Vance Gibson
Head Coach/offensive coordinator/QB-RB
Vance Gibson moved into an elite group
of HPU coaches last season, winning eight games and becoming the
third-winningest coach in school history with 33 career victories
at Howard Payne. And perhaps most amazingly, Gibson has made his
historical mark after a mere five seasons at the helm. Gibson's
record of 33 wins and just 18 losses gives him a winning
percentage of .647, fourth-best among all HPU head football
coaches. He has a 40-21 coaching record over his six-year career.
If the Yellow Jackets go 8-2 again this season, Gibson will hold
the all-time highest winning percentage at HPU. The winning,
obviously, has been frequent during Gibson's tenure, which began
in 1992. His team has won or shared a conference championship in
three of five seasons, and the Yellow Jackets have reached the
post-season twice during that time period. Offensively, the
Yellow Jackets
have flourished under Gibson's direction. He has coached a
3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver, and a 1,000-yard rusher
at HPU. Combine the offensive output with the consistent and
sometimes spectacular play of the HPU defense, and it's clear why
Gibson is considered one of the top football coaches around.
Gibson has twice been named conference Coach of the Year, and
four out of five campaigns his teams have finished the season
ranked in the Top 25 poll. Before arriving at HPU, Gibson helped
the Sam Houston State Bearkats win the 1985 Gulf Star Conference
title as the team's offensive coordinator. Gibson played
quarterback at Austin College, where he graduated in 1975. He and
his wife, Darla, have seven children and two grandchildren. (top of page)
1998 Season Outlook
Expectations for the 1998 Howard
Payne football team are running high following its 7-3 record and
a second place finish in the American Southwest Conference last
season. Success a year ago came from a running attack that
finished second in the conference and conference-leading defense.
And although the Yellow Jackets return nine starters on offense,
including its back field and front five, coach Vance Gibson will
need to replace each of his starting linebackers and defensive
tackles. How well those holes are filled will dictate the success
of this year's squad.
Howard Payne rushed for 1,879 yards (187.9 per game) to finish second in the ASC behind Mississippi College's 2,733 (273.3 per game). The backfield and the linemen blocking for it return this year. Richard Green, 1997 ASC Newcomer of the Year, lines up at fullback, along with senior running back Damion Vallery and senior all-purpose back Cliff Hall. Vallery and Hall combined for 1,247 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns (7 each) to compliment Green's 425 yards. Hall led the team in all-purpose yards with 800 and Vallery finished second in the rushing title with 763 yards. For his career, Hall has rushed for 2,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. But a talented backfield cannot succeed without a strong front line and Howard Payne returns five lineman. Led by All-Conference selection Clint Loewer, Kenny Rubio, LaRon Slay, Kurt Dudek and tight end Jason Ingram will be responsible for creating holes at the line of scrimmage. The Yellow Jackets must continue its strong running game this seaon after finishing last in passing offense a year ago. With neither starting wide receiver returning, Howard Payne's passing offense could be in the same situation.
Defense kept the Yellow Jackets within reach of a conference championship last season while leading the ASC in total defense (273.0 yards per game), rushing defense (114.3 yards per game) and scoring defense (14.4 points per game). But the team has lost its starting linebacker corps and starting defensive tackles, which puts the responsibility and leadership squarly on the the shoulders of three men -- defensive ends Tommy Ford and Dameion Miller, and defensive back Sedrick Medlock. Medlock may be the most important defensive player on the field for the Yellow Jackets. The 6-0, 180-pound senior from Mart, Texas, had seven interceptions, 32 unassisted tackles as was an AFCA Burger King First Team All-American selection last season. Joining Medlock in the secondary will be J.J. Davis who recorded two interceptions and 41 total tackles last season.
"I think we have got the players in here that can be successfull," Gibson said. "If we make sure we have the maximum effort and are relaxed and having fun it will be successful year. Our defense is a concern with the loss of all of our linebackers but I think by the end of the season we should be in a situation where we are comfortable with the players we have."
