SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word offense struggled for much of their Southland Conference football game against visiting Nicholls on Saturday afternoon at Benson Stadium, but the defense was up to the challenge as they picked off a school record four passes in a 20-10 victory.

The Cardinals (2-1, 1-0) defense was the story of the game as they completely shut down the Colonels (0-2, 0-1) in the second half.  The visitors were limited to two first downs and 62 total yards of offense in the half as UIW came back from a 10-7 halftime deficit to stay perfect at home this year.

The UIW defense was led by hard-hitting linebackers Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS), Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) and Josh Zellars (Baytown/Lee HS) who combined for 22 tackles in the game.  Tavarres continued to disrupt the opponent with 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.  In the defensive secondary, Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS) picked up a pair of interceptions, including one late in the fourth quarter that secured the win.  Robert Johnson (Richmond, CA/Berkeley HS) and Troy Lara (San Antonio/Madison HS) each picked off their first passes of the season as well.

The game began ominously for the Cardinals.  They started with the ball and on the second play from scrimmage they had a receiver open deep down the field, but he dropped the pass.  They would have to punt and they pinned the Colonels back at their own 4-yard line.

The Colonels opened the game with their best drive.  They went 96 yards in nine plays and picked up five first downs en route to the end zone.  Tuskani Figaro hit C.J. Bates with an easy 5-yard touchdown pass to open up the scoring at 8:35 in the first quarter.

The Cardinals were able to tie the game early in the second quarter.  They started the scoring drive at their own 16-yard line and quickly moved down the field with the big play being a 32-yard run by Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS).  The tying score came on third down-and-6 when Trent Brittian (Eastland/Eastland HS) bought some time in the pocket and found Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic) all alone in the back of the end zone from 12 yards away with 14:02 left in the second quarter.

The teams traded punts, but a good punt by Nicholls and a bad one by UIW reversed field position and the Colonels started with the ball at the UIW 29-yard line.  The Cardinals defense stood strong and limited the Colonels to a 42-yard field goal attempt which Francisco Condado boomed through the uprights for a 10-7 lead with 9:16 remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals got the ball three more times in the half, but could not manage a single first down.  Norwood came up with a big interception right before halftime that halted a potential scoring drive for the visitors.

The second half began with neither team able to move the ball.  The Colonels opened with two three-and-outs and the Cardinals with one.  A poor punt by Nicholls gave UIW great field position at the Nicholls 33-yard line, but they were only able to move the ball a yard.  Sophomore Ramon Coto (Houston/Westfield HS) jogged onto the field and evened the score with a 49-yard field goal with 8:43 to play in the third quarter.  It tied a career long for Coto and is the second longest field goal in school history behind a 51-yarder by Thomas Rebold in 2010.

Following the field goal, Lara intercepted a Figaro pass on the second play of the drive and gave the Cardinals the ball at the Nicholls 35-yard line.  Unfortunately, a trick-play did not work out as a backwards pass to a receiver who then attempted to throw deep was intercepted by Ahmani Martin and kept the score tied at 10-10.

The rest of the quarter featured the UIW defense keeping the Colonels pinned deep in their own zone, but the Nicholls defense was just as good as they kept forcing punts.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Cardinals once again had great field position and this time they took advantage.  Brittain rolled out to his right and fired a pass down the middle for a 22-yard gain to Stefon Martin.  The drive bogged down after that, but Cody Seidel (Keller/Fossil Ridge HS) was able to drill a 25-yard field to put the Cardinals on top for the first time, 13-10 with 13:13 remaining.

The fourth quarter defense was great for the Cardinals.  Johnson recorded his interception on the drive following the field goal and Tavarres had a sack on the following drive that forced a punt.

In between the two Nicholls drives was one for the Cardinals that nearly turned to disaster.  UIW had driven from their own 42-yard line to first-and-goal at the Nicholls 9.  On third down, Brittain's pass was intercepted by Darius Knight and returned 93 yards for what looked like a go-ahead touchdown.  There was a flag on the play that eliminated the touchdown and gave the Colonels poor field position at their own 16-yard line with 5:31 to play.  The drive went nowhere and they had to punt.

After not moving the ball for most of the game, the Cardinals looked to running back Broderick Reeves (Mexia/Mexia HS) for a spark and he provided.  He opened the drive with a 37-yard gain around the end and then followed that with four more rushes for a total of 27 yards.  Facing third-and-goal at the 4-yard line, Brittain fakes a handoff to Reeves and ran a naked bootleg into the end zone for a clinching touchdown with 1:18 to play.

The Cardinals finished the game with 294 yards of offense and 15 first downs.  Brittain was 15-of-29 for 133 yards, a touchdown and an interception through the air.  Wick led the team with five grabs for 53 yards and a score.  Sessions finished with 69 yards rushing on 15 carries while Reeves added 66 yards on nine carries.  The team was 5-of-16 on third down conversions and held the ball for 33:21.

The Colonels finished with 267 total yards of offense and 12 first downs.  Figaro was 13-of-18 for 113 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while Landry Klann was 3-of-5 for 23 yards and two interceptions.  Bates finished with four catches for 55 yards and a score.  Tobias Lofton rushed for 64 yards on 12 carries while Michael Henry added 40 yards on 12 carries.  They were just 1-of-11 on third down conversions and committed two more turnovers than the Cardinals.

Seth Keller led the Colonels with 11 tackles while Knight had the aforementioned interception, eight tackles and a tackle for loss.

The Cardinals are back in action next week when they travel to UTEP for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.  This will be the team's first ever game against an FBS opponent.
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