Incarnate Word’s football staff and players knew all week it would be a tough game all the way around and that is exactly what it became Saturday as the Cardinals dropped their final home contest of the inaugural season 24-22 to Southern Arkansas.
In the game played before 3,247 fans at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium the Cardinals got into the third quarter before SAU finally got the upper hand. With 13:25 on the third period clock the Muleriders got a 35-yard run from Chris Metcalf and after the kick went on top 17-15 and UIW could never get the lead back.
The Cardinals are now 5-4 on the year with a single game remaining November 7 at Eastern New Mexico. With the five wins UIW is guaranteed of being at least .500 in its first season ever of the gridiron sport.
“We knew we were facing a good defensive team,” UIW Coach Mike Santiago said. “Their front three is their strength and once they got into rhythm we just couldn’t get anything going. That’s a good football team, they have played a good schedule.”
What the Muleriders (3-6) did was adjust at the half and limit Incarnate Word to just 46 net yards in the final two periods. “The speed of the defense was a factor,” Santiago said. “It seemed as if our quarterback was getting hit every play.”
In the meanwhile the Muleriders made some adjustments to their offense and finished the day with 374 total yards 236 of which came through the air.
Just before the first half ended, literally just before, the Muleriders got what many thought was the difference-maker. With Incarnate Word leading 15-7 SAU had a third and 19 at the Cardinals 39 yard line and 13 seconds remaining before halftime. A pass got it to the 10 and when the quarterback spiked the ball the scoreboard horn sounded sending most everyone towards the respective locker rooms.
The game officials however put three seconds back on the clock and the Muleriders kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 15-10.
The game’s final difference was three and some thought back to the halftime play. There was one other huge factor however as the Cardinals over the course of the game missed a pair of points after touchdowns.
Incarnate Word took the opening kickoff and marched 60 yards on 13 plays to dent the board first on a one-yard sneak by quarterback Eric Massoni. The kick failed and the Cardinals led. The two clubs then swapped touchdowns including a 13-yard scoring strike from Massoni to Kenneth Pryor. Again UIW missed out on the extra point when a Massoni run was stopped short.
A struggle marked the second quarter with each team managing field goals. The Cardinals got theirs on a 29-yarder off the toe of Thomas Rebold with 1:37 left in the second. That made it 15-7 UIW and set up the quarter-ending situation.
Southern Arkansas got a pair of scores in the third quarter to go up 24-15. The Cardinals defense rose up in the fourth and gave SAU practically nothing—55 yards rushing and five passing. But the UIW offense couldn’t do much itself with 28 yards passing and a minus-12 on the ground.
Sophomore defensive tackle Diego McClain made things really interesting—and exciting--with the clock winding down, the Muleriders on the move and Incarnate Word in a bad position. What he did was stab a pass out of the air at the Cardinals 17 yard line and rumble down the right sideline 83 yards for a touchdown. That and the ensuing PAT got UIW to 24-22 with slight hope remaining.
Coach (defensive coordinator Todd Ivicic) called the play at the right time,” McClain said. “Our defensive end and I switched on the play and he threw it right at me. All I was thinking was get to the end zone and put our team in a better situation.”
When asked if it was a first, McClain said “I think I had two in high school and then I had several in middle school.”
The Cardinals defense forced one more punt and got the ball back to the offense at the UIW 12 with 48 seconds remaining in the game. The next four tries for UIW resulted in a loss of eight yards allowing the Muleriders to take over and spike the ball to end the game.
Statistically for Incarnate Word Massoni was the rushing leader with 18 yards on 14 tries. He also led in passing with 117 yards on 27 throws with one interception and one score.
Over on defense the Cardinals got four sacks of the quarterback led by safety Chaz Pavliska’s one and one-half. Among the 13 times Incarnate Word stopped SAU runners for losses Pavliska again was the leader with four.