Box Score HOUSTON – The University of the Incarnate Word football team won their first road game of the year, 38-36, on Saturday night against Houston Baptist at Husky Field.
Jon Copeland found his stride, going 33-for-44 for 342 yards and three touchdowns. This marks his second 300-yard passing game of the season and the seventh of his career.
Kevin Brown racked up 105 rushing yards on 11 carries. This is his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.
Kam Williams ended the night with 101 yards on nine catches. This is his fourth consecutive game with 100 or more yards.
Defensively,
Jacob Harper had 12 tackles, while
Tre Richardson chipped in 11 tackles, with seven solo.
The Cardinal offense started off strong, marching methodically down the field in a nine-play opening drive that took 75 yards and 3:12 off the clock. UIW had second and seven from the HBU32 when Copeland found
Lamont Johnson in the end zone to give UIW a 7-0 advantage.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies found a gap and Gamar Brito returned the ball for an 87-yard touchdown, knotting the game at 7-7.
With HBU driving,
Louis Otis stepped in front of a pass and snagged his first interception of the season to set up another explosive Cardinal touchdown. Copeland capped a four-play, 48-yard drive when he connected with
Mark Sullivan on a 31-yard touchdown pass to put UIW up, 14-7, with 8:58 left in the first quarter.
The Huskies cut into UIW's lead with 13:39 left in the first half when Gino Garcia hit a 49-yard field goal, but UIW responded. With 10:25 remaining in the second quarter,
Marquez Perez took a direct snap and rushed six yards around the right corner for a UIW touchdown, extending the Cardinal advantage to 21-10. This touchdown drive was 11 plays over 65 yards and took 3:18 off the clock.
HBU refused to go quietly, adding another score with 4:13 left before the break when Bailey Zappe completed an eight-yard pass to Ben Ratzlaff, leaving the Cardinals with a 21-17 lead.
The Cardinals again pushed their lead out before the break. The drive was highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Copeland to
Kam Williams and an 18-yard rush by
Kevin Brown to help set up first and goal for UIW. From there,
Keyondrick Philio powered his way to a 2-yard score. After HBU's Garcia kicked a 26-yard field goal, the Cardinals took a 28-20 advantage into the locker room.
The HBU offense started off the second half strong, but UIW's defense stepped up and held the Huskies to a field goal, preserving the 28-23 Cardinal lead with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
Copeland completed passes of 15 yards (
Mark Sullivan), 17 yards (
Ameer King) and 11 yards (
Jaelin Campbell) to highlight the next drive. Then, with third-and-goal on the HBU4, Williams caught a pass over a defender in the end zone, capping the 10-play, 75-yard drive and giving UIW a 35-23 lead with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter.
The Huskies then used a 6-yard touchdown pass from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns to cut the Cardinal lead to 35-30, but
Carson Mohr hit a 31-yard field goal with 2:37 left in the third quarter to extend the UIW advantage again (38-30).
HBU cut into the Cardinals' lead with 3:14 left in the game with a touchdown pass to Brito. The Huskies then attempted a two-point conversion in an effort to tie the game. The receiver dropped the attempt in the endzone which secured the win for the Cardinals, 38-36.