| Prospective All-American Candidates | Prospective All-Conference Candidates |
| Sedrick Medlock, Defensive Back Clint Loewer, Defensive End |
Cliff Hall, Running Back Damion Vallery, Running Back J.J. Davis, Defensive Back Jason Ingram - Tight End |
RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES........... (8-2-0) (6-0-0) (2-2-0) (0-0-0) CONFERENCE.......... (5-2-0) (4-0-0) (1-2-0) (0-0-0) NON-CONFERENCE...... (3-0-0) (2-0-0) (1-0-0) (0-0-0) DATE OPPONENT W/L SCORE ATTEND ------------ -------------------- --- ----- ------ Sep 5, 1998 at Midland Lutheran, NE W 28-3 - Sep 12, 1998 PRAIRE VIEW A&M W 22-14 - Sep 26, 1998 UNIV. OF LAVERNE W 48-8 - *Oct 3, 1998 at Mississippi College W 21-3 - *Oct 10, 1998 AUSTIN COLLEGE W 45-23 - *Oct 17, 1998 TEXAS LUTHERAN W 39-0 - *Oct 24, 1998 at Hardin-Simmons L 25-35 - *Oct 31, 1998 MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR W 41-14 - *Nov 7, 1998 at McMurry University L 27-33 - *Nov 14, 1998 SUL ROSS STATE W 43-26 - * Denotes ASC Game |
1997 Results (7-3,3-2) ----------------------------------------------- 9/6/97 BUTLER................. 9-10 L 9/13/97 SUL ROSS STATE......... 28-18 W 9/27/97 at LaVerne............. 21-18 W 10/4/97 CHAPMAN................ 28-20 W 10/11/97 THOMAS MOORE........... 25-5 W 10/18/97 at Sul Ross State...... 27-9 W 10/25/97 HARDIN-SIMMONS......... 30-12 W 11/1/97 at Mississippi College. 0-13 L 11/8/97 MCMURRY................ 23-26 L OT 11/15/97 at Austin College...... 27-13 W |
TEAM STATISTICS HPU OPP -------------------------------------------------------- SCORING....................... 339 159 Points Per Game............. 33.9 15.9 FIRST DOWNS................... 186 152 Rushing..................... 108 58 Passing..................... 59 74 Penalty..................... 19 20 RUSHING YARDAGE............... 2078 967 Yards gained rushing........ 2311 1336 Yards lost rushing.......... 233 369 Rushing Attempts............ 422 371 Average Per Rush............ 4.9 2.6 Average Per Game............ 207.8 96.7 TDs Rushing................. 25 11 PASSING YARDAGE............... 1762 1781 Att-Comp-Int................ 270-132-7 351-148-19 Average Per Pass............ 6.5 5.1 Average Per Catch........... 13.3 12.0 Average Per Game............ 176.2 178.1 TDs Passing................. 15 10 TOTAL OFFENSE................. 3840 2748 Total Plays................. 692 722 Average Per Play............ 5.5 3.8 Average Per Game............ 384.0 274.8 KICKOFF RETURNS: #-YARDS...... 28-452 49-802 PUNT RETURNS: #-YARDS......... 38-288 19-111 INT RETURNS: #-YARDS.......... 19-198 7-114 KICKOFF RETURN AVERAGE........ 16.1 16.4 PUNT RETURN AVERAGE........... 7.6 5.8 INT RETURN AVERAGE............ 10.4 16.3 FUMBLES-LOST.................. 19-12 25-11 PENALTIES-YARDS............... 95-986 89-746 Average Per Game............ 98.6 74.6 PUNTS-YARDS................... 60-2228 74-2522 Average Per Punt............ 37.1 34.1 Net punt average............ 35.3 30.2 TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME....... 29:55 29:45 3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS.......... 46/137 48/167 3rd-Down Pct................ 34% 29% 4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS.......... 6/17 12/33 4th-Down Pct................ 35% 36% SACKS BY-YARDS................ 35-155 10-69 MISC YARDS.................... 105 24 TOUCHDOWNS SCORED............. 46 22 FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS.......... 7-12 2-6 PAT KICKS-ATTEMPTS............ 38-44 13-16 ATTENDANCE.................... 0 0 Games/Avg Per Game.......... 6/0 4/0 BY QUARTER 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total ------------ --- --- --- --- --- Team........ 102 79 75 83 - 339 Opponents... 6 74 37 42 - 159 |
