Central Arkansas Opens with 47-20 Victory over Vikings
Central Arkansas 47, Elizabeth City State 20
CONWAY, Ark. - Quarterback Nathan Dick and wide receiver Kenneth Robey were more than enough to carry Central Arkansas to a 47-20 season-opening victory over Elizabeth City State Thursday night at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
Dick, a junior in his first start at Central Arkansas, completed 26-of-35 passes for 351 yards and three touchdowns and added 32 yards rushing. Robey, a senior from Charleston, Miss., saw his first significant action of his career and made the most of it, catching nine passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bears (1-0) totaled 585 yards of total offense, including 407 in the first half when they jumped out to a 27-14. Dick, a transfer from the University of Arkansas, completed 21-of-26 for 312 yards by halftime and Robey had eight of his catches in the first 30 minutes.
The Vikings (1-1) got on the board first with a 2-yard run by quarterback Creven Powell with 7:15 left in the first quarter. Central Arkansas answered when Dick found Robey for a 10-yard touchdown at the 4:22 mark of the quarter. Senior Eddie Carmona, a first-team All-Southland Conference kicker, made the point-after to tie it at 7-7. Carmona had missed an earlier 31-yard field goal attempt and also missed two extra points.
ECSU struck again with an 82-yard pass from Powell to Dexter Manley at the 3:37 mark for a 14-7 advantage. But Central Arkansas took the lead for good on a 9-yard pass from Dick to senior Willie Landers in the opening minute of the second quarter. Sophomore Terence Bobo added a 10-yard touchdown run and Robey caught a 63-yard touchdown pass from Dick to give the Bears their 27-14 halftime margin.
The Vikings, who opened their season with a 45-27 victory over Johnson C. Smith last weekend, got a 22-yard field goal from Devin Pike before Central Arkansas tacked on two more quick touchdowns. Sophomore Anthony Blackmon scored from the 14 and Robey caught his third TD pass, an 11-yarder from redshirt freshman Wynrick Smothers, with 14:38 left in the game.
ECSU got one more field goal, from 39 yards by Danny Heimrich, and the Bears got a 5-yard touchdown run from Smothers to round out the scoring. Sophomore Jackie Hinton led Central Arkansas's ground game with 48 yards rushing on eight carries, and also caught five passes for 66 yards. Daraonte McNeill led the Vikings with 117 rushing yards, including a 75-yarder that set up ECSU's first touchdown.
The Central Arkansas defense held ECSU to 380 yards of offense, led by junior linebacker Frank Newsome with seven tackles, including two for loss. Central Arkansas registered 11 plays of minus yards, including two tackles for loss by senior Markell Carter and redshirt freshman Matthew Hornbuckle.
The victory moved Conque into a tie for the most career coaching victories at Central Arkansas with 74. He is now tied with Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer Harold Horton.
Central Arkansas travels to Charleston, Ill., Sept. 11, to take on Eastern Illinois. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
Tulane 27, Southeastern Louisiana 21
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Despite holding an advantage in total yards and first downs, Southeastern Louisiana fell just short in its upset bid of Football Bowl Subdivision opponentTulane and dropped a 27-21 decision in the 2010 season opener for both teams Thursday night at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Lions (0-1) held a 266-252 advantage in total yards and finished with 17 first downs to 15 for the Green Wave (1-0). However, Tulane forced Southeastern into four turnovers that ultimately led to the Lions' 12th loss in as many tries versus FBS competition since the program's return in 2003 from an 18-year absence.
The Lions were down by 13 early in the fourth quarter but battled back to cut the lead to six. Southeastern took over with just under a minute remaining and drove into Tulane territory. On the game's final play, Tulane defensive end Justin Adams sacked Lion senior quarterback Tyler Beatty before he get off one last Hail Mary attempt.
The Southeastern defense held Tulane to four first downs in the second half. Senior linebacker Mark Newbill led Southeastern with 10 tackles, while senior safety Tommy Connors returned with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. The Lions had four sacks total with senior Nathan Clophus, sophomore Tramaine Lucas and sophomore Devan Walker each were credited with sacks. Senior safety Re'Keem Wilson - the Southland Conference's interception leader in 2009 - picked off his first pass of 2010.
