by Kai Caddy

Posted Sept. 30, 2005 2:25 a.m.

Caleb Bateman threw the knockout punch of the Bears

second straight heavyweight battle Thursday night when

he blocked a North Alabama field goal attempt in the

first overtime of a 29-26 double overtime win.

"That's two weeks in a row that we've got a blocked

field goal in our desperation package," coach Clint

Conque said. "I think it was our time to win a game

late."

After Nathan Brown fumbled a snap to start the first

overtime, UNA (4-1, 3-1) took over. After the Lions

got a first down, the Bears (4-2, 3-1) held them to

the field goal that Bateman blocked to keep overtime

going.

In the second OT UNA was held to a field goal again,

but this time Yuta Fukuda nailed the 20-yard field

goal to take the 26-23 lead.

UCA didn't fumble the first snap this time. Brown led

the Bears down the field on a 6-play, 25-yard drive

that ended with the Bears winning score.

Kentrel Rogers ran two straight times for gains of 6

yards, then a rush for no gain and one for minus 2.

Brown looked for Aaron Fairooz in the end zone, but

Fairooz was pulled down by a UNA receiver. The penalty

moved the Bears to the 5. From there Rogers gained 1

yard in two plays.

Then on third and goal from the 4, Che Jones got wide

open and Brown found him in the end zone for the

winning score.

"Coach [Todd] Cooley and coach Conque made a great

call," Brown said. "They've done a great job."

The Bears knocked off Arkansas Tech 38-31 in a

two-overtime game last year.

"I guess we've got a knack for these two-overtime

games," Conque said.

In his first college start, Brown was 25-of-34 for for

280 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception.

"This is awesome," Brown said. "We had three of the

best practices this week. We had to get that sour

taste out of our mouths from last week."

Conque said the UNA defense was for real.

"There was some hard hitting out there tonight,"

Conque said. "What a great game. A great college

game."

He also had some things to say about the Lions'

offense.

"[Jaron] Fountain, [Anthony] Merritt, those cats are

scary," he said. "But I'll tell you who their MVP is.

Chip Long. Every time they needed a big play they went

to Long."

Long finished with 11 catches for 81 yards. Merritt

had 12 for 74 and a touchdown.

UCA held a 23-20 lead for the majority of the second

half. In fact, all of the second half before Fukuda

hit a 37 yarder to end a UNA to end a 16-play, 57 yard

drive and put the game into overtime.

"When we had to have the plays in all three phases of

the game, we had 'em," Conque said. "Give credit to

North Alabama though, what a great team."

Despite the games frantic and exciting finish,

regulation was filled with turnovers and ugliness.

There were eight fumbles in the game, four from each

team. UNA gave up just one, while the Bears lost all

four of theirs. The Bears threw two interceptions,

while UNA threw one.

"We were able to overcome problems of our own making,"

Conque said. "Our mistakes directly contributed to

them scoring."

UCA got things started early, pulling out to a 16-0

lead in the first seven minutes of the game.

After Austin Cade recovered a fumble on the opening

kickoff, the Bears moved 21 yards in 4 plays, before

Kentrel Rogers took it in for the score from the 9

with 13:39 left.

The UCA defense came out on the next drive and made

the Lions miserable. After holding them to three

downs, UNA was forced to punt. But the snap was low

and UNA punter Lyle Atkinson kicked the ball out of

the end zone giving UCA the safety and a 9-0 lead with

12:03 left in the first.

Fairooz got in the end zone to make it 16-0 when Brown

hit him for a 10-yard score with 8:28 left. He

finished with 8 catches for 130 yards and two

touchdowns.

UNA finally had some offensive success, even though

UCA had forced the Lions to punt, on the next series.

After an offsides penalty on the defense, UNA got the

first down and eventually scored when quarterback

Vinnie Saylor hit Ted Long for a 5-yard score. Two

Fukuda field goals (with 10:05 and 7:53 left

respectively) made it 16-13 UCA. Another UNA score

made it 20-16 with 1:51 left in the first half. Saylor

found Merritt for the 7-yard TD.

It was all Fairooz on UCA's next drive, a 7-play

66-yard drive. He caught a 21-yard pass to give the

Bears a first down and set up his touchdown on the

next play. Brown hit him on a fade in the corner in

the end zone for the 10-yard score with 22 seconds

left in the half. That made the score 23-20.

"That was a big drive for us," Conque said. "Probably

one of the biggest since I've been here."

Conque said the team will enjoy the win for a couple

of days before returning to the practice field.

