Central Arkansas had an opportunity to get out of the state of Tennessee with one of its most improbable victories since moving up to NCAA Division I.

But Tennessee-Martin made the final play and beat the Bears by a point again at Graham Stadium in Martin, Tenn.

J’Vontez Blackmon blocked Eddie Camara’s 42-yard field goal attempt as time expired and the Skyhawks held on for a 24-23 victory in front of a crowd of 5,061 in the Skyhawks’ home opener.

Camara, an All-Southland Conference junior from Cedar Hill, Texas, had made a 47-yarder as time expired to beat McNeese State last season in Lake Charles, La. He missed last week’s game at Colorado with a groin injury and did not kick off Saturday either.

“Their guy made an extra special play there on the block,” said UCA Coach Clint Conque, whose team was ranked No. 7 in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll and No. 8 in The Sports Network poll entering Saturday. “Unfortunately it came down to one final play. It seems like every time we play here it comes down to a field goal and we come up short by one point.

“But their kids wanted it for 60 minutes and I thought our kids really only wanted it hard for about 30 minutes. You have to credit UT Martin, they made more plays than we did and we made most of the mistakes.”

The Bears (1-2) played an uninspired first half, trailing 14-0 at halftime, and had a costly interception down the stretch, but somehow still had a shot at the victory. UCA pulled within 24-21 when quarterback Wynrick Smothers found Damien Watts for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 5:33 left. Watts caught a career-high 9 passes for 115 yards.

Leon Carlton intercepted Smothers’ pass at the Tennessee-Martin 8 with 1:38 to play and Martin was penalized half the distance for a celebration penalty. Skyhawks punter James Satterfield then elected to run out of the back of the end zone for a safety with 35.6 seconds left, and the Bears found themselves within 24-23 with one last shot.

After the Skyhawks’ free kick, UCA took over on its own 39 with just 29 seconds to play. Smothers connected with running back Willie Matthews for 7 yards, Blake Gardner for 14 and Dezmin Lewis over the middle for 15, down to the Skyhawks 25. After an incomplete pass from Smothers, Camara came out for the 42-yard attempt. Blackmon broke through the middle for the block and Marquis Clemons recovered for the Skyhawks to end the game.

The Bears managed only 137 total yards of offense in the first half, with just 16 rushing yards. Tennessee-Martin junior quarterback Dylan Favre, nephew of former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, had more yards by himself, rushing 10 times for 79 yards and hitting 8 of 10 passes for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns.

His 5-yarder to Dylan Davis gave the Skyhawks a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game, one that covered 79 yards in 10 plays. He then found D.J. McNeil for 31 yards down the left sideline with 5:48 left in the second quarter for a 14-0 advantage.

The Bears opened the second half with a four-play, 55-yard drive, set up by a long pass from Smothers to Lewis, down to the Tennessee-Martin 1. Matthews dove over the top for the touchdown to get the Bears within 14-7 just 1:40 into the half.

UCA totaled 249 yards of offense after halftime. For the game, Smothers completed 35 of 52 for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Favre was 14 of 19 for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns, and rushed for 78 yards.

Senior linebacker Radarius Winston had a career-high 11 tackles for UCA, while senior defensive end Markeith Gaines had 2.5 tackles for loss among his five tackles. Senior Jestin Love added 10 tackles.

UCA will travel to Missouiri State on Saturday.

SATURDAY’S GAMES Tenn.-Martin 24, Central Arkansas 23 Sam Houston St. 55, Texas Southern 17 La.-Lafayette 70, Nicholls State 7 South Dakota St. 34, SE Louisiana 26 Stephen F. Austin 50, McMurry 13 Cincinnati 66, Northwestern (La.) St. 9 Oklahoma State 59, Lamar 3 McNeese State 44, West Alabama 42

Sports, Pages 29 on 09/15/2013