Standings


Louisiana College, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Texas Lutheran and Hardin-Simmons began the conference schedule with wins during Week 5 of American Southwest Conference football on Saturday (Sept. 29). No. 2-ranked UMHB remained the only unbeaten team in the league at 4-0 overall. Fellow nationally-ranked LC and TLU improved their overall marks to 3-1, while Hardin-Simmons got back to .500 at 2-2.
 
(Game recaps courtesy of sports information departments)
 

No. -/23 Louisiana College 38, Howard Payne 6
 
Box Score
 
PINEVILLE, La. – With the Louisiana College Wildcats looking for a spark on offense after a slow first half start in their game against Howard Payne, LC fans got to see something that many have anticipated for the past two years.
 
Senior quarterback Tim Curry, a highly touted transfer from Stephen F. Austin in 2011, got the call from coach Dennis Dunn and promptly led the Wildcats on back-to-back scoring drives early in the 2nd half en route to a 38-6 victory in their American Southwest Conference opener.
 
“I actually didn't know I was going in until I got on the field,” said Curry,”I just planned on going out, getting our rhythm back and trying to find our identity. I just put the ball out there and let them make plays.”
 
The switch from senior Jamie Bunting to Curry at the quarterback position came in an effort to shake things up on offense.
 
“We're very good at every position on the field, we just cannot allow the quarterback position to be inconsistent,” said head coach Dennis Dunn, “we'll continue to go with the guy who has the hot hand.”
 
Curry came into the 2011 season with many expectations thrust upon him. Those expectations seemed to fizzle over the past year and a half, however, as Curry threw just 38 passes during the 2011 campaign, and came into Saturday's contest against Howard Payne with no pass attempts to his credits so far on the 2012 season.
 
All those previous problems were forgotten about after a tremendous 2nd half effort from the 6'4” gunslinger from Benton, La. as he led his team on back-to-back touchdown drives early in the 3rd quarter. Both of those scoring drives ended with touchdown passes from Curry to senior wide receiver Cortland Bell.
 
Bell, who had touchdown grabs of 18 and 40 yards, noticed the difference that Curry's presence made in the 2nd half.
 
“Tim had that quarterback swagger today that everyone feeds off of,” said Bell, “we got chewed out and challenged at halftime, and Tim was the answer to that challenge today, he stepped up.”
 
The LC white shirt defense also had a noteworthy day, as they forced 4 turnovers, gave up only 188 yards and allowed a season low 6 points.
 
For junior defensive tackle Justin Williams, who has been inactive for the last two years after a short stint at Navarro Junior College, that meant more than just helping the Wildcats move their record to 3-1 on the season.
 
“I haven't been able to be on the field and make plays in 2 years, I just thank God for the opportunity to be out here,” said Williams, who finished with a team-high 2 tackles for loss and fumble recovery, “I feel like our defense can dominate any game we're in if we execute our gameplan.”
 
Bell, who now leads the team with 3 receiving touchdowns, finished the day with 4 catches for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kyle Galyon, who has now quietly led the LC receivers for three consecutive weeks in receiving yardage, finished with 4 catches for 86 yards, the majority of that on a tremendous effort leading to a 68 yard touchdown in the first half.
 
Helping Williams lead the defense were Richard Logan (6.5 total tackles), Nate Janzen (6.5 total tackles), and Dominic Graham, who intercepted a pass to go along with a fumble recovery.
 
The Wildcats move to 3-1 with the victory, 1-0 in the American Southwest Conference and will go on the road to Marshall, Tx. Next Saturday for the annual Battle for the Border Claw against ETBU. 
 

No. 2/2 Mary Hardin-Baylor 76, Sul Ross State 28
 
Box Score
 
ALPINE, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team exploded for 48 first-half points and the 2nd-ranked Cru rode LiDarral Bailey's record-setting day to a 76-28 victory over Sul Ross State University Saturday afternoon in Alpine. UMHB improves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The loss drops the Lobos to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the ASC on the season.

