UMHB, HSU Stay Undefeated, Cowboys First 5-0 Start Since 2005
10/11/2015 7:15:21 AM
No. 12/16 Hardin-Simmons 31, McMurry 13 – Box Score
ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons retook control of the Wilford Moore Trophy with a 31-13 win over McMurry on Saturday afternoon at Wilford Moore Stadium on the McMurry campus.
The Cowboys received another dominating performance from its defensive line and defense in general and the offense rolled up 490 yards in the first meeting between the two schools since 2011.
Ryan Breton came off the bench in the second quarter to replace an injured Weston Garner and completed 17-of-22 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns and Garner had completed 8-of-11 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Breton also led the team in rushing with 40 yards.
Senior defensive lineman Ryne Lewis had a huge game for the Cowboys with eight tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss and he forced a couple of fumbles. He now has 20.5 sacks for his career and is within 3.5 sacks of the school record. Matthew Hawkins had 10 tackles to pace the defense.
The Cowboys jumped on the board in the first quarter when Garner hit Reese Childress on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cap a five-play 80-yard drive. Garner and Childress also hooked up for a 55-yard pass on the drive.
It stayed 7-0 until Breton found Devonte' Walker on a sliding catch in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown with 5:10 to play in the first half.
McMurry answered when Matthew McHugh found his twin brother David for a 59-yard touchdown pass.
HSU answered with an eight-play 69-yard drive and Kerry Sloan capped it with a two-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds remaining in the first half.
HSU made it 28-7 in the third quarter when Breton found Garrett Martin with a 5-yard touchdown pass. Nico Francino's 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter gave HSU a 31-7 lead with 9:47 remaining.
Emmanuel Mulumba scored on a 29-yard pass from McHugh to finish the scoring and the two-point conversion try failed.
Freshman Reese Childress had 150 yards receiving in the game on five catches and Martin had five catches for 75 yards.
McHugh completed 18-of-32 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns. His brother David had four catches for 102 yards.
HSU is now 5-0 on the year and will travel to Sul Ross State next Saturday at 6:00 p.m. to open American Southwest Conference play. McMurry fell to 3-3 on the year.
No. 2/3 Mary Hardin-Baylor 62, Sul Ross State 20 – Box Score
BELTON, Texas – Mary Hardin-Baylor broke away in the final minutes of the first half and controlled the game from there in a 62-20 victory over Sul Ross State in the Cru's American Southwest Conference opener Saturday in Belton.
UMHB improves to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the ASC and extended its regular season win streak to 59 consecutive games. The Cru has also won 39 straight ASC contests. The loss drops the Lobos to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in ASC play on the season.
UMHB opened the scoring when Zach Anderson hit Wykeyhe Walker on a slant route and Walker scampered 79 yards for a touchdown 4:04 into the game. The Cru forced a punt on the ensuing Sul Ross possession and Bryce Wilkerson raced it back 69 yards for another score to make it 13-0 with 8:24 left in the first quarter. James Davis tossed touchdown passes of 55 yards and 38 yards around Anderson's seven-yard scoring strike to Walker as the Lobos pulled to within 20-14 with 3:59 remaining in the first half. Anderson and Walker hooked up for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 2:47 left in the half and Anderson added a 33-yard touchdown pass to DeNerian Thomas with 28 seconds left to make it 35-14 UMHB at halftime.
Trey Thedford returned an interception 16 yards for a score on the opening possession of the second half to stretch the Cru lead to 42-14. Jermaine Stevens had a 23-yard interception return of his own to pull Sul Ross State to within 42-20 with 9:50 left in the third quarter. UMHB finally put the game away with Jacob O'Neill's 33-yard field goal, scoring runs of six yards from Sterling Scott and 75 yards from Michael Carpenter and John Mowery's 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin.
The Cru rolled up 660 yards of total offense with 377 coming through the air and 283 on the ground. UMHB turned the ball over three times and was penalized 16 times for 136 yards. Sul Ross State finished with 330 yards of total offense, but the Lobos had four turnovers, gave up five sacks and were penalized 12 times for 70 yards in the game.
Walker caught 10 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He set a school record for receiving yardage, tied the school mark for TD receptions and was one reception away from tying that school record. Anderson was 22-of-30 passing for 358 yards and four touchdowns. He tied the school record for touchdown passes in a game and was just one yard off the school single-game record for passing yardage. Carpenter finished with 113 rushing yards on just six carries. Thedford led the UMHB defensive effort with 11 total tackles and the interception return for a score. Teidrick Smith added 2.0 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss.
Davis threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns for Sul Ross. Savedra caught seven passes for 130 yards and two scores and Williton Grear ran for 103 yards on 20 carries. Fernie Gonzalez led the Lobo defensive effort with 10 tackles and Mike Quinonez had 2.0 sacks for Sul Ross State.
