drive.  SLU backup quarterback Justin Alo had the Lions moving, but Tyler Colbert (Fort Worth/Southwest HS) hit him just as he was releasing a pass and Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) came down with the fluttering ball.

The Cardinals dominated the game as they had 119 more yards of offense than the Lions and held them to just nine first downs with only one coming in the first half.  Brittain was the offensive star of the game going 16-of-34 for 178 yards and an interception and rushing for a game high 88 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.  Killough led the team with five catches for 72 yards while Flannel contributed 46 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

The UIW defense used a total team effort to flummox the Lions.  Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS) finished with a team high eight tackles.  Tavarres added seven tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble as he continued his outstanding season.  He broke the school single season record for tackles and sacks in the game and has 94 and 7.5, respectively.  Defensive end Alex Jenkins (Bath, Eng./St. Gregory's HS) had one of his best games of the season with six tackles, including two for loss.  Overall, the defense forced three fumbles, recovered three fumbles and had two interceptions.

The Lions finished with 39 yards rushing on 33 carries.  Julius Maracalin led the way with 28 yards on 12 carries.  Isom finished 6-of-11 for 77 yards through the air while Alo was 6-of-12 for 88 yards and two interceptions.  Brandon Acker led the team with four catches for 69 yards.  Herbert Harris finished with 14 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss while JQ Sandolph added 11 tackles, a tackle for loss and four pass breakups.

The Cardinals return home next week for their final home game of the season against Lamar University.  The game kicks off at 2 p.m. at Benson Stadium.
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