No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor Defeats HSU, Takes Lead in ASC Standings
11/2/2014 12:30:26 PM
No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor 41, Hardin-Simmons 28 – Box Score
BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team took control of the game with a 28-point third quarter and then held on for a 41-28 win over Hardin-Simmons in a battle of unbeaten conference teams Saturday in Belton. The Cru improves to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the American Southwest Conference with the victory. The loss drops the Cowboys to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the ASC on the season
Hardin-Simmons drew first blood when Kerry Sloan scored on a two-yard run just four plays after an interception on UMHB's first offensive play. The Cowboys led 7-0 with 11:33 left in the first quarter. The Cru cut the lead to 7-3 on Jacob O'Neill's field goal following an Eric Allen interception with 2:10 left in the period. Baylor Mullins picked off another Cowboy pass to set up Zach Anderson's nine-yard touchdown pass to Kamray Runnels to give UMHB its first lead at 10-7 midway through the second.
Hardin-Simmons answered with Weston Garner's 78-yard touchdown pass to Trei Lewis on the next offensive play and the Cowboys led 14-10 at halftime. That marked the first halftime deficit for UMHB since the 2012 NCAA Quarterfinals against Wesley College. The Cru used Anderson's 86-yard touchdown pass to Wykeyhe Walker on the first offensive play of the second half to grab a 17-14 lead and Anderson found Hunter Schmidt with a 40-yard scoring strike on a tipped pass on the next series to make it 24-14. Garner was intercepted by Dana Taylor on the next Cowboy drive and Taylor returned it 28 yards for his first career touchdown to give UMHB a 31-14 edge. Anderson found Eric Nelson with a 40-yard scoring strike on the next Cru possession to push the lead to 38-14 after three quarters.
Garner tossed a 63-yard scoring pass to Jessie Ramos to cut the gap to 38-21 early in the third quarter. Allen intercepted another pass and returned it 87 yards to set up a 24-yard O'Neill field goal to give UMHB a 41-21 lead. A bad snap by UMHB was kicked around before being recovered by HSU's Matthew Hawkins and returned 18 yards for a score to pull the Cowboys to within 41-28 with 1:54 remaining. The Cru recovered the ensuing onside kick and Blake Jackson ran for 10 yards on a third down and seven, allowing UMHB to run out the clock and ice the win.
The Cru was held to just 79 rushing yards in the game, but finished with 348 yards of total offense. Hardin-Simmons rolled up 386 yards of offense, with 255 of those coming through the air. But UMHB also intercepted five Cowboy passes in the game.
Anderson was 16-of-19 passing for 259 yards and he tied a school single-game record with four touchdown passes. Four different receivers had touchdown grabs for the Cru and Walker finished with 109 yards on three grabs. Duane Thompson ran for 71 yards on 19 carries. Matt Cody led UMHB with nine tackles and Allen picked off two passes for 120 yards in returns. The Cru added five sacks in the game.
Garner was 14-of-26 for 255 yards and two scores, but he was picked off five times. Ramos caught nine passes for 139 yards and one touchdown and Sloan ran for 106 yards on 26 carries. Cory Ward had a team-high nine tackles for HSU. Trent Walker had 3.0 tackles for loss and Ryne Lewis added 2.5.
UMHB now leads the all-time series with Hardin-Simmons 15-5 and has won 13 in a row over the Cowboys. The Cru stretched its regular season winning streak to 52 consecutive games and set a new conference record with its 35th straight ASC victory. UMHB will return to action with a road game against Howard Payne University next Saturday in Brownwood. That game will kick off at 1:00 p.m. at Gordon Wood Stadium.
Louisiana College 55, Howard Payne 28 – Box Score
PINEVILLE, La. – While last week's 52-49 win over East Texas Baptist was highlighted by a few outstanding performances from some of Louisiana College's established veteran stars, Saturday's 55-28 win over Howard Payne saw the emergence of a freshman running back who broke an 11-year-old school record.
Freshman running back Devin Sylve, who had just 30 carries all season coming into Saturday's contest, was seemingly unstoppable on the afternoon, as he ran the ball 21 times for 172 yards and five touchdowns and added five catches for 74 more yards and another touchdown to total six scores. Sylve's five rushing touchdowns and six total touchdowns both set new Louisiana College single game records.
The LC defense was equally as dominant, as they intercepted a school record six passes off Howard Payne starting quarterback Richard Young and racked up nine tackles for loss.
The Wildcats wasted no time taking an early lead, as they marched down the field on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Sylve, capping a nine-play, 59-yard drive. Sylve would strike again later in the first quarter, as he scored on a five-yard touchdown run following an interception by LC safety Trent Hall to put the Wildcats up 14-0 at the 2:40 mark.
Howard Payne, who came into the contest with one of the nation's most potent passing attacks, showed off their big-play ability on the ensuing possession, as Young hit Sayvon Young-Cormier down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown to draw the Yellow Jackets closer at 14-7.
But the Wildcat defense would not let HPU sustain much momentum on the Yellow Jackets' next possession, as linebacker C.J. Hawkins picked off a Young pass and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 20-7 lead after the first.
