Box Score SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word football team won its home opener at Benson Stadium on Saturday night in their first ever matchup against Texas Southern by a score of 63-44. 

Jon Copeland led the Cardinals with 344 passing yards, while Kam Williams registered 146 receiving yards.
 
Ameer King led the Cardinals with 163 rushing yards. As a team, the Cardinals rushed for 402 yards, which ranks first in the record books for single-game team rushing yards.
 
UIW took an early lead against Texas Southern. After King's 33-yard rush put the Cardinals in great field position, Keyondrick Philio used a five-yard scramble to give UIW its first home touchdown of the season and a 7-0 advantage with 13:18 left in the first quarter.
 
The Cardinals added another score with 8:44 left in the quarter. First, Copeland connected with CJ Hardy for an 18-yard gain. Copeland then found Kam Williams in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to put UIW up 14-0.
 
Texas Southern responded when DeAndre Johnson completed a 15-yard pass to Chris Long with 6:59 left in the first. The Tigers then added a field goal with 14:51 left in the second quarter to make the score 14-10 in favor of UIW.
 
The Cardinals extended their lead with 13:10 left before the break. Kevin Brown rushed for 21 yards before Copeland connected with Marquez Perez for a 16-yard gain. Brown followed that play with a 32-yard run into the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff, Kaleb Ducros forced a TSU fumble, which Shawn Holton returned for a 30-yard touchdown to give UIW a 28-10 advantage.
 
King then used two big plays – a 56-yard run and a 17-yard rush – to set the Cardinals up with first-and-goal. On the next play, Copeland found King for a three-yard touchdown to give UIW a 35-10 lead with 8:01 left in the half.
 
TSU used an 87-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Tren'Davion Dickson to cut the Cardinal lead to 35-17 with 5:02 left in the half, but UIW answered. With 2:42 remaining, Copeland found Perez again, this time for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Cardinals a 42-17 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Texas Southern opened the second half with a touchdown when Johnson found Dickson again, this time with a 15-yard pass as the Tigers cut into UIW's lead to 42-24 with 12:32 left in the third quarter. UIW responded as Williams caught a pass over his shoulder from Copeland with 9:50 left in the quarter. This touchdown extended UIW's lead to 49-24.
 
TSU's LaDarius Owens ran for a 49-yard touchdown, but the Tigers missed the extra point. Owens then used a one-yard rush with 6:10 left in the third to cut the Cardinal advantage to 49-37.
 
With 9:53 left in the game, Copeland found Williams for a 70-yard touchdown pass to help UIW extend its lead to 56-37.
 
Philio rushed one yard to the endzone with 3:06 left in the game to put the Cardinals up 62-37. Carson Morh's extra point after the Cardinals' final touchdown of the game put them in the record book as the second highest scoring game in UIW history.
 
The Tigers scored the final touchdown of the game with 15 seconds left to cut the Cardinals' win to 63-44.
 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.

UIW Head Coach Eric Morris
Opening statement…
"Any win is a good win in Division I football. When you can pull off a victory, then obviously you're happy about that. We have a bunch of stuff we have to correct — a bunch of sloppy plays.
 
"I thought we did a great job in the run game tonight. We were able to establish a run game and keep it going for the majority of the game — we sputtered a bit there in the third quarter. And then defensively, we kinda started off slow. We didn't get off the field on third downs, but then had some key turnovers that were good. Last drive it stunk giving that one up late there, but our kids played a ton of plays — it was hot out there, so we were happy to get the victory and move on."
 
on Ameer King's run game, the run game in general…
"All three of them, I mean Ameer had a great game, Kevin Brown and Keyondrick Philio, I thought all three did an incredible job for us. And none of that's possible without the offensive line. I challenged our coaches this week to come up with a great run plan. I wanted to establish a run game, because we felt like what they're doing defensively, that if we could break through that first line of defense, there's gonna be a bunch of holes, that they could be explosive, so that's kinda what you saw today. Our coaches did a phenomenal job coming up with a great run plan."
 
On managing the downs and creating third-and-short opportunities…
"I thought it was key. Last week we were 0 for 10, and like you said, we were all in third-and-long last week. We stayed ahead of the change, which was good. I thought we were able to do a good job with that, and ultimately I think we stayed on the field and put together some sustained drives, especially late in the game. They knew we were going to run it. We were slowing the game down but were still able to get first downs and punch it in there at the end, so I think that's the sign of a good team. We were able to lean on them late in the game, so I'm excited about that."