"We're going to try to heal up a little bit," Conque

said. "This was abig win, it keeps us in the hunt for

a conference championship. We've just got to take them

one at a time."







		by Kai Caddy Posted Sept. 30, 2005 2:25 a.m. Caleb Bateman threw the knockout punch of the Bears second straight heavyweight battle Thursday night when he blocked a North Alabama field goal attempt in the first overtime of a 29-26 double overtime win. "That's two weeks in a row that we've got a blocked field goal in our desperation package," coach Clint Conque said. "I think it was our time to win a game late." After Nathan Brown fumbled a snap to start the first overtime, UNA (4-1, 3-1) took over. After the Lions got a first down, the Bears (4-2, 3-1) held them to the field goal that Bateman blocked to keep overtime going. In the second OT UNA was held to a field goal again, but this time Yuta Fukuda nailed the 20-yard field goal to take the 26-23 lead. UCA didn't fumble the first snap this time. Brown led the Bears down the field on a 6-play, 25-yard drive that ended with the Bears winning score. Kentrel Rogers ran two straight times for gains of 6 yards, then a rush for no gain and one for minus 2. Brown looked for Aaron Fairooz in the end zone, but Fairooz was pulled down by a UNA receiver. The penalty moved the Bears to the 5. From there Rogers gained 1 yard in two plays. Then on third and goal from the 4, Che Jones got wide open and Brown found him in the end zone for the winning score. "Coach [Todd] Cooley and coach Conque made a great call," Brown said. "They've done a great job." The Bears knocked off Arkansas Tech 38-31 in a two-overtime game last year. "I guess we've got a knack for these two-overtime games," Conque said. In his first college start, Brown was 25-of-34 for for 280 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. "This is awesome," Brown said. "We had three of the best practices this week. We had to get that sour taste out of our mouths from last week." Conque said the UNA defense was for real. "There was some hard hitting out there tonight," Conque said. "What a great game. A great college game." He also had some things to say about the Lions' offense. "[Jaron] Fountain, [Anthony] Merritt, those cats are scary," he said. "But I'll tell you who their MVP is. Chip Long. Every time they needed a big play they went to Long." Long finished with 11 catches for 81 yards. Merritt had 12 for 74 and a touchdown. UCA held a 23-20 lead for the majority of the second half. In fact, all of the second half before Fukuda hit a 37 yarder to end a UNA to end a 16-play, 57 yard drive and put the game into overtime. "When we had to have the plays in all three phases of the game, we had 'em," Conque said. "Give credit to North Alabama though, what a great team." Despite the games frantic and exciting finish, regulation was filled with turnovers and ugliness. There were eight fumbles in the game, four from each team. UNA gave up just one, while the Bears lost all four of theirs. The Bears threw two interceptions, while UNA threw one. "We were able to overcome problems of our own making," Conque said. "Our mistakes directly contributed to them scoring." UCA got things started early, pulling out to a 16-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. After Austin Cade recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, the Bears moved 21 yards in 4 plays, before Kentrel Rogers took it in for the score from the 9 with 13:39 left. The UCA defense came out on the next drive and made the Lions miserable. After holding them to three downs, UNA was forced to punt. But the snap was low and UNA punter Lyle Atkinson kicked the ball out of the end zone giving UCA the safety and a 9-0 lead with 12:03 left in the first. Fairooz got in the end zone to make it 16-0 when Brown hit him for a 10-yard score with 8:28 left. He finished with 8 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. UNA finally had some offensive success, even though UCA had forced the Lions to punt, on the next series. After an offsides penalty on the defense, UNA got the first down and eventually scored when quarterback Vinnie Saylor hit Ted Long for a 5-yard score. Two Fukuda field goals (with 10:05 and 7:53 left respectively) made it 16-13 UCA. Another UNA score made it 20-16 with 1:51 left in the first half. Saylor found Merritt for the 7-yard TD. It was all Fairooz on UCA's next drive, a 7-play 66-yard drive. He caught a 21-yard pass to give the Bears a first down and set up his touchdown on the next play. Brown hit him on a fade in the corner in the end zone for the 10-yard score with 22 seconds left in the half. That made the score 23-20. "That was a big drive for us," Conque said. "Probably one of the biggest since I've been here." Conque said the team will enjoy the win for a couple of days before returning to the practice field. "We're going to try to heal up a little bit," Conque said. "This was abig win, it keeps us in the hunt for a conference championship. We've just got to take them one at a time."


				Che Jones gets congratulated by several teammates after scoring the winning touchdown.