RUSHING G Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
------------------------------------------------------------
Dameian Vallery 10 161 1052 47 1005 6.2 11 80 100.5
Richard Green 10 164 860 34 826 5.0 8 42 82.6
Bryan Bock 10 27 161 16 145 5.4 1 53 14.5
Marty Guerrero 7 18 66 1 65 3.6 0 9 9.3
Cliff Hall 10 3 28 0 28 9.3 0 10 2.8
Wes St. Aubin 10 39 127 113 14 0.4 5 31 1.4
Rico Gardner 9 2 12 0 12 6.0 0 7 1.3
Coy Page 4 2 3 0 3 1.5 0 2 0.8
Macky Garrett 4 1 0 2 -2 -2.0 0 0 -0.5
Mike Birdwell 3 4 2 6 -4 -1.0 0 2 -1.3
Billy Young 10 1 0 14 -14 -14.0 0 0 -1.4
Total.......... 10 422 2311 233 2078 4.9 25 80 207.8
Opponents...... 10 371 1336 369 967 2.6 11 84 96.7
PASSING G Effic Att-Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wes St. Aubin 10 118.17 255-124-6 48.6 1704 14 85 170.4
Macky Garrett 4 135.08 10-5-0 50.0 62 1 13 15.5
Mike Birdwell 3 61.07 3-2-0 66.7 -2 0 0 -0.7
Team 6 -58.40 2-1-1 50.0 -2 0 3 -0.3
Total.......... 10 116.85 270-132-7 48.9 1762 15 85 176.2
Opponents...... 10 83.36 351-148-19 42.2 1781 10 63 178.1
RECEIVING G No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
--------------------------------------------------
Cliff Hall 10 36 266 7.4 1 70 26.6
Dustin Sconci 10 21 362 17.2 4 57 36.2
Rico Gardner 9 21 221 10.5 3 47 24.6
Troy Davis 9 20 481 24.0 5 85 53.4
Kirk Samuels 8 18 298 16.6 3 58 37.3
Brandon Walker 3 3 44 14.7 0 18 14.7
Woodie Anglin 5 3 1 0.3 0 3 0.2
Jason Ingram 1 2 56 28.0 0 48 56.0
Marty Van Dyke 3 2 21 10.5 0 18 7.0
Demond Dabney 2 2 12 6.0 0 7 6.0
Dameian Vallery 10 1 7 7.0 0 7 0.7
Richard Green 10 1 1 1.0 0 1 0.1
Jose Sanchez 1 1 1 1.0 0 1 1.0
Devaris Moore 1 1 1 1.0 0 1 1.0
Total.......... 10 132 1772 13.4 16 85 177.2
Opponents...... 10 148 1721 11.6 10 63 172.1
PUNT RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
---------------------------------------
Cliff Hall 32 212 6.6 0 34
Sedrick Medlock 2 3 1.5 0 2
Rico Gardner 1 7 7.0 0 7
Erick Land 1 35 35.0 1 35
Team 1 18 18.0 0 18
Corey Spigner 1 13 13.0 1 13
Total.......... 38 288 7.6 2 35
Opponents...... 19 111 5.8 0 45
INTERCEPTIONS No. Yds Avg TD Long
---------------------------------------
Sedrick Medlock 5 27 5.4 0 14
J.J. Davis 3 0 0.0 0 0
DerrickThompson 3 23 7.7 0 24
John Gayhart 2 15 7.5 0 15
Corey Spigner 2 4 2.0 0 2
Cleo Kirkland 1 29 29.0 0 29
Tanner Ethredge 1 36 36.0 1 36
William Tates 1 35 35.0 0 35
Erick Land 1 29 29.0 0 29
Total.......... 19 198 10.4 1 36
Opponents...... 7 114 16.3 0 38
KICK RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
---------------------------------------
Sedrick Medlock 13 247 19.0 0 36
Cliff Hall 9 162 18.0 0 29
Woodie Anglin 2 -1 -0.5 0 16
Richard Green 2 22 11.0 0 19
John Gayhart 1 22 22.0 0 22
Bryan Bock 1 0 0.0 0 0
Total.......... 28 452 16.1 0 36
Opponents...... 49 802 16.4 0 52
FUMBLE RETURNS No. Yds Avg TD Long
---------------------------------------
Tanner Ethredge 2 23 11.5 1 21
Sedrick Medlock 1 7 7.0 0 7
J.J. Davis 1 10 10.0 0 10
Harold Brooks 1 65 65.0 1 65
Total.......... 5 105 21.0 2 65
Opponents...... 4 24 6.0 1 14
TOTAL OFFENSE G Plays Rush Pass Total Avg/G
----------------------------------------------
Wes St. Aubin 10 294 14 1704 1718 171.8
Dameian Vallery 10 161 1005 0 1005 100.5
Richard Green 10 164 826 0 826 82.6
Bryan Bock 10 27 145 0 145 14.5
Marty Guerrero 7 18 65 0 65 9.3
Macky Garrett 4 11 -2 62 60 15.0
Cliff Hall 10 3 28 0 28 2.8
