MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello football team scored 41 points in the second half of Saturday night’s 44-17 Homecoming win over Harding, giving UAM its third Gulf South Conference victory of the season.

 

Of the 41 points scored in the second half, 27 came in the fourth-quarter alone, just three points off UAM’s record for points in a single-quarter.

 

The Weevils (4-5, 3-3 GSC) recorded eight season highs in the win as a team on offense, with 49 rush attempts, three touchdown rushes, 26 pass completions, 436 passing yards, 11.5 yards per pass, 87 total plays, 593 yards of total offense and 44 points scored.

The Bisons (4-5, 2-4 GSC) struck first after a quarter of no scoring from either team with a 30-yard field goal by Micah Canterbury with 13:53 left in the second quarter.

 

UAM’s freshman kicker Joe Lamoureux answered with a 34-yarder on UAM’s ensuing possession, capping an 11-play, 68-yard drive that used 4:16 off the clock.

 

Neither team scored for the remainder of the half, resulting in a 3-3 tie at the halftime break.

 

In the third quarter, junior Johnny Polite recorded his first rushing touchdown of the season with a five-yard scamper at the 12:03 mark to give the Boll Weevils a 10-3 lead.

 

On UAM’s next offensive possession, junior quarterback Scott Buisson found the end zone on a six-yard touchdown run, capping a three-play, 81-yard drive that only used 31 seconds. That drive was helped by a 68-yard pass completion from Buisson to junior Jywin Ceaser.

 

UAM opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a two-yard touchdown rush by senior quarterback Casey Cathcart, giving the Weevils a 24-3 lead with 12:23 left in regulation.

 

Harding found the scoreboard again on its ensuing drive, with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Zac Ross to Jordan Watson on the second play of the drive that only used 27 seconds.

 

Buisson and Ceaser hooked up again later on a 14-yard touchdown strike to give UAM a 31-10 lead with 8:32 remaining.

 

Harding quarterback Zac Ross answered with a 12-yard touchdown rush with 5:14 remaining, trimming the UAM lead to 31-17.

On UAM’s ensuing possession, Buisson found junior Nate Jones in the corner of the end zone to cap a four-play, 39-yard drive that used 1:47 off the clock.

 

Sophomore Blake Prince forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving the UAM offense the football at the Harding 42-yard line. After a one-yard run by senior Glendon Glaspie, backup quarterback Cathcart found a wide-open Steven Porter in the middle of the field for a 41-yard touchdown strike to end the scoring. Lamoureux’s extra point attempt was blocked to finalize the scoring at 44-17.

 

Buisson completed 25 of 37 pass attempts with 395 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also added 14 carries for 35 yards and one touchdown for 430 yards of total offense. Cathcart only threw one pass in the game, his 41-yard touchdown toss.

 

Polite led all rushers with 21 carries for 71 yards and one touchdown, averaging out to 3.4 yards per touch. His touchdown run was his first score on the ground since last year’s contest against Harding.

 

Ceaser finished with an individual season high of 187 receiving yards on 10 receptions, including one touchdown toss. He averaged 18.7 yards per catch.

 

Defensively, the Weevils were led by senior Jeremy Brown and junior Carlton Johnson with 11 tackles each. Brown added one sack, two tackles for a loss and one quarterback hurry to his totals, while Johnson had two pass deflections.

 

Next Saturday, October 31, the Boll Weevils play host to the nation’s top-ranked team in the NCAA Division II, North Alabama. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Convoy Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium.