BOX SCORE
MONTICELLO – Southwestern Oklahoma State racked up 274 rushing yards in the second half to lead to a 38-21 win over the University of Arkansas at Monticello football team on Saturday in UAM’s final road game of the season.
It was also UAM’s final conference game of the season. With the loss, UAM falls to 1-9 overall and 0-8 in the Great American Conference, while SWOSU improves to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the GAC.
The Bulldogs ended up outgaining UAM 594-322, more than half of that total coming in the final 30 minutes. UAM, however, held SWOSU to just 14 second-half points after allowing the Bulldogs to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
SWOSU’s Teverick Boyd put the Bulldogs up 7-0 at the 8:04 mark of the opening quarter on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Stenta. UAM answered with 3:13 remaining in the first quarter on a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown by Davis Stephens for UAM’s first defensive touchdown of the season and the first defensive score since last season’s win over SWOSU.
SWOSU’s Colton Rainey gave the Bulldogs back the lead at 10-7 on a 35-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter. The Bulldogs went up 17-7 with 10:50 remaining in the first half on a two-yard touchdown run by D.C. Walker.
UAM’s Malik Matthews was responsible for trimming the Boll Weevil deficit to three points with a 60-yard fumble recovery on a play in which UAM quarterback Damon Wicker threw an interception, which was turned back over to UAM on a fumble on the interception return.
The Bulldogs rattled off 21 unanswered points from the 4:30 mark of the second quarter to the 2:23 mark of the fourth quarter on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Stenta to Kirk Jones and touchdowns runs of 25 yards and one yard by Aaron Wilson.
UAM closed out the scoring with its only offensive touchdown of the contest on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Damon Wicker to Malik Matthews with 2:23 remaining in the contest.
SWOSU’s Aaron Wilson had over 200 rushing yards in the second half alone and finished the contest with 30 carries for 289 yards with two touchdowns. SWOSU quarterback Dustin Stenta was 14-of-19 through the air for 222 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions. Stenta’s favorite target was Andre Simmons with four receptions for 90 yards.
UAM quarterback Damon Wicker led the Boll Weevils with 271 yards of total offense. The senior was 24-of-36 through the air for 203 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He added 68 yards on the ground on 21 rush attempts. Wicker’s favorite target was junior Jamal Nixon with seven catches for 34 yards. Malik Matthews finished the game with six receptions for 88 yards.
UAM concludes the 2012 season next Saturday, November 10 at home against Northwestern Oklahoma State. UAM will conduct a special senior day ceremony before the contest to honor the 13 Boll Weevils playing in their final game of their UAM careers. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium.
