Conway — It was over early. Early enough for me to begin writing this story about halfway through the third quarter.

The University of Central Arkansas (8-2, 7-1) scored early and often in the first quarter of their 56-7 win over the University of Arkansas-Monticello Saturday on Senior Night at Estes Stadium.

"I thought we came out and certainly set the tempo," head coach Clint Conque said.

The defensive tempo was set just by the Bears holding the Boll Weevils (1-9, 1-8) to three-and-out on their first possession. The offensive tempo was set when UCA scored on it’s third offensive play, a 22-yard run for Kentrel Rogers.

"Kentrel picked up where he left off last week," Conque said after Rogers scored five touchdowns in limited action last week against Ouachita Baptist.

The UCA offense had its the third game with over 500 yards (507) of total offense and the fourth with over 50 points.

The Bear defense held the Weevils to just 249 yards of total offense, 158 of those yards came on UAM’s last three possession once most of the Bear starters were pulled.

The first quarter was full of scoring. Unfortunately for the Weevils, all of it was by UCA. By the quarters end the Bears led 28-0.

The UAM offense never advanced reached the Bear side of the field during the first half. In seven first half drives, the Bear offense only took five snaps on their side of the field.

"Our defense is pretty good," Conque said.

"Our defensive football team is playing with a lot of confidence right now."

After the first seven offensive plays for the Bears, they were up 21-0. Rogers, seven carries 80 yards and two touchdowns, followed his first touchdown with another 18-yard scamper. Then, on the first play of the third series, quarterback Nathan Brown found an open Aaron Fairooz deep down the field for a 72-yard score. Ross Brown added a 2-yard run to close out the first-quarter scoring.

"I thought we played inspired tonight in a lot of areas," Conque said.

A 23-yard pass to Austin Cade from Nathan Brown, his second passing touchdown of the game, followed the only Bear drive in the first half that didn’t result in a touchdown. Fairooz caught his second touchdown pass of the game, this one from Chris Reil, and UCA went into the half with a comfortable 42-0 lead.

The Bears two scoring drives of the second half combined to take over 15 minutes off the clock. Joseph Walker finished a 13-play 75 yard drive with a three-yard run. Ross Brown finished the scoring with 2:12 left in the game.

"I thought all our seniors contributed," Conque said. "They’ve helped us reestablish some pride in our program.

The Bears will close out the regular season at arch-rival Arkansas Tech on Thursday night.

"This is why you coach," Conque said. "This is why you play NCAA football, for games like we’re getting ready to prepare for. We’re going to need a great week of focus and a great week of preparation."

<Photo Gallery coming tomorrow>

Conway — The University of Arkansas-Monticello came into Thursday night’s game in a tie for last in the West Division of the Gulf South Conference, but the team who shutout the Sugar Bears of the University of Central Arkansas 3-0 didn’t look like a last place team.

The Cotton Blossoms (9-16, 4-8) won three straight games 30-24, 30-20, and 30-21. No matter what the Sugar Bears (22-12, 7-5) tried, it seemed UAM was always a step ahead or in the perfect position.

After UCA led the first half of the first game, UAM tied it at 16-16. UAM then took the lead on the next point. UCA lost a long, hard-fought volley to give the Blossoms an 16-18 lead, and UAM never gave it back. The Sugar Bears only hit .152 while the Cotton Blossoms hit .316.

The hitting percentage continued to increase for UAM. Their percentage for every game was twice as good as UCA’s.

Game two was eerily similar to the first. Again, both teams were tied at 16-16. UAM then scored 14 of the next 18 points for the game two win.

The Sugar Bears weren’t in the third game for long. The Blossoms took a 7-6 advantage and comfortably maintained a seven point lead for most of the game. Coach Steve McRoberts called two timeouts in the final game, but as soon as UCA seemed to have the momentum the Sugar Bears would commit one of the match’s 24 errors.

UAM only played eight players, but combined to hit .351 in the match. The Cotton Blossoms only committed nine errors.

UCA only hit .154, led by Tristen McNeal’s .286 percentage. Four UAM players hit .400 or better.

The Sugar Bears entered the game in a tie for second with Arkansas Tech, but ATU beat Ouachita Baptist Thursday night, giving them sole possession of second place in the west division.

UCA travels to first-place Harding on Saturday and then will return home for the regular season finale versus Southern Arkansas on Tuesday, Nov. 1.