SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word opens the 2015 football season at home against former Lone Star Conference rival Texas A&M-Kingsville. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Benson Stadium.
The Cardinals are entering their second season as a member of the NCAA Division I Southland Conference and fourth year under head coach
Larry Kennan. Kennan is excited about the team's outlook for the year saying, "We've had the best summer workouts we've ever had," on Tuesday's Southland Football Media Coaches' Call.
UIW is coming off a 2-9 season in 2014, but are optimistic about the new season. Sophomore quarterback
Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) returns under center after taking a medical red-shirt last year. As a freshman, he passed for nearly 2,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. The top playmakers at wide receiver should be sophomore
Kody Edwards (Mesquite/Poteet HS) and
Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Juan Seguin HS). At tight end, he has a big target in senior
Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic), who had 20 grabs for 350 yards last year.
The Cardinals running game should be strong with juniors
Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) and
Broderick Reeves (Mexia/Mexia HS) leading the way. Sessions led the team with 462 yards and four touchdowns last year while Reeves led the team in rushing as a freshman. Red-shirt freshman
Dorland Fields (Sweeny/Sweeny HS) will be another player who factors into the running game.
The defense expects to be an improved unit with seven of the top eight tacklers from 2014 back on the roster. Senior inside linebacker
Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) led the team with 76 stops last year while
Robert Johnson (Richmond, CA/Berkeley HS), Adrian Norwood (Waco/Waco HS),
Kobie Douglas (Plano/Plano HS) and
Daryl Irby (Pearland/Dawson HS) are all returning starters in the secondary.
University of Arkansas transfer
Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS) is expected to be a big play guy for the defense at outside linebacker. Tavarres was a member of the UIW track and field team last spring and will also handle some kick return duties.
Sophomore
George Schwanenberg (Bulverde/Smithson Valley HS) captains the special teams unit that has been strong over the past few seasons. The unit has been great in kick coverage. Ramon Coto (Houston/Westfield HS) averaged 42.3 yards per punt last year and over a quarter of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. Freshman
Cody Seidel (Keller/Fossil Ridge HS) will handle the place kicking duties.
The Javelinas were also 2-9 last year, but have a new identity under first year head coach Daren Wilkinson. Wilkinson was the offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II National Champion CSU-Pueblo last year and has brought in a number of transfers to try to turn things around quickly in Kingsville.
The Cardinals and Javelinas have met three times previously, with A&M-Kingsville winning all three matchups. The last meeting came during the 2012 season when the Javelinas won 20-17 in Kingsville.
Prior to the game, the UIW 2014-15 Female Athlete of the Year (Rainy Castaneda), Male Athlete of the Year (Denzel Livingston) and Student-Athlete of the Year (Taylor Johnson) will be honored. At halftime, the newest members of the UIW Athletic Hall of Fame, Melinda McClure (Toole) and Pierce Caldwell will be recognized.
Cardinals games will be broadcast on CBS SportsRadio 860 AM for the second straight season. Gabe Farias and Shawn Morris enter their fourth season as the booth pairing. Fans can listen to the game online at
www.tsrnsports.com or through their phone or tablet device by downloading the TSRN Sports App. Live video will be provided for free through Stretch Internet by going to
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw/.
General admission tickets cost $10 and can be purchased at the gate, by calling 805-3000 or by going online to
www.uiwtickets.com.
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