The three game winning streak has ended and now the Lions have just three games left to try and finish the season above .500. The injury situation at quarterback with Justin Alo continues to be a problem for the Lions.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The Lions lost their game against the Central Arkansas Bears and their number one conference ranked defense 45-10. This loss ended the Lion’s three game winning streak and reduced their record to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference play.
The loss was the most one-sided defeat at home for the Lions since they lost to McNeese in 2003, 58-20.
“In the first half we made some crucial mistakes,” said Head Coach Ron Roberts. “Turnover after turnover and fumbled returning the opening kickoff. I thought we were in the ballgame, but we hurt ourselves quite a bit. In the second half, they just flat out dominated us in every phase.”
The Lions wore their gold jerseys that Saturday, Oct. 29. It was also their Hall of Fame Game, where at halftime all of the Hall of Fame inductees introduced three new inductees on the field.
The offense produced only 161 total yards and four turnovers, two of them being interceptions thrown by senior quarterbacks Justin Alo and D’Shaie Landor. The two quarterbacks shared time under center due to Alo’s injury.
“They pretty much dominated us upfront,” said Roberts. “With 4-13 on third down and four turnovers, that’s a combination of being outplayed and not executing. I thought we had shot, but then Alo goes down and that kinda killed it, but it is not just that. They whipped us on both sides of the ball.”
The Bears had 495 yards on offense and controlled the ball for over 40 minutes. The only touchdown for the Lions came off a blocked punt in the third quarter by freshman defensive back Kijuan Lee and then returned by freshman defensive back Jacorey Fuller.
“It gave us a little energy, but we need to capitalize on those type of plays,” said sophomore running back Julius Maracalin. “The plan was to get at least ten points in that quarter and we didn’t get ten points.”
The game started off scoreless with the defense holding the Bears off until the second quarter. Senior defensive back Max Lyons led the team with 15 tackles.
“The defense played well,” said Maracalin. “We should have capitalize off of them, but we didn’t.”
The Lions will head to San Antonio to face Incarnate Word on Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. The team will be looking to put the loss behind them as they prepare for the final three games of the season.
“We got to move forward,” said Maracalin. “That game is over. We got to put that in the past and keep playing hard.”