Stephen F. Austin
2-8 , 2-5
Incarnate Word
5-5 , 4-4
SFA Celebrates Senior Day with 31-24 Victory over Incarnate Word
11/9/2019 9:03:00 PM | Football
Hutchings rushes for two scores, Gipson hauls in go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Injuries, bad luck, being outmatched - you name it and the SFA football team has had to endure it in 2019.
Despite all that - and a whole lot more - the 'Jacks seized their final opportunity to give their home crowd - as well as their seniors - the one thing they have been clamoring for: a win at Homer Bryce Stadium.
Xavier Gipson got his hands on a pass from quarterback Cam Arnold and raced 70 yards to the house for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, Storm Ruiz padded the lead with a 38-yard field goal and the 'Jacks celebrated senior day with a 31-24 triumph over Incarnate Word Saturday night.
In their final home game of 2019, SFA battled back from a halftime deficit and handed the defending league champions a loss while hiking their win total to two games.
It looked as though the 'Jacks were gearing up for a runaway victory as the first 15 minutes of action were thoroughly dominated by the home team. Freshman Willie Roberts picked off a throw from UIW quarterback Jon Copeland on the game's second play and brought it back to the Cardinals' 34 yard line to set up SFA's first scoring drive of the game.
Hutchings took over from there, serving as the ball carrier on each of the 'Jacks' six plays. The senior's final carry of the drive was a two-yard scamper into the end zone to put SFA ahead 7-0. The 'Jacks' defense held up their end of the bargain, holding UIW to only 13 yards in the opening quarter and after a bad punt by the Cardinals SFA took over on the UIW 29 on its final drive of the quarter.
The home team wasted little time in extending its lead. Facing a 4th-and-1 on the Cardinals' 20, SFA went to Arnold who raced 20 yards to pay dirt to put SFA ahead 14-0. The Cardinals, though, turned the tied in the second quarter.
A bad snap on the 'Jacks' second play of the quarter saw the ball bounce back into SFA's end zone where it was recovered by the Cardinals for their first touchdown of the night. That was one of three touchdowns the visitors scored in the quarter and after Copeland hit Jaelin Campbell for a seven-yard score the 'Jacks were staring a 21-14 deficit in the face.
Right out of the gates in the third, SFA evened the score. Arnold hit Gipson for a 25-yard gain and moved the chains once again with a 14-yard connection to Lawton Rikel before Hutchings found a seam and sprinted 21 yards to the promised land. The senior's second touchdown run of the game capped SFA's 73-yard drive to start the half and knotted matters at 21-all.
That was the way the score stayed until the fourth when, on SFA's second play of the quarter, the Arnold-to-Gipson connection was dialed up. The 70-yard touchdown put SFA ahead for good and after Ruiz's 38-yard field goal SFA let up just one more field goal to the Cardinals to account for the final score.
All but one of the Cardinals' five drives in the final quarter resulted in nothing and though the visitors managed to pile up 414 yards of offense the 'Jacks' defense found a way to get the job done.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Arnold finished the game 15-of-22 for 202 yards and a touchdown. Gipson was his favorite target as the freshman accumulated a season-high 132 receiving yards to go along with his score.
• Hutchings totaled 74 yards and posted two of the three rushing touchdowns on the night for the 'Jacks.
• Defensively, Brevin Randle led the way with 12 stops while Marcus Mosley and Amad Murray registered sacks.
COMING UP NEXT
• Hitting the road for their penultimate game of the season, the 'Jacks head north to Conway, Ark., for a Southland Conference showdown at Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon. Kickoff from Estes Stadium has been set for 3:00 p.m.
-SFA-
Team Stats
UIW 0, SFA 7
SFA - Hutchings, Thom 2 yd run (Ruiz, Storm kick), 6 plays, 34 yards, TOP 2:16
UIW 0, SFA 14
SFA - Arnold, Cam 20 yd run (Ruiz, Storm kick), 4 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:02
UIW 7, SFA 14
UIW - Jennnings, Andy 0 yd fumble recovery (Mohr,Carson kick)
UIW 14, SFA 14
UIW - Copeland,Jon 1 yd run (Mohr,Carson kick), 9 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:56
UIW 21, SFA 14
UIW - Campbell,Jaelin 7 yd pass from Copeland,Jon (Mohr,Carson kick) 8 plays, 87 yards, TOP 1:13
UIW 21, SFA 21
SFA - Hutchings, Thom 21 yd run (Ruiz, Storm kick), 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 3:24
UIW 21, SFA 28
SFA - Gipson, Xavier 70 yd pass from Arnold, Cam (Ruiz, Storm kick) 2 plays, 70 yards, TOP 0:14
UIW 21, SFA 31
SFA - Ruiz, Storm 38 yd field goal 9 plays, 35 yards, TOP 5:04
UIW 24, SFA 31
UIW - Mohr,Carson 32 yd field goal 10 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:00
