NOTES 
Sul Ross and Howard Payne football teams will meet up for the 65th time in both schools' football history Saturday night at Jackson Field. The Homecoming kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. KVLF AM 1240 will provide Saturday's broadcast.
Media Information
Quick Hits and Recap
- A 34-point surge in the second half propelled No. 11 Hardin-Simmons University to a 48-27 homecoming victory over visiting Sul Ross at Shelton Stadium Saturday afternoon.
- The Lobos had the Cowboys on the ropes in the first half and held the lead three times before a Hardin-Simmons rally gave the home team a slim 14-13 lead heading to intermission.
- For the game, Hardin-Simmons outpaced Sul Ross in total offensive yards by a 432-422 margin. The Lobos won the ground battle netting 205 yards compared to the Cowboys' 175 yards.
- Sully also won the first down battle with 23 while the Cowboys totaled 20.
- Individually, Williton Grear netted 154 yards off of 21 carries and posted a touchdown. Fabian Baeza completed 27 of 47 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.
- James Parker led the defense with eight tackles including a sack. Fentrese Milligan recorded seven stops with a sack, a forced fumble and a breakup.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets (HPU Sports Info.)
- The Howard Payne University football team tangled with no. 2 ranked Mary Hardin Baylor Friday evening ending in a 55-0 outcome for the Cru.
- Mary Hardin-Baylor totaled 475 yards of offense while holding the Yellow Jackets to 95 yards of total offense.
- Gage McClanahan was 9 of 12 passing for 46 yards with an interception. Seven different Jackets would carry the ball for HPU, Kadrion Latson leading with 20 yards on 16 attempts.
- DunTayviun Gross had four receptions and Thomas Williams and Eric Haverstock had one catch each for 22 and 14 yards respectively.
- Kyle King, while paying some time down the stretch at quarterback, had 10 punts for 393 yards (39.3 avg.) with a long of 58 yards.
- Austin Killgore led all tacklers with seven, 1.5 for loss and one sack. Anthony Lindsey, Brady Wade and Connor Day each added five tackles, Day also gained one sack.
- The Yellow Jackets led in time of possession in the game 34:24 to 25:36 for UMHB.
Series History
- The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 46-20
- The Lobos defeated the Yellow Jackets, 27-13, in the very first game of the series in 1958.
Last Meeting (Oct. 21, 2017)
- The Sul Ross State University Lobos unleashed a 38-point barrage in the second half and coasted to a 52-15 drumming of Howard Payne University at Gordon Wood Stadium last season
- Sul Ross amassed a season-high 517 yards while Howard Payne tallied 413. The Yellow Jackets outperformed the Lobos in rushing yards by a 350-306 margin.
- Andre Wilson rushed 12 times for 131 yards and a touchdown. James Davis completed seven of 16 passes for 120 yards.
- Marcus Montez grabbed a pair of receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.
- Jacques Wisner led defenders with eight tackles on the day.
- Damian Espizona and Mike Quinonez registered registered six tackles each. Matthew Vasquez and Levah Tarry sported a sack each. Sarkeithian Thomas, Derrick Winters, Zack Roberson and Sir Daniel Turner posted a breakup each. Jakorey Richard notched an interception.
- Eli Lopez was perfect on PAT's at 7-for-7.
Around the ASC (Oct. 20, 2018)
UMHB @ Belhaven, 12:00 PM
TLU @ Hardin-Simmons, 1:00 PM
Howard Payne at Sul Ross St., 6:00 PM
ETBU @ La. College, 6:00 PM
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
- UMHB/6-0, 5-0 ASC
- Hardin-Simmons/5-1, 4-1 ASC
- Texas Lutheran/5-1, 4-1 ASC
- ETBU/3-3, 3-2 ASC
- La. College/ 3-3, 3-2 ASC
- Southwestern/4-3, 3-3 ASC
- McMurry/2-5, 2-4 ASC
- Belhaven/1-5, 1-4 ASC
- Howard Payne/1-5, 1-4 ASC
- Sul Ross St./0-6, 0-5 ASC
CONFERENCE REWIND
No. 2 UMHB-55, Howard Payne-0
BROWNWOOD, TX- The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team did not seem to miss a beat despite the game being pushed up 20 hours as the Cru rolled to a 55-0 victory over Howard Payne University Friday in Brownwood. The game was pushed up from Saturday afternoon in an effort to avoid potential weather issues forecast for Saturday.
