Nationally-ranked Mississippi College, McMurry, Louisiana College and Hardin-Simmons all went on the road and collected league wins, while nationally-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor managed to protect its home field in non-conference action during Week 8 of American Southwest Conference football action on Saturday (Oct. 24).
No. 20/15 Mississippi College got a fourth-straight 100-yard rushing performance from Steven Knight and reeled off 26 unanswered points in a 26-7 win over East Texas Baptist in Marshall, Texas. After allowing a 69-yard touchdown drive to start the game, the Mississippi College defense – led by Quartez Ashmore (12 tackles) and Jean Auguste (forced fumble, fumble recovery, interceptions) – clamped down and allowed just 246 yards of total offense. Knight had 24 carries for 108 yards and two TDs for MC (6-1, 5-0 ASC), which remained in first place in the standings. It was the fourth-straight loss for ETBU (2-6, 2-4 ASC), which got an interception from Gerald Hunter.
Jake Mullin tossed five touchdowns, including four to Marcus Franklin as McMurry defeated Texas Lutheran 36-23 in Seguin, Texas, for its fourth-straight win. McMurry (4-4, 4-2 ASC), which never trailed, also got three interceptions from Gene Hudson and 11 tackles, one interception and 1.5 sacks from Andrew Wallace. Mullin went 26-for-29 for 264 yards without a pick and Franklin, who tied an ASC single-game record for TD catches, had eight catches for 149 yards. Chris Kyle tied an ASC single-game record with four sacks, while Jonathon Randle caught four balls for 100 yards and a score to pace TLU (0-7, 0-5 ASC).
Ben McLaughlin connected with Matt Albrecht on an 8-yard touchdown pass in triple overtime that proved to be the difference in a 51-45 win over Howard Payne that featured 1,175 combined yards of total offense. McLaughlin finished with 402 yards and three TD passes with no interceptions, while Jordan Rideaux caught nine passes for 147 yards and a score for LC (4-3, 3-2 ASC). Howard Payne quarterback Zach Hubbard broke an ASC record by totaling 608 yards of offense (532 passing and 76 rushing), breaking the previous mark set by former HPU signal called Adam King (595 yards against East Texas Baptist in the 2004 season). Hubbard, who was 38 of 63 with five TD passes, was just one yard shy of tying the conference mark for passing yards in a game. Tre Mason caught seven passes for 104 yards and three scores for the Yellow Jackets (3-4, 1-4 ASC). LC’s Lance Stone was able to pick off King twice.
Hardin-Simmons got back to .500 on the season with a 29-6 victory over Sul Ross State in Alpine, Texas. Thomas Labian had three catches for 145 yards and two scores to lead the offense for HSU (4-4, 3-3 ASC), while Wes Liles (12 tackles) and Roy Gamboa (two fumble recoveries) paced a Cowboys defense that stopped SRSU twice on downs in the red zone and allowed just 28 passing yards. Earnest Jones had 14 tackles and a fumble recovery for the Lobos (2-5, 2-3 ASC).
Bryson Tucker returned to the offensive side of the ball and did so in style, rushing for a career-high 218 yards on 24 carries to lead the No. 13/8-ranked Cru to a 21-0 win over Southern Oregon in Belton, Texas. Tucker hadn’t played running back since last year’s national semifinal game and had been playing defensive back. But with an injured backfield, Tucker made the switch and found the end zone twice – once on a 90-yard scamper in the second quarter. UMHB (6-1, 4-1 ASC), which avenged a loss to Southern Oregon from the year before, had 319 rushing yards from 10 different carriers against just 13 passing yards. Jerrad Jefferson (14), Lee Munn (11) and Jeremy Salinas (11) all had double-digit tackles to pace the Cru defense.
Four conference games are on the slate next week. Only McMurry will be idle.
WEEKLY RECAP ARCHIVES