ABILENE – Lamar University quarterback Caleb Berry rallied his team with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes Saturday night, leading the Cardinals to a 24-21 Southland Conference win over Abilene Christian University at Shotwell Stadium.
The Cardinals (4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference) held ACU's
Parker McKenzie -- the league's top passer -- to just 182 yards and sacked him five times. McKenzie entered the game averaging better than 318 yards per game through the air.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for ACU (3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Southland), but also marked the resumption of a series between the two teams for the first time in 42 years. The Wildcats and Cardinals were founding members of the Southland in 1963, and Lamar has now won the last three games played between the teams (1971-72, 2014).
Lamar began its fourth-quarter rally after ACU took a 21-10 lead with 10:29 to play, powered by a 43-yard run by Kade Harrington that took the Cardinals to the ACU 15-yard line. Berry threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Payden McVey at the 7:52 mark to pull Lamar to within 21-16, and a sucesssful 2-point conversion pass from Berry to wide receiver Mark Roberts made the score 21-18.
The Cardinals forced ACU to punt, taking over at their 18-yard-line with 4:03 left. Lamar went back on top 24-21, thanks to a drive that started and ended on big pass plays. Wide receiver Reggie Begelton snagged a 35-yarder and Roberts leaped to catch a 14-yard scoring pass with 2:35 remaining in the game. The extra point attempt by Davis failed but Lamar had its hard-fought lead back.
A last-chance drive for ACU began at its 31-yard line. On fourth-and-8 from the ACU 49, a pass on the left sideline sailed too high to wide receiver
Demarcus Thompson, giving the ball back to Lamar with 1:28 remaining.
The Wildcats forced the Cardinals to punt, taking over on their 10-yard-line with 38 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. But ACU could advance no farther than its 25 before time expired.
ACU and Lamar played a mostly defensive first half, with the Cardinals maintaining only a three-point lead despite running nearly twice the number of plays. By game's end, defensive end
Nick Richardson had 1.5 of ACU's three sacks of Berry, and 10 tackles overall. Lamar noseguard Omar Tebo made life miserable for McKenzie with seven tackles and two of his team's five sacks.
Junior wide receiver
Cedric Gilbert opened the Wildcats' scoring when he wrestled a pass away from a defender and caught his seventh touchdown pass of the season – on only 15 catches – a 38-yarder with 7:38 left in the first quarter. The play was set up by a 24-yard punt return and 9-yard pass reception by fullback
Jonathan Parker.
The Cardinals answered on their next drive, a 12-play, 75-yarder capped by Kade Harrington's 3-yard run at the 2:26 mark.
Lamar used a 41-yard drive to set up its next score, a 19-yard field goal by Josh Davis with 3:59 left in the first half. The short drive stalled when Berry overthrew wide receiver Deyonn Brown in the end zone on third down, but the field goal put Lamar back on top, 10-7.
After Davis misfired on a 35-yard field goal with 9:37 left in the third quarter, ACU also missed a golden opportunity to forge ahead on the scoreboard. A 34-yard run by Sims, a late hit penalty on Lamar and a 20-yard pass play from McKenzie to wide receiver
Jace Hudson set up the Wildcats on the Cardinals' 4-yard line. But Lamar's defense stiffened and stopped Sims on a fourth-and-goal run from the LU 1-yard line at the 6:17 mark.
The Wildcats redeemed themselves with some trickery on their next drive. On second-and-8 from his own 26-yard-line, McKenzie lateraled to wide receiver
Cade Stone, who spun and completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver
Monte Green-Avery. The play with 1:51 left in the quarter put ACU in the lead, 14-10. Stone was a high school quarterback at Fort Worth Christian.
ACU padded its lead with 10:29 left in the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass from McKenzie to tight end Noah Cheshire. The Wildcats converted a big fourth-and-4 play on the 78-yard drive when Stone caught a 6-yard pass from McKenzie.
De'Andre Brown rushed for 107 yards and
Herschel Sims added 90 to headline an ACU ground game that totaled 202 yards. Green-Avery led the Wildcats with 72 yards in receptions.
Berry completed 23 of 46 passes for 316 yards and the two late touchdowns. Harrington rushed 20 times for 147 yards and a TD.
ACU hosts Ave Marie University next Saturday in a non-conference game at Shotwell Stadium. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. CST for the Homecoming weekend event.
