Skyhawks hang on to beat Central Arkansas, 24-23

In the closest contest the team has competed in so far this season, the UTM Skyhawks were able to defeat the Football Championship Subdivision’s 7th-ranked University of Central Arkansas Bears, 24-23, thanks to senior safety J’Vontez Blackmon’s block of a last-second UCA field goal.

Junior Dylan Favre was given the start once again and played the entire game, but only threw 19 times.  He completed 14 of those passes for a total of 146 yards and three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the running game was called upon to provide the bulk of the Skyhawks’ offensive production; they gained a total of 191 yards on the ground on 49 attempts against the FCS’s 18th-ranked run defense.  Running back DJ McNeil tied with Favre for the team lead in rushing yards; both players netted 78 yards from scrimmage.

Jeremy Butler once again led the team in receptions, hauling in six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.  McNeil and Dylan Davis also contributed touchdown receptions to the team.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Ben Johnson tallied a total of 12 tackles. Leon Carlton III recorded an interception, as did Blackmon, who also blocked Central Arkansas’ potential game-winning field goal.

“I’m proud of our kids,” said head coach Jason Simpson after the game.  “[It was] by far not a perfect game … there was a lot of things we can improve on.  I know I can coach better, I made a lot of mistakes, as well as the other coaches did, but those guys fight.”

The Skyhawks’ first home game of the 2013 season began in promising fashion, as Favre threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Davis on UTM’s opening drive.  Afterward, the Skyhawks and Bears traded a series of punts through the remainder of the first and most of the second quarter.

Then, with a little under six minutes remaining in the half, Favre threw a swing pass to McNeil, who took it into the endzone from 31 yards out to give Martin a 14-0 lead going into halftime.

Shortly after the break, the Bears narrowed the gap when running back Willie Matthews punched the ball into the endzone from one yard out.  Three offensive drives later, Skyhawk kicker Jackson Redditt kicked a field goal from 22 yards away to take the score to 17-7.

After a UCA turnover on downs and a UTM three-and-out, a special teams mistake by Martin gave the Bears the ball on the 12-yard line. On the next play, UCA quarterback Wynrick Smothers threw a touchdown pass to tight end Chase Dixon to bring the score within three points.

On the next drive, however, Favre threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Butler to making the score 24-14.  On the ensuing Central Arkansas possession, Smothers threw another touchdown pass, this time to Damien Watts, who would lead the Bears with nine receptions, 115 yards. The touchdown would pull the Bears within just three points of the lead.

The Skyhawks would go three-and-out on their next possession, giving UCA the ball at their own 33; the Bears were within striking distance of UTM’s endzone when Carlton III made a crucial interception at the 8.

What followed was more than a little bizarre at first glance.  The Skyhawks went three-and-out once again, and the punt team came onto the field.  Rather than punting, however, Coach Simpson instructed punter James Satterfield to hold the ball and run out the back of the end zone for a safety.  In a post game interview, Coach Simpson defended his decision:

“Well, it was the right thing to do, that’s just kind of ‘Football 101′.  You ought to get the first down there, put ’em away, and then you can take a knee after that … Bottom line is, we punt [the ball] out of there, they get the ball at midfield, [and] we at least got a chance to put them on the other side.”

Indeed, the Bears received the free kick and started at their own 39 with only 29 seconds remaining.  A series of passes by Smothers put the ball at the Skyhawks’ 25, where they spiked the ball and brought on the field goal unit for a 42-yard attempt; the Skyhawks quickly used their final timeout to attempt to ice Camara.

As soon as the ball was snapped for the attempt, J’Vontez Blackmon came diving over the middle of the line and got a hand on the ball as soon as it was kicked, sending it straight up into the air to be recovered by UTM linebacker Marquis Clemons, ending the game with a final score of 24-23.

“Well, Snoop’s getting better every week,” Coach Simpson said of the Blackmon’s play.  “He’s come such a long way, [and] I think he’s playing like an all-conference guy.”

Coach Simpson also said that he expects the Skyhawks to gain a national FCS ranking following Saturday’s win.  “If we’re not in the top 20, it’s a joke … You don’t get any prize for it, but there’s some satisfaction.”

The Skyhawks have an bye week next week before traveling to Southeast Missouri on September 28th.