PINEVILLE, Louisiana – Despite forcing four turnovers and sacking Louisiana College six times, the Howard Payne University football team fell 35-7 Saturday afternoon in conference action.
With the extra time to prepare, Howard Payne came out focused and held the Wildcats to their lowest point total on the season before eventually dropping the game 35-7.
Louisiana College had previously been averaging 52 points a game against its first three opponents. But the Yellow Jackets came in and held them to 14 first half points and after a six yard touchdown run from Shannon Warren, trailed by only seven points heading into the second half.
However, the Howard Payne offense was unable to get anything started in the passing game due to a stingy Wildcat secondary. The Jackets were able to get 110 yards on the ground but only 65 through the air and gave up three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to fall to 0-4 on the season.
The Jackets held the Wildcats scoreless until the final minutes of the first quarter when the LC quarterback was able to find a receiver open in the end zone for a 13 yard pass to take the 7-0 lead into the second quarter.
Louisiana College tried to keep the scoring going in the second quarter, driving down the field to the 19 yard line until Douglas Irby was able to get his hands on a pass for an interception. But two drives later, the Wildcats found a receiver down the left sideline for a 70 yard touchdown reception, extending the lead to 14-0.
Howard Payne fought back late in the second, taking the ball with just under five minutes left in the half and driving the ball down to the six yard line. Aroldo Nandin reeled in catch out of the backfield for an 18 yard gain to set the Jackets up for the touchdown on the six yard line. Warren broke open a run and punched the ball over the goal line to bring the score to 14-7 at the half.
Despite fumbling the ball once and throwing one interception, Howard Payne was still very much in the game. However, the Wildcats came into the second half and broke off three unanswered touchdowns to pull away from the Jackets and take the win.
The Yellow Jackets forced three fumbles and recovered two of them while picking off the LC quarterback one time. But the offense was not able to capitalize on the turnovers and make the Wildcats pay for their mistakes.
Howard Payne started the game with Caisson Montieth under center and he led the team in rushing yards with 61 but he was picked off twice and only managed to throw for 65 yards in the game. Coach Sims tried to mix some things up by giving Trey Potter and Brandon Fisk some playing time but the LC defense wouldn't relent and they held each quarterback in check.
Patrick Hunt finished the game with 10 tackles. good for second in the game and also had one blocked field goal. Jason Disney led all players with 13 tackles and forced a fumble in the red zone to save the Jackets from a Louisiana College scoring opportunity early in the first quarter.
The Yellow Jacket defense put pressure on the Wildcat offense all day and finished the game with a season high six sacks. Dylan Hudson had nine tackles and JT Estes added eight in the loss.
Howard Payne is now 0-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play while Louisiana College now stands at 3-1 and 1-0 in ASC play. The Yellow Jackets will now return home to play on Oct 8th at Gordon Wood Stadium hosting Mary Hardin-Baylor at 1:00 pm. Be sure to follow the Jacket football team on Twitter @HPUfootball and #TEAM111.
