CONWAY, Ark. -- The yards Northwestern State gained that didn't count helped do in the Demons Saturday night.
In a 24-10 Southland Conference defeat at Central Arkansas, NSU drew flags that negated three plays covering 88 yards.

For an offensive unit desperately trying to score more, those calls were devastating, and were among the reasons fourth-year coach Jay Thomas had steam coming out of his clenched jaw afterwards.

 "The penalties are the problem. We had some big plays, and all of a sudden, we didn't, because of the yellow hankies. Instead of being way downfield, we were playing behind the sticks, and that's tough to overcome," he said. "We've got to play with more discipline obviously so we can get the plays to win this type of game."

NSU was flagged eight times for 72 yards. The Demons (0-3 overall, 0-2 in the Southland) posted 304 total yards, with quarterbacks Brooks Haack and Joel Blumenthal splitting time.

"We've got to execute better," said Blumenthal, who led both of NSU's scoring drives. "We're close, but we've got to clean up our act. We were a step away from breaking some big plays, just inches from getting loose. It's up to us to do it."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Bears (2-1, 2-0) moved on top for good on a broken play. Quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was flushed out of the pocket, couldn't find a receiver, then located Jatavious Wilson, who made a leaping grab about 15 yards downfield on the UCA sideline. Wilson cut back against the flow of the entire defense, finding a seam and outracing pursuit to the far pylon 49 seconds into the second quarter.

A 5-yard Hildebrand pass to Desmond Smith 5:52 before halftime pushed the Bears up 14-0. Just over a minute later, the Demons answered.

A 52-yard Chris Jones run on the first play led to a 25-yard touchdown toss from Blumenthal to Shakeir Ryan two snaps afterward.
Hildebrand improvised again early after halftime, scrambling 12 yards to make it 21-7 when the NSU secondary blanketed his receivers.

The Bears added a 33-yard field goal by Matt Cummins late in the third quarter for a 24-7 advantage. A 44-yard Eric Piccione answer, five seconds into the fourth quarter, drew the Demons back within two scores.

NSU stalled after a first down at the UCA 20 with over eight minutes remaining. Two throws into the end zone failed, with aggressive defense by UCA's secondary making the difference. The Bears held the ball for the next 6:58 to salt away the outcome.

The Bears were methodical, with two 14-play drives, and efficient when it mattered most, converting 12 of 21 third downs as they totaled 363 yards on 82 snaps, rushing for 227 on 62.

"We were pretty good, but didn't get it done on a few plays," said junior linebacker Nick Pierotti, who had a game-high 16 tackles. "We got some tough breaks, had some tough penalties, but we fought through and kept battling. I have faith in this team because that will never change, we're going to fight every moment in every game."

The next one for NSU comes at Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday night, before an open date. The Demons are home for the second time in five games on Oct. 8 against Kentucky Wesleyan.