Sylve would add two more scores in the second quarter, the first on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Easton Melancon and the second on a three-yard touchdown plunge where Sylve ran over several HPU defenders to get into the end zone to give LC a 34-14 lead at the half.
With all the momentum on his team's side, LC senior defensive back Ira Jewitt would end HPU's first drive of the second half with another interception at HPU 31-yard line.
The Wildcats would again convert that turnover into points, as Sylve touched the ball on all three plays on the ensuing possession, finishing off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run, his fourth touchdown run of the game. That score tied him legendary Wildcats running back Wayne Davis, who also ran for four scores against McMurry in 2003. That gave LC a 41-14 lead, which was never really threatened despite a 6-yard touchdown run by HPU's Caisson Montieth on the Jackets' next drive to make the score 41-21.
With the hot hand and the single-game rushing touchdown record well within his sights, Sylve set sail one final time with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter, as he hit a huge hole opened up by the left side of the offensive line and sprinted to the end zone for a history-making 46-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats final score came on a 14-yard pass on a rollout from Melancon to fullback Austin Carlin with just over seven minutes left in regulation.
Senior linebacker Grayson Pylant enjoyed perhaps his finest outing in an LC uniform to date, as he collected a game-high 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and intercepted a career-high two passes to lead LC's defense.
Melancon finished the game with 256 passing yards and two touchdowns while sophomore receiver Shed Davis finished with 12 catches for 132 yards.
East Texas Baptist 45, Sul Ross State 30 – Box Score
MARSHALL, Texas –It was not your typical start for East Texas Baptist only putting up 14 points in the first half as Sul Ross State stifled one of the best offenses in NCAA Division III.
It didn’t take long after the halftime adjustments to get the Tigers back on track as they finished with 31 second half points en route to a 45-30 American Southwest Conference win in Ornelas Stadium improving to 4-4 on the year. It is the fourth win at home which is the most wins in Ornelas Stadium since 2003 when ETBU won the American Southwest Conference championship.
The fourth win of the year is the most wins since 2011 when the team finished 5-5. ETBU has two more games left this year as they try to finish .500 or better. Sul Ross State fell to 1-7 and 0-3 in the American Southwest Conference as ETBU moved to 1-2.
Finishing with 578 yards of total offense, Josh Warbington threw for 408 yards and four touchdowns. He now has 40 career touchdown passes which is a new program record as he surpasses Phil Van Cleave’s 39 touchdowns set from 2003-06. His main target was Tyler Bates who caught 12 passes for 195 yards and three of the four touchdown passes.
Bates also came away tying a program record for career receiving touchdowns with 20 tying Jabori Jackson (2000-03) and Earl Morris (2001-04). Bates now has nine receiving touchdowns on the year and is approaching the season record of 10 that he set last year.
Stephen Alfred also produced another great game as he went over 1,000 yards receiving with 136 yards on six receptions. It is the second year in a row that a receiver has gone over 1,000 yards receiving after not having any receiver reach 1,000 yards in the first 13 years of the program.
It was not until the 6:05 mark in the first quarter that ETBU finally crossed the goal line as Jourdan McNeill twisted and turned his way in from 26-yards out. He finished the day as the leading rusher with 83 yards. Sul Ross State tied up the game in the second quarter when James Davis rushed in from 30-yards out.
Knocking on the door to take the lead with just over three minutes to play in the second quarter, Sul Ross State was on the two-yard line after an ETBU penalty setting a chance to take the lead. On first-and-goal Davis’ throw was picked off by Dominique Bailey who downed it to give the ball back to ETBU on the 20-yard line. Nine plays and 80-yards later, ETBU took a 14-7 lead when Warbington hit Bates on their first touchdown pass of the game from 21-yards out.
The difference came in the second half when ETBU added 31 points with 21 points coming in the third quarter. Toi Glover put ETBU up 21-7 when he rumbled in from four-yards out. Sul Ross State answered back on a Davis to Derrick Bernard pass for 25-yards to pull within eight (21-13), as ETBU’s Caleb Taylor blocked the extra point.
Both teams exchanged touchdowns in their next possessions as Bates recorded his second touchdown pass of the day form 53-yards out from Warbington for the 28-13 lead. Sul Ross State matched the score at the 4:41 mark less than a minute after Bates scored on a 54-yard pass they pulled within eight (28-20).
Answering right back, ETBU took the kickoff to the 35-yard line and proceeded to move the ball 65 yards in 2:06 for an 15-point lead never looking back. Warbington found Bates for the third time on the day from 29-yards out as ETBU started to pull away.
ETBU’s defense forced a three-and-out on Sul Ross State’s next possession and then drove 39-yards ending on an Alfred 29-yard touchdown reception from Warbington pushing the lead to 42-20. Sul Ross State tried to muster some momentum on a 10-play drive in the fourth quarter to put them back within 15 (42-27).
With 6:27 left, Ryan Travis hit a 28-yard field for ETBU’s 45th-point of the game. Sul Ross finished with a 25-yard field goal with 4:36 left in the game but couldn’t get the onside kick. ETBU went three-and-out on that possession and Sul Ross State drove to the 32-yard line before the defense shut them down on a fourth-and-25. ETBU ran out the clock as they earned their first American Southwest Conference win.