UMHB will now hit the road for its first road contest in more than a month next Saturday. The Cru will face Louisiana College at 1:00 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium in Pineville, Louisiana. It will be the first time UMHB has played away from Crusader Stadium since opening the season at Ohio Wesleyan on September 5.
Louisiana College 38, Belhaven 28 – Box Score
JACKSON, Miss. – The story seemed remarkably similar as the week before for the Wildcats on Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi, as a 38-28 final score, a four touchdown performance from junior quarterback Easton Melancon, and a dominant ground game led by junior running back Aurren Cooksey was the difference for the Wildcats in a critical American Southwest Conference win over the Belhaven Blazers.
Cooksey was the star of the afternoon, as he had the finest afternoon of his career against the Blazers on Saturday, carrying the ball 32 times for 181 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead the Wildcats to the 38-28 win.
LC would get off to a fast start, taking a 17-0 lead early in the first half after a four-yard touchdown reception by Jake Dunbar in the first quarter followed by a 30-yard field goal from Charles Firmin and a three-yard touchdown reception from junior receiver Cole Crook in the second quarter.
But Belhaven was able to steal some momentum from the Wildcats just before halftime, as Nathan Thomas scored on a 22-yard touchdown reception with just four seconds remaining until the half to cut the lead to 17-7 going into the locker room.
After Kofi Bieniemy's four-yard touchdown with 8:07 left in the third quarter put LC up 24-7, the Blazers would mount a comeback, scoring 21 unanswered points over the next 11 minutes to take a 28-24 lead with 7:29 remaining in regulation on a one-yard touchdown run from Marquis Hedge.
But Melancon, as he always seems to in crunch time, had an answer.
The junior gunslinger went 4-for-4 on the ensuing possession for the Wildcats, leading a six play, 61-yard go-ahead touchdown drive that gave the Cats a 31-28 lead with 4:51 remaining.
It was a lead the Wildcats would not surrender again, as a sack by Orel Ledet, Jr. on the ensuing possession by the Blazers ended their drive and gave LC's offense one more opportunity to put the game out of reach.
LC needed just two plays to go 33 yards for another score, this one on a 21-yard touchdown run by Cooksey to put LC ahead by the eventual final score of 38-28.
Melancon finished the day 20-of-44 with four touchdowns while Cooksey's 181 rushing yards is the most by a Wildcat in the series history against Belhaven, which they now lead 5-2.
Ledet, Jr. was the leader of an LC defense that racked up five sacks on the day, as the freshman linebacker collected seven total tackles and one sack.
The Wildcats, now 2-3 overall and 2-1 in ASC play, will be back at home on Saturday against perennial ASC powerhouse No. 3/4 Mary Hardin-Baylor in a game that will have NCAA postseason implications for both teams.
That matchup is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium in Pineville.
Texas Lutheran 55, East Texas Baptist 27 – Box Score
MARSHALL, Texas – A sluggish start by East Texas Baptist led to a 55-27 loss to Texas Lutheran. ETBU fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter and had to play from behind the rest of the night.
ETBU had only 253 yards of total offense led by Jourdan McNeill’s three rushing touchdowns and 65 yards rushing. Kendall Roberson added 42 yards rushing. Tyler Bates caught three passes for 47 yards. Josh Warbington was 17-of-25 with an interception for 162 yards.
Scoring on their first two possessions of the game for a 10-0 lead, Texas Lutheran had control the entire game. ETBU threatened on their first possession trailing, 7-0, driving to the Bulldog’s 12-yard line but didn’t convert at fourth-and-one. Dominic Haggerty put ETBU in great field position after he took the kickoff back 76-yards to the Texas Lutheran 21-yard line. Four plays later, Texas Lutheran stopped an ETBU fourth-and-one and took over on downs. They then marched 88 yards to the ETBU 13-yard line and finished with a 30-yard field goal making it 10-0. On Texas Lutheran’s first possession of the second quarter they made it 17-0 when they went 87 yards for a touchdown.
From that point on ETBU could not match the Bulldogs offensive power. ETBU punched in their first touchdown with 11:22 left in the second quarter from eight-yards out on McNeill’s first touchdown of the night. After TLU kicked a field goal at the 4:20 mark, ETBU responded with a 12 play and 68-yard drive ending with McNeill’s second touchdown with 1:13 remaining in the first half cutting the lead to six (20-14). That is all the closest ETBU would get as Texas Lutheran would score 35 points in the second half. ETBU went scoreless in the third quarter and then add 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Sam Williams had a defensive highlight in the fourth quarter with a pick-six. Williams grabbed an interception at their own four-yard line and raced 96 yards for a touchdown making it 41-20 with 10:58 left to play. Five minutes later McNeill scooted in from two yards out for his third touchdown of the day.
ETBU finished with 253 yards of total offense while Texas Lutheran had 649 yards of total offense. ETBU’s defense had three interceptions with picks by Williams, Garrett Gibson, and Marcus Harris.
ETBU travels to Brownwood, Texas, next Saturday to face ASC rival Howard Payne at 2:00 p.m. in American Southwest Conference play.