The Cru scored on just its second offensive play of the game when Elijah Hudson scored on a three-yard run. Hudson added a 21-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 UMHB. Sul Ross cut it to 14-7 before Bradlee Waddell scored on a 14-yard run to take the lead to 21-7. Bailey hit Geoff Myles with a 78-yard TD strike on the first Cru offensive play of the second quarter to make it 28-7. The Lobos would wrap touchdowns around another Hudson touchdown run to make it 34-21, but Bailey added scoring passes to Caleb Moore and Oliver Houston to give UMHB a 48-21 halftime edge. Bailey hit Waddell with a 15-yard touchdown pass to cap the opening drive of the second half before calling it an afternoon. Michael Carpenter added scoring runs of 67 and three yards and Stephen Salinas added a one-yard scoring plunge for the Cru. The Lobos did take on a score in the final seven minutes to cut it to the final margin.

Bailey was 15-17 passing and set a new UMHB single-game record with 333 passing yards and tied the school mark with four passing touchdowns. He tied the previous school record of 295 passing yards in the first half. Bailey also ran for 45 yards on seven carries. Moore caught three passes for a career-high 126 yards and Waddell ran for a career-best 99 yards on 23 carries. Carpenter added 92 yards on nine totes. Javicz Jones had a team high 13 tackles to lead the UMHB defense.

The Cru rolled up 762 yards of total offense, including a school-record 379 through the air. UMHB held the high-powered Lobo offense to 355 total yards and forced four turnovers.

A.J. Springer was 21-35 passing for 199 yards and two scores for Sul Ross, but the Cru picked him off three times. Dominique Carson caught five passes for 46 yards and added 46 rushing yards and a TD on eight carries.

UMHB ran its regular season winning streak to 28 consecutive victories and the Cru has won 20 straight ASC contests. UMHB improved to 15-0 all-time against Sul Ross and the victory is the 100th conference win in the history of Cru football, running UMHB's all-time conference record to 100-15.

The game also closes out the first three-game, regular season road swing in Cru football history. UMHB will now return home to host Texas Lutheran University for a 6:00 PM kickoff at Tiger Field in Belton next Saturday. 
 

Texas Lutheran 34, East Texas Baptist 28
 
Box Score
 
SEGUIN, Texas – Freshman Casey Davis' record 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown sparked the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs to a 34-28 Homecoming victory Saturday over East Texas Baptist University.

At Seguin's Matador Stadium, Davis's return swung the momentum back to TLU just seconds after Alex Cloudy's interception return for a touchdown put ETBU ahead 21-13.

Cloudy intercepted TLU's Brent Peavy at the 37-yard line and scored at the 12:48 mark of the third quarter.

Davis (Spring/Spring) scored at the 12:32 mark on a school-record return. Davis's return broke the TLU kickoff return mark of 92 yards, set by Anthony Smith against Sul Ross State in 2007.

The kickoff return by Davis started a run of 21 consecutive points scored by the Bulldogs. TLU converted on the two-point conversion from Peavy to Therron Jerome (New Orleans, La./Marble Falls). Allen Cain (San Antonio/Stevens) followed with a 20-yard field goal, and Lewis Williams II (Houston/Klein Forest) scored on a 9-yard pass from Peavy (Houston/St. Pius X).

Cain then added a 36-yard field goal, his fourth of the night, to give TLU a 34-21 edge with 1:39 to play in the game.

ETBU added a late Roy Denbow touchdown catch, with 51 seconds to play, but TLU recovered the onside kick and ended the game after two kneel-downs.

TLU won for the third straight time over ETBU and moved to 3-1 in 2012. The Bulldogs are 1-0 in the American Southwest Conference.

ETBU dropped to 1-3 overall and to 0-1 in the ASC.

The Tigers jumped quickly on TLU in the first quarter. ETBU led 14-0 just 4:48 into the game after a Khadafi Davis 1-yard run and a Toi Glover four-yard score.

ETBU took the opening kickoff 85 yards in nine plays and scored in 3:56. On TLU's next possession, Peavy was picked off for the first time. ETBU returned the pick to the TLU 8 and scored on Glover's run.

The Bulldogs tossed another interception on its third possession before driving 80 yards in 12 plays to cut the ETBU lead to 14-7. The drive took 4:34 off the clock and ended with a Dominique Hardaway (Lockhart/Lockhart) 10-yard run.

Cain booted a pair of field goals (from 42 and 37 yards) in the second quarter, and TLU trailed just 14-13 at the half. The 37-yarder from Cain came as time expired in the first half.

Cain's four field goals on the night moved him into first place on the TLU career field goal list, with 36. Cain, a First Team All-American in 2011, passed former All-American Holt Storrie for the Bulldogs' career lead. Cain has nine field goals and does not have a miss in his last two games.

Trailing 24-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, ETBU drove deep into TLU territory and had first-and-goal from the TLU 8. On third-and-goal from the TLU 5, Cedric Whitaker (Houston/North Shore) stepped in front of a Seth Hubbard pass to kill the Tiger drive.

The Bulldogs took the interception and turned into seven points. The Peavy-to-Williams TD pass capped a 10-play, 97-yard drive that took 4:29 off the clock.

TLU ran 85 offensive plays and held the ball for 35 minutes.

TLU quarterback Brent Peavy was 19-for-32 for 220 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Peavy also rushed 11 times for 55 yards.

Jerome rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries. TLU had four backs with at least 44 yards rushing. Hardaway rushed 13 times for 58, and DeMarcus Boyd (Houston/Dobie) carried the ball six times for 44 yards.

ETBU's Hubbard threw for 332 yards on 23-of-39 passing. He threw an interception and a touchdown. Kwame Spikes had nine receptions for 97 yards, and Roy Denbow caught six for 130 with a TD.

Jordan Hayes of ETBU led all tacklers with 12 stops. Ty Johnson (Orange/Orangefield) paced TLU with 11 tackles. Johnson also recorded two forced fumbles. James Fowler III (San Antonio/Churchill) and Kyle McNally (Cocoa Beach, Flor./Randolph) recovered ETBU fumbles.

The Bulldogs travel to Belton, Texas next Saturday for a 6 p.m. showdown with No. 2-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Cru crushed Sul Ross State 76-28 in Alpine on Saturday.
 

Hardin-Simmons 31, Mississippi College 0
 
Box Score
 
ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons junior running back Tevin Mitchell ran for 209 yards and two touchdowns and the defense pitched a shutout as the Cowboy football team opened American Southwest Conference play with a 31-0 victory over Mississippi College on Saturday evening at Shelton Stadium. 

It was the first shutout for the Cowboys since a 56-0 win over Howard Payne in 2010 and it also continues an impressive trend for a Cowboy defense that starts four freshmen. HSU allowed a school record 727 yards and 58 points in week one, then 563 yards and 49 points in week two, then 347 yards and 21 points in week three and tonight allowed just 131 yards and no points.

Abilene has received over six inches of rain over the last two days and the game was played in wet and muddy conditions. It didn't seem to bother either team as there was just one turnover in the game.

The Cowboys allowed just 65 yards in the first half and HSU had the only score of the first half when Tevin Mitchell capped a 10-play 57-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 14:26 to play in the first half.

MC had a chance to score right before half after the Choctaws recovered a Mitchell fumble at their own 33 with 2:28 to play in the half. However, Chad Laughlin shot into the backfield on third down to sack Jonathon Redd for an 11 yard loss and take MC out of field goal range.

Freshman Jessie Ramos took the opening kickoff of the second half six yards deep and brought the ball out and found a seam and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his second TD return for a touchdown on the season.

After HSU's defense forced a punt, HSU went 69 yards in nine plays and Mitchell carried the ball the last 38 yards over four carries and capped it off with a 1-yard TD run with 5:16 to play in the third quarter.

On HSU's first possession of the fourth quarted Mitchell ran the ball five straight times to take the ball from the HSU 43 to the MC 18. The drive stalled but Scott Newberry nailed a 32-yard field goal to make it 24-0.

HSU then forced another quick punt and HSU went 41 yards in nine plays for an Alex Thomas 3-yard score.

The Cowboys had 403 yards of offense and 227 yards on the ground. Quarterback Logan Turner was an efficient 14-of-22 for 161 yards. Jonathan Redd was 10-for-21 for just 69 yards passing and MC had just 62 yards rushing in the game, 33 of those by Redd.

James Place led the defense with 10 tackles and Laughlin had two sacks and seven tackles. Doc Ward led MC with 12 tackles and Brooks Villarreal was in on 11 stops.

The Cowboys will play at Howard Payne next Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
 
Idle: None
 
 
 
 
 
Be notified of Weekly Previews, Final Scores, Weekly Recaps and ASC Players of the Week all season long on Twitter: @ASC_sports or #ASCfb