No. 11 Hardin--Simmons-48, Sul Ross St.-27
ABILENE, TX- Hardin-Simmons' football team did enough in all three phases of the game to come away with a 47-28 win over Sul Ross State on Saturday afternoon on homecoming at Shelton Stadium.
Texas Lutheran-28, ETBU-21
SEGUIN, TX- With the help of a key turnover and another defensive stop, the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the final 3:44 to edge the East Texas Baptist Tigers 28-21 Saturday in TLU's Bulldog Stadium.
La. College-35, McMurry-23
ABILENE, TX- In a true tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon the Louisiana College football team dominated when it mattered most picking up a 35-23 road win over McMurry University. The Wildcat defense limited McMurry to just 169 yards of offense in the second half while racking up almost 300 of their own with three fourth quarter touchdowns to pick up their third road conference victory of the season.
Southwestern-21, Belhaven-10
GEORGETOWN, TX-In a war of attrition and wind, the Southwestern University Pirates' defense and running game wore down the Belhaven Blazers for a 21-10 conference victory.
QUOTES FROM COACH JOHN PEARCE
OPENING COMMENTS
This was a competitive game. All week we talked about playing with effort. There were about four or five plays that went the other team's way and gave them the momentum but it was a good effort by our players especially in the first half. I think that game may be a pivotal point in our season. We've stressed that we're rebuilding this year but I think our guys know now that they can play in this league.
ON OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
We ran and threw the ball well, probably the best we have all year. Fabian [Baeza] was much more consistent in this game. He had a couple of mistakes but overall I was pleased with his output. He kept his poise when we needed him to and that kept the rest of the offense from stalling.
THOUGHTS ON A LOW-PENALIZED GAME
I think we had more calls that went our way. We had one on their punt return that was called. The fact that we had just two penalties really sparked our offense to get down field and punch it into the end zone.
ON SCORING EARLY
Anytime you can get points on the board early is a good thing. There were some occasions where we had to settle for a field goal but we usually don't get points on the board until the second half or late in the first half. We had some big stops on defense that enabled our offense to start and maintain some drives which breathed some life into what we were doing. We had some big hits also. Hardin-Simmons tried to run a swing pass and one of our freshman corner backs just popped him. When you see good, aggressive play like that, it can have positive impacts on either side of the ball.
CONCERNS WITH SPECIAL TEAMS
Our biggest issue right now is our kickoff team. We're starting to get thin on that unit. We have a lot of starters on that unit and they get tired. A lot of it is just the kick itself but also the coverage. It cost us in the opening play of the Southwestern game and it's something we're having to work on and improve.
THOUGHTS ON MOMENTUM SWING IN THE SECOND HALF
They had a couple of plays they really hit us with. There were some times we didn't fit into it correctly. Reese Childress caused some headaches for us. They ran a reverse counter that we were not able to pickup on plus their speed I think caught up with us.
ON HOLDING HARDIN-SIMMONS TO A ONE-POINT LEAD AT THE HALF
There are no moral victories in football but, again, I loved the effort we showed last Saturday. I told the guys Sunday that if we played with that same effort and excitement and emotion over these next four games, we're going to win more than we lose.
ON TEAM DEMEANOR AFTER THE GAME
The coaches and the players were pleased with the effort and that is huge when you're working with a very young team like our team. They realized they played a good team well and competed.
THOUGHTS ON ENTERING HOMECOMING WEEK
In Texas there is an unwritten rule that you have to win you homecoming game. Obviously we want to win all our games but homecoming and the last game of the season are the big ones because you want to finish well. We have two more games at Jackson Field so hopefully we can wrap up the home season and put on a good show for our fans and finish the job the way it's supposed to be finished.