Rico Gardner 9 2 12 0 12 1.3
Coy Page 4 2 3 0 3 0.8
Team 6 2 0 -2 -2 -0.3
Mike Birdwell 3 7 -4 -2 -6 -2.0
Billy Young 10 1 -14 0 -14 -1.4
Total.......... 10 692 2078 1762 3840 384.0
Opponents...... 10 722 967 1781 2748 274.8
|------ PATs ------|
SCORING TD FGs Kick Rush Rcv Pass DXP Saf - Pts
------------------------------------------------------------
Dameian Vallery 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 66
Billy Young 0 7-12 38-44 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 59
Richard Green 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 48
Wes St. Aubin 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-2 0 0 - 30
Troy Davis 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 30
Dustin Sconci 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 24
Kirk Samuels 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0-0 0 0 - 20
Rico Gardner 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 18
Tanner Ethredge 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 12
Cliff Hall 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 6
Bryan Bock 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 6
Corey Spigner 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 6
Harold Brooks 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 6
Erick Land 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 - 6
Team 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 - 2
Total.......... 46 7-12 38-44 0-0 1 1-2 0 1 - 339
Opponents...... 22 2-6 13-16 1-4 1 1-2 0 2 - 159
ALL PURPOSE G Rush Rec PR KOR IR FR Tot Avg/G
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dameian Vallery 10 1005 7 0 0 0 0 1012 101.2
Richard Green 10 826 1 0 22 0 0 849 84.9
Cliff Hall 10 28 266 212 162 0 0 668 66.8
Troy Davis 9 0 481 0 0 0 0 481 53.4
Dustin Sconci 10 0 362 0 0 0 0 362 36.2
Kirk Samuels 8 0 298 0 0 0 0 298 37.3
Sedrick Medlock 10 0 0 3 247 27 7 284 28.4
Rico Gardner 9 12 221 7 0 0 0 240 26.7
Bryan Bock 10 145 0 0 0 0 0 145 14.5
Marty Guerrero 7 65 0 0 0 0 0 65 9.3
Harold Brooks 10 0 0 0 0 0 65 65 6.5
Erick Land 8 0 0 35 0 29 0 64 8.0
Tanner Ethredge 10 0 0 0 0 36 23 59 5.9
Jason Ingram 1 0 56 0 0 0 0 56 56.0
Brandon Walker 3 0 44 0 0 0 0 44 14.7
John Gayhart 8 0 0 0 22 15 0 37 4.6
William Tates 8 0 0 0 0 35 0 35 4.4
Cleo Kirkland 2 0 0 0 0 29 0 29 14.5
DerrickThompson 5 0 0 0 0 23 0 23 4.6
Marty Van Dyke 3 0 21 0 0 0 0 21 7.0
Team 6 0 0 18 0 0 0 18 3.0
Corey Spigner 6 0 0 13 0 4 0 17 2.8
Wes St. Aubin 10 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 1.4
Demond Dabney 2 0 12 0 0 0 0 12 6.0
J.J. Davis 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 1.0
Coy Page 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.8
Jose Sanchez 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1.0
Devaris Moore 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1.0
Macky Garrett 4 -2 0 0 0 0 0 -2 -0.5
Mike Birdwell 3 -4 0 0 0 0 0 -4 -1.3
Billy Young 10 -14 0 0 0 0 0 -14 -1.4
Total.......... 10 2078 1772 288 452 198 105 4893 489.3
Opponents...... 10 967 1721 111 802 114 24 3739 373.9
FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Billy Young 7-12 58.3 0-0 4-5 2-3 1-4 0-0 40 0
FG SEQUENCE Howard Payne OPPONENTS
----------------------------------------------------
Midland Lutheran, NE 40 (41)
Praire View A&M (24) -
Univ. of Laverne 40 40
Mississippi College 24 (21)
Austin College (40) 45
Texas Lutheran - 27
Hardin-Simmons (25) -
Mary Hardin-Baylor (38),(25) 35
McMurry University 35,42 -
Sul Ross State (35),(24) -
Numbers in (parentheses) indicate field goal was made.
PUNTING No. Yds Avg Long TB FC I20 Blkd
-----------------------------------------------------
Billy Young 59 2196 37.2 65 0 0 0 0
Coy Page 1 32 32.0 32 0 0 0 0
Total.......... 60 2228 37.1 65 0 0 0 0
Opponents...... 74 2522 34.1 74 0 0 2 2
(top of page)
|-------Tackles-------| |-Sacks-| |---Pass Def---| |-Fumbles-| Blkd DEFENSIVE LEADERS GP UT AT Total ForLoss No-Yards Int-Yds BrUp QBH Rcv-Yds FF Kick Saf ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 William Tates 8 42 31 73 10-35 3.0-18 1-35 1 . . . . . 9 Sedrick Medlock 10 41 17 58 2-5 . 5-27 4 . 3-7 . . . 10 Tanner Ethredge 10 39 14 53 5-19 1.0-5 1-36 2 . 2-23 . . . 56 Harold Brooks 10 18 16 34 4-17 1.0-9 . 1 . 1-65 . . . 40 David Jackson 9 21 12 33 5-16 . . 1 . 1-0 . . . 47 Clint Colvin 9 17 16 33 5-25 1.0-14 . . . . . . . 25 J.J. Davis 10 19 11 30 4-15 . 3-0 6 . 0-10 1 1 . 30 John Latson 10 24 5 29 1-2 . . 1 . . . . . 93 Dameion Miller 8 14 14 28 9-33 2.0-13 . . . . . . . 95 Barrett Allen 9 19 9 28 6-27 5.0-34 . . . . . . . 94 Steve Hood 10 15 10 25 6-15 1.0-2 . . . . . . . 92 Kevin McQueen 10 14 10 24 5-15 2.0-14 . . . 1-0 . . . 23 Jeremiah Johnso 7 12 8 20 1-7 . . 4 . . . . . 54 Tommie Ford 6 15 4 19 1-4 1.0-7 . 2 . 1-0 2 . . 78 Chris Mueller 8 8 9 17 4-17 1.0-10 . . . . . . . 65 Erick Land 8 8 8 16 1-3 . 1-29 . . . . . . 45 Andy Garza 8 11 5 16 5-31 1.0-8 . . . . . . . 19 John Gayhart 8 10 5 15 2-17 2.0-17 2-15 . . . . 1 . 27 Jason Rayfield 5 7 4 11 . . . 1 . 1-0 . . . 50 Kevin Meador 3 8 2 10 2-8 . . . . . . . . 17 DerrickThompson 5 8 2 10 1-3 . 3-23 3 . . . . . 1 Corey Spigner 6 10 . 10 1-3 . 2-4 1 . . . . . 58 Preston Moore 4 7 2 9 1-1 . . 2 . . . . . 20 Rico Gardner 9 5 2 7 1-19 . . 1 . . . . . 39 Bryan Bock 10 6 1 7 . . . . . . . . . 87 Rich Gutierrez 6 1 5 6 2-9 1.0-5 . 1 . . . . . 37 Wayne Rodgers 4 3 3 6 . . . 1 . . . . . TM Team 6 5 . 5 5-19 . . . . . . 1 1 11 Billy Young 10 4 . 4 . . . . . . . . . 4 Josh Gibson 4 3 1 4 . . . . . . . . . 3 Cliff Hall 10 3 . 3 . . . . . . . . . 49 Jowell Pedon 2 1 2 3 . . . . . . . . . 12 Cleo Kirkland 2 2 1 3 1-1 . 1-29 2 . . . . . 96 Keith Tatum 2 2 1 3 . . . . . . . . . 38 Coy Page 4 2 1 3 . . . . . . . . . 52 ShannonWilliams 3 2 1 3 . . . . . . . . . 98 Wilson Krezdorn 2 2 . 2 . . . . . . 1 . . 2 Woodie Anglin 5 1 1 2 . . . . . . . . . 35 Craig Huffman 2 2 . 2 1-11 . . . . . . . . 75 GeorgeAndershok 3 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . . 90 Jerry Griffith 1 . 2 2 . . . . . . . . . 21 Chris Malik 2 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . . 53 Clay Hodges 2 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . . 97 Cesar Duran 1 1 1 2 1-1 . . . . . . . . 33 Marty Guerrero 7 1 1 2 . . . . . 1-0 . . . 36 Brandon Walker 3 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 34 Bradley Duckett 1 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 8 Richard Green 10 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 24 Marty Van Dyke 3 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 6 Dameian Vallery 10 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 80 Dustin Sconci 10 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 1A Mike Birdwell 3 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 46 David Ramsey 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2B Derick Medina 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 51 Carlos Rodriquz 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 83 Hector Ramos 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 29 James Brown 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 28 Chris Blanton 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 69 EmilioMontejano 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 22 Jamil Tharp 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 57 Michael Didier 1 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . . 43 Bryan Boston 1 . . . . . . 1 . . 1 . . Total.......... 10 452 240 692 92-378 22.0-156 19-198 35 . 11-105 5 3 1 Opponents...... 10 - - - - 10.0-77 7-114 24 . 12-24 2 . 2 (top of page)
