Hardin-Simmons, McMurry, East Texas Baptist, Mississippi College and Sul Ross State all opened their seasons with wins on Saturday (Sept. 4), giving the American Southwest Conference its most ever victories during the first week of play. All but Sul Ross State opened the conference’s 15th season with wins on the road. Howard Payne suffered a loss, but it was in double overtime, while Louisiana College dropped a heartbreaker by seven points. Mary Hardin-Baylor and Texas Lutheran were idle.
Hardin-Simmons 27, Whitworth 7: Justin Feaster was an efficient 18 of 23 for 236 yards passing and a touchdown, while Hank Hornsby had two sacks to lift the Cowboys (1-0) in Spokane, Wash. HSU’s defense held Whitworth (0-1) to just 225 yards of offense. Trailing 14-0, Whitworth recovered an on-side kick to start the second half but couldn’t move the chains and the Cowboys held on fourth down. L.C. Cisneroz had a 47-yard interception return in the fourth quarter to seal it.
McMurry 41, Bacone 6: Jake Mullin threw for 420 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters of work while the defense allowed just 222 yards in a rout in Muskogee, Okla. McMurry (1-0) scored 38 straight points before Bacone (0-1) found the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Mullin connected for two scores with Marcus Franklin, who totaled 145 yards on nine catches. R.J. Long hauled in six passes for 117 yards and a TD. Kevin Stewart had two sacks to pace the defense for McMurry, which won its season-opener for the first time since 2005.
East Texas Baptist 33, UW-La Crosse 20: In La Crosse, Wisc., Sed Harris ran for 261 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 143 yards and two more scores to fuel the Tigers (1-0) to their first non conference and season-opening victories since 2001. Harris did not throw an interception and his TD runs went for school records of 95 and 98 yards. Jon Chitty had 12 tackles and Jordan Hayes had a sack and an interception to lead ETBU’s defense against UWL (0-1). ETBU produced 17 second-quarter points to take a20-17 lead into halftime.
Mississippi College 27, Millsaps 23: Tight end Cody Goss caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Reyer with 6:33 left to play to propel the Choctaws to a win over their rivals in the “Backyard Brawl” in Jackson, Miss. MC (1-0) and Millsaps (0-1) traded leads five times before the Choctaws sealed it. Steven Knight rushed for 132 yards and two TDs on 16 carries to lead MC on offense, while Nolan Willisson had two forced fumbles and a sack to pace the other side of the ball. MC has now taken four of the last five meetings.
Trinity 40, Howard Payne 34 (2 OT): Patrick Granchelli had a two-yard touchdown run in the second overtime after Howard Payne was unable to score on its possession to cap a season-opening thriller in San Antonio, Texas. HPU (0-1) and Trinity (1-0) were never separated by more than a touchdown the entire night. HPU’s Zach Hubbard hit Brandon Young on a 16-yard TD pass with 2:14 remaining to force a 31-31 tie that would remain through regulation. In the first overtime, Garrett Biel hit a 20-yard field goal that was matched by HPU’s Michell Bailey, who was good from 50-yards out for the second time. Bailey had four FGs overall. The two squads combined for 781 yards of total offense. HPU’s Demetrius Cody led all tacklers with 11.
Belhaven 41, Louisiana College 34: Louisiana College rallied late and forced a tie with just under four minutes to play, but an early deficit proved too much to overcome as it fell in Jackson, Miss. LC used three touchdown passes and a scoring run by quarterback Ben McLaughlin to create a 34-34 tie in a game it had trailed 17-7 at halftime and 24-7 early in the third quarter. But Alex Williams connected with Kevin Dizer on an 8-yard TD pass with 34 seconds left to allow the Blazers (2-0) to prevail. LC (0-1) committed four turnovers, while Belhaven had a clean slate. Nate Janzen led the Wildcats with 12.5 tackles.
Sul Ross State 36, Monterrey Tech 23: In an exhibition in Alpine, Texas, Sul Ross State would have snapped a five-game losing streak dating back to last season and it also would have been the most points scored by SRSU since the 2007 finale. Monterrey Tech traveled from Mexico.