Beatty was solid in his fourth career start, tossing three touchdowns and completing 17-of-34 attempts for 202 yards, but also committing two turnovers. Beatty hooked up with junior Kory Theodore (three catches, 77 yards) for two touchdowns, while junior Simmie Yarborough hauled in a team-high six passes for 52 yards and a score. Sophomore running back Zeke Jones paced the Lions on the ground with 61 yards on 12 carries.
True freshman Orleans Darkwa led the Tulane offensive attack, rushing for 75 yards and three touchdowns on 19 attempts. Green Wave sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin managed the game well, completing 17-of-26 passes for 129 yards and an interception. Sophomore D.J. Banks hauled in a game-high seven passes for 65 yards for Tulane, while sophomore linebacker Trent Mackey led all players with 13 tackles to lead the Green Wave defensive efforts.
Southeastern trailed by 10 at the half, but took the opening drive of the third quarter 82 yards on 12 plays. A Zeke Jones 22-yard run set up the Lions with first-and-goal at the Tulane one. On the next play, Jones was initially called down before losing the ball into the end zone where it was recovered by the Green Wave. However, after review the ball was awarded to Tulane and a scoring chance for Southeastern was squandered.
On the ensuing Tulane possession, Wilson picked off Griffin to give the Lions the ball back at the Green Wave 31-yard line. Two plays later, Beatty hit a streaking Yarborough for a 29-yard touchdown, cutting the Tulane lead to 17-14 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
The two teams traded stops to send the game into the final quarter. Tulane drove down to the Lion 8-yard line, but the Lion defense held firm, forcing Cairo Santos to hit a 27-yard field goal to put the Green Wave up, 20-14, with 12:17 left.
On the Lions' next play, Mackey stripped Yarborough and Adams recovered to set up the Green Wave with first-and-goal at the Southeastern 8-yard line. Darkwa cruised in untouched two plays later for a 6-yard score to give Tulane its largest lead at 27-14 with 11:15 remaining.
Southeastern would not go away quietly, however, as the Lions quickly marched down the field with a 77-yard scoring drive that took just under two minutes off the clock. Beatty capped the drive with a 41-yard touchdown to Theodore that pulled the Lions within six with 9:29 left. The teams traded punts for the remainder of the game until Southeastern's last gasp drive in the final minute.
Tulane took the early lead with a 16-play, 75-yard drive to open the game that took nearly nine minutes off the clock. The Green Wave were 3-for-3 on third-down conversions and Darkwa ran in from three yards to give Tulane a 7-0 lead.
Southeastern answered with an eight-play, 57-yard march capped by a 23-yard strike from Beatty to Theodore. Beatty completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive that knotted the score, 7-7 with 2:43 left in the opening quarter.
After the two teams traded three-and-outs, a short punt by sophomore Beau Mothe and a 14-yard punt return by senior Casey Robottom set up Tulane with the ball at the Lion 27-yard line to start its first drive of the second quarter. Four plays later, Darkwa broke several tackles and bulled in from eight yards out to put Tulane back on top, 14-7, with 12:11 left in the opening half.
An interception by Tulane sophomore Shakiel Smith gave the Green Wave another short field, but the Lion defense stiffened and held the Green Wave to a 29-yard field goal by Santos to put the Green Wave up, 17-7 with 6:25 left in the second quarter.
On the next play from scrimmage, Beatty missed a pitch to Zeke Jones and Tulane recovered at the Lion 17-yard line. Southeastern came up with a big defensive play of its own to keep the game from getting out of hand.
Connors sacked Griffin on third-and-three to force a fumble and senior Stephen Moreaux recovered at the 20-yard line to give Southeastern the ball back and thwart a Green Wave scoring opportunity going into the half.
Southeastern will be back in action Sept. 11 when it plays host to Tennessee-Martin at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium.