Howard Payne Edges East Texas Baptist in 54-53 Shootout

HPU sophomore QB Richard Young was 36-of-58 passing for 492 yards and two touchdowns.

10/19/2014 7:52:52 AM

Howard Payne 54, East Texas Baptist 53 - Box Score
BROWNWOOD, Texas - Howard Payne sophomore quarterback Richard Young scored with nine seconds remaining to defeat East Texas Baptist 54-53 in conference action Saturday evening.

The Yellow Jackets trailed the entire game, but with nine seconds remaining Young tied the game on a four-yard touchdown run. Then junior kicker Joshua Martinez' extra point gave the Yellow Jackets the 54-53 victory.

HPU broke the school record for total yards in a game with 720 yards. The previous record was 667 yards set in 2004 against Louisiana College.

Young was 36-of-58 passing for 492 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Colby Mica had 12 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

Junior running back Zarron Dove had 27 carries for 120 yards and three touchdowns. Dove also had four catches for 67 yards.

Junior free safety Jordan Shaw led the HPU defense with 16 tackles and had eight solo stops.

Howard Payne is now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play. East Texas Baptist falls to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in ASC play. The Yellow Jackets will take on Hardin-Simmons at 2:00 p.m. at the HPU homecoming game at Gordon Wood stadium Saturday, October 25.

No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor 45, Louisiana College 24 - Box Score
BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team dominated the first quarter and then held on from there as the Cru posted a 45-24 victory over Louisiana College Saturday at Crusader Stadium. UMHB improves to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The loss drops the Wildcats to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the ASC on the year.

Louisiana College failed to convert an onside kickoff to open the game and junior quarterback Zach Anderson hit sophomore wide receiver Wykeyhe Walker with a 43-yard touchdown pass on the game's first offensive play to give UMHB a 7-0 lead just eight second into the game. Junior kicker/punter Jacob O'Neill added a 40-yard field goal, sophomore quarterback Blake Jackson scored on a two-yard run and Anderson found senior tight end Eric Nelson for a 41-yard scoring strike as the Cru built a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Easton Melancon found junior wide receiver Ladarius Gardner with a 56-yard scoring pass with 8:08 left in the second quarter to cut it to 24-7, but UMHB answered with Anderson's 38-yard touchdown pass to Nelson just two plays later. Melancon threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Gardner and senior kicker/punter Adan Olivares hit a 34-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter to cut the gap to 31-17 at halftime. Jackson broke off a 64-yard touchdown run for the only scoring play of the third quarter to put the Cru up 38-17. Jackson later connected with Walker in the fourth quarter on a 78-yard pass and run to give UMHB a 45-17 lead with 12:29 left to play. The Cru committed its fourth turnover of the day to set up the Wildcats with a short field and Melancon closed out the scoring with a six-yard touchdown toss to sophomore wide receiver Farron Jones with 10:39 remaining.

UMHB rolled up 516 yards of total offense with 310 of those coming through the air. LC ran 106 offensive plays and finished with 473 yards of total offense. The Wildcats threw for 399 yards on 77 pass attempts in the game. The Cru turned the ball over four times and was penalized seven times for 85 yards. The Wildcats did not turn the ball over or commit a penalty in the game.

Anderson was 10-of-19 passing for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson ran for 90 yards and two scores and was 3-of-3 through the air for 95 yards and another score. Nelson had three catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns and Walker added two grabs for 121 yards and two scores. Sophomore cornerback Kris Brown led the Cru defense with 11 tackles, six pass break-ups and two tackles for loss. Freshman defensive back Jaedon Johnson added 10 tackles and three pass break-ups.

Melancon was 32-of-71 passing for 383 yards and three touchdowns for Louisiana College. The Wildcats had three 100-yard receivers in Jones (115 yards), Gardner (103 yards) and sophomore wide receiver Shedrick Davis (110 yards). Senior linebacker Landon Henry topped the LC defense with 12 total tackles.

The Cru stretched its regular season winning streak to 50 straight games. UMHB also set a new school record with its 34th consecutive ASC victory and the Cru now leads the all-time series with Louisiana College 15-0. The game was the 200th contest in UMHB football history and the Cru is 165-35 all-time.

Mary Hardin-Baylor will return to action with a non-conference game at nationally-ranked and undefeated Texas Lutheran University Saturday, October 25. That game will kickoff at 1:00 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium in Seguin and marks the first non-conference game between the former conference rivals.

Hardin-Simons 19, Sul Ross State 12 - Box Score
ABILENE, Texas -- Hardin-Simmons' football team beat Sul Ross State 19-12 on Homecoming Saturday afternoon at Shelton Stadium.

HSU improved to 4-1 on the year and 1-0 in American Southwest Conference action with the win. It is the Cowboys' fourth straight win.

The Cowboy defense had a stellar performance limiting the Lobos to 165 yards of total offense and neither score came against the defense.

HSU jumped to a 13-0 first-quarter lead on a pair of touchdown runs by senior running back Bryce Johnson. Johnson scored on an eight-yard run with 5:20 to play in the first quarter and after a missed extra point it was 6-0. Johnson later scored on a two-yard run after the Lobos had fumbled a punt at the six-yard line.

The Lobos scored with 20 seconds remaining in the first half when junior defensive back Shane Alexander picked off sophomore quarterback Weston Garner and returned it 99 yards for a score. The extra point was blocked by junior defensive end Ryne Lewis and HSU led 13-6 at halftime.

It stayed that way until senior running back Kerry Sloan scored on a five-yard run with 3:37 to play in the game and again the extra point was no good, giving HSU a 19-6 lead. Sophomore defensive back Uriah Mosley returned the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to make it 19-12 with 3:08 to play.

HSU then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but the Cowboy defense stopped the Lobos on fourth down to preserve the win.

Garner completed 26-of-37 passes for 224 yards for the Cowboys and junior slot back Jessie Ramos and senior slot back Jimmie Simpson had eight catches each. SRSU freshman quarterback James Davis was just 8-of-14 for 61 yards for SRSU.

Defensively, Corey Ward had eight tackles and junior defensive tackle Korey Zavala added seven with a sack for HSU.

Sul Ross State fell to 1-6 on the year and 0-2 in league play. HSU will play at Howard Payne next week.

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