Mississippi College, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons and Louisiana College all went on the road and came away with victories on Saturday (Nov. 7) during Week 10 of American Southwest Conference football action.
Austin Divinty took back the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and Mississippi College exploded to a 42-point lead at halftime and cruised to a 49-27 road win over Sul Ross State. MC (7-2, 6-1 ASC) remained in a first-place tie in the league standings with fellow nationally-ranked squad Mary Hardin-Baylor. Adam Shaffer threw for 363 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions, while Stephen Knight went over 100-yard rushing mark for the sixth straight game to pace the Choctaw offense. Luke Petitto and Quartez Ashmore each had 12 tackles to spearhead MC’s defense. Laurence Smith ran for 108 yards and Tony Allen posted 14 tackles to lead SRSU (2-7, 2-5 ASC).
Bryson Tucker accounted for four touchdowns and Brett Parker picked off two passes to help nationally-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor roll to a 45-7 road victory over Howard Payne. UMHB (8-1, 6-1 ASC) remained in a tie for first place in the conference with Mississippi College. Tucker, who scored on a 67-yard scamper on the third play of the game, finished with 119 yards and three TDs on the ground and also caught a 5-yard TD pass. Parker added a sack and two tackles for loss for a unit that held the Yellow Jackets to just 211 yards passing. Kevin Reyna (14), Jordan Pfenenger (11) and Dustin McCLure (11) each had double-digit tackles to pace HPU (4-5, 2-5 ASC).
Steven Rockwell ran for 160 yards and the Hardin-Simmons defense held McMurry to under 200 yards passing to close out its regular season with a 21-10 victory over its cross-town rival in Abilene, Texas. HSU (6-4, 5-3), which is idle for the final week of the regular season next week, recorded its 22nd straight win over host McMurry and retained the Wilford Moore Trophy. Both teams entered on four-game winning streaks. McMurry (4-5, 4-3 ASC) led 10-7 at halftime, but Rockwell and Derrick Grant found the end zone on the ground in the second half to propel the Cowboys. Jonathan Wise made an interception in each half and also forced a fumble and totaled seven tackles to spearhead HSU’s defense. Andrew Wallce made 15 tackles – 2.5 for loss – and forced a fumble for McMurry.
Ben McLaughlin threw six touchdown passes – three to Jordan Rideaux – and Louisiana College collected a 42-3 road win over Texas Lutheran. McLaughlin was 19-for-27 with just one interception and Rideaux racked up 164 yards on seven catches. The Wildcats had 11 different players make a catch. Donovan Williams led LC (6-3, 5-2 ASC) on defense with 3.5 sacks. The closest TLU (0-9, 0-7 ASC) got was 14-3 at the end of the first quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Allen Cain. Trey Parma posted 11 tackles and snared an interception to pace the Bulldogs.
Only East Texas Baptist was idle. Next week, all league teams but Hardin-Simmons are in action as the regular season comes to an end.