Gents Beaten By McMurry At Home, 28-10

Shreveport – The Centenary football team fell 28-10 to the McMurry University War Hawks on Saturday in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contest at Atkins Field.

The Gents (2-4, 2-2 SCAC) only trailed the War Hawks (4-1, 4-0 SCAC) by a score of 14-3 at the half, but could not slow them down enough in the end. Centenary, now 1-2 at home, will play two of its final three games this season in Shreveport.

How it happened:

McMurry won the toss and deferred, so Centenary started on offense. Junior WR Kobe Chambers (Greenwood, Miss.) returned the opening kick 14 yards. The Gents faced a 3^rd down and 13 and a 3rd and 19 and converted both and later capped an impressive 12-play, 75-yard drive which took 6:19 with a 24-yard field goal by sophomore LB/P/PK Vance Feuerbacher (Plano, Texas) to take a 3-0 lead at the 8:32 mark.

The War Hawks, though, worked quickly on their first possession as they needed just two plays to cover 68 yards as QB Jess Hoel hit Kristopher Martin for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Martin's two-point attempt on the ground failed, but the visitors took a 6-3 lead at the 7:33 mark.

McMurry PK Jax Rodriguez missed a 46-yard field goal with 2:54 left in the first period as the War Hawks failed to increase their lead. McMurry, however, added on with a four-yard TD run by Jack Ishmael on its first possession of the second quarter. The War Hawks converted a 2-point conversion through the air and took a 14-3 lead at the 14:22 mark of the second period.

The next nine possessions came up empty for both teams as the Gents managed just 55 yards of offense on 19 plays and the War Hawks fumbled but recovered yet it resulted in a turnover on downs, turned it over on downs for a second time, and Hoel threw a pair of interceptions as McMurry had just 64 total yards on 22 plays.

Drew Hagler's 14-yard TD run extended the McMurry lead to 21-3 at the 5:19 mark of the third quarter and Hoel scored on a 9-yard run to make it 28-3 with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter. The Gents finally found the end zone with 6:26 left in the game as freshman QB Preston Sentino (Baton Rouge, La.) connected with sophomore WR Devin Ardoin (Mamou, La.) for a 17-yard TD pass and Feuerbacher's PAT made it 28-10.

McMurry finished with 351 yards of total offense as they ran 65 plays and had 15 first downs. The War Hawks rushed for 100 yards on 33 attempts and passed for 251 yards as Hoel was 18-32 with one TD but threw three interceptions. Centenary ran 67 plays for 197 yards, passing for 205 yards and was held to negative eight yards rushing on 31 attempts. A large contributor to the negative rushing yardage was the fact that McMurry recorded five sacks.

Junior QB Zin'Tavious Smith (Coushatta, La.) started for the Gents and was 13-24 for 137 yards and a of interceptions and Sentino was 5-11 for 68 yards with one TD and one pick. Junior RB Obadiah Butler (Crowley, La.) was the Gents' leading rusher as he ran the ball six times for 32 yards. Ardoin was the top receiver with five catches for 74 yards and one TD.

Hagler was the McMurry leader on the ground as he rushed the ball 11 times for 40 yards and one TD. Eight players had at least one carry in the game for the visitors. Martin was the top receiving target for the War Hawks as he finished with an impressive six catches for 146 yards and one TD.

The War Hawks, along with their five sacks and three INT's, had 18 tackles for loss and five pass breakups. McMurry punted four times and went 0-1 on its field goal attempts. The Gents, along with their three INT's, recorded a pair of sacks, had seven tackles for loss, and two PBU's. Centenary's three picks are its most in a single game and the Gents now have eight this season.  

By the Numbers:

FIRST DOWNS:

McMurry – 15

CENTENARY – 11

RUSHING YARDS:

McMurry – 33 ATTEMPTS FOR 100 YARDS

CENTENARY – 31 ATTEMPTS FOR (-8) YARDS

PASSING YARDS:

McMurry – 251 YARDS

CENTENARY – 205 YARDS

TOTAL OFFENSE:

McMurry – 65 PLAYS FOR 351 YARDS

CENTENARY – 67 PLAYS FOR 197 YARDS

TIME OF POSSESSION:

McMurry – 29:21

CENTENARY – 30:39

Gents' Individual Statistical Leaders:

RECEIVING: Ardoin – 5 catches for 74 yards and 1 TD

RUSHING: Butler – 6 carries for 32 yards

PASSING: Smith – 13-24 for 137 yards and 0 TD and 2 INT

TACKLES: Freshman DB Jacob Wilson (Shreveport, La.) – 7 solo tackles (8 total tackles with 0.5 TFL)

Centenary will hit the road next weekend for a rematch with the Lyon College Scots in a SCAC contest set for Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. in Batesville, Ark. The Gents defeated the Scots 35-14 at home on Oct. 5.

For more information about becoming a Centenary football season or per game sponsor, please contact Assistant AD/Strategic Communications Patrick Meehan at 318-865-5092 or pmeehan@centenary.edu OR Collin Taylor, Development Officer for Athletics, at 318-869-5052 or cbtaylor2@centenary.edu

See the complete Gents' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/fball/2024-25/schedule

#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity