Corey Rucker hauled in nine catches on Saturday night, but none bigger than a catch in the back of the end zone with three seconds left to lift the Arkansas State football team to a 34-31 season-opening win over Central Arkansas at Centennial Bank Stadium.
Rucker’s nine receptions amounted to 179 yards receiving to lead A-State (1-0) past the Bears (0-1), who took a 31-27 lead with 55 seconds left in the contest. A-State quarterback Jaylen Raynor then guided the offense 63 yards in 52 seconds before finding Rucker, who logged his eighth career 100-yard receiving outing and moved to sixth in program history in career receiving yards (2,163).
The Red Wolves outgained UCA 457-432 and held a 24-19 lead in first downs, while converting 11 of 22 third-down opportunities.
FOOTBALL IS HERE! CLICK HERE SIGN UP FOR RED WOLF REPORT!
Raynor completed 24 of 47 passes for 317 yards, and also rushed 15 times for 49 yards and a score. Zak Wallace scored twice on the ground, rushing for 41 yards. Defensively, Dontay Joyner tallied a career-high 8 tackles (5 solo), while Jayden Jones had a sack.
UCA’s Will McElvain completed 15 of 28 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown, while ShunDerrick Powell ran for 176 yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts. Jace Benesch led all players with 14 tackles for UCA.
A-State scored on its opening drive as Clune Van Andel connected on a 44-yard field goal and added three more with 2:20 left in the opening quarter when he hit a 23-yarder to cap a 7-minute, 23-second drive. Wallace later scored from 1-yard out with 37 seconds left in the half to give the Red Wolves a 13-0 lead at intermission.
UCA got on the board with its opening drive of the second half, scoring on a 42-yard field goal by Jake Gaster. Following an A-State punt, the Bears pulled within three on a 23-yard rushing score by Powell, making it 13-10 with 10:36 left in the third.
A-State answered on the ensuing drive on another Wallace touchdown run, this time from 2 yards out to push its lead back out to 20-10 – a lead that would stand through three quarters.
The Red Wolves expanded the margin to 27-10 with 14:15 to go on a 5-yard keeper by Raynor, but UCA punched right back on an 81-yard run by Powell to pull back within 10. The Bears then cut it to 27-24 at the 10:33 mark on a 23-yard pass from McElvain to Tyion Berry.
Then, with 55 seconds remaining, Darius Hale put the visitors ahead 31-27 with a 4-yard rush, giving the Red Wolves possession with under a minute to go.
On second down, Raynor found Rucker for completions of 6 and 42 yards before a five-yard loss set up 2nd and 15 with 12 ticks left. Ja’Quez Cross then caught a pass for 20 yards to set up 1st and goal on the seven after a timeout. Then, Rucker caught a pass from Raynor with one foot in the end zone, but the pass was originally ruled incomplete. After review, the call was reversed, resulting in Rucker’s 17th career scoring grab.
A-State remains at home for its second game of the season, hosting Tulsa (1-0) at 6 p.m. on Sept. 7, at Centennial Bank Stadium.