Howard Payne (1-2, 0-1 ASC) at Wittenberg University (0-1)
Springfield, Ohio – Wittenberg Stadium
Kickoff: 12:00 pm CST (1:00 pm EST)
Series: First meeting
Last Meeting: First meeting
Head Coaches: Howard Payne - Kevin Bachtel | Wittenberg – Jim Collins
Listen: 94.3 FM KYOX - Not Available This Week
Video: https://tigersportsnetwork.com/
Live Stats: https://www.wittenbergtigers.com/sports/fball/2024-25/boxscores/20240928_bx8h.xml

HOWARD PAYNE
The Yellow Jackets picked up their first win of the season last week at Lyon College jumping out to a 38-0 halftime lead before ending in the 41-14 final.

Howard Payne was led by QB Zy Gravitt who was 12 of 18 passing for 316 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Gravitt's top target was Gus Charles with five catches for 139 yards.

With six tackles, one for loss. Kale Shaw anchored the Yellow Jacket defense that held Lyon to just 27 yards rushing.

Named ASC Special Teams Player of the Week, Jackson Coulson had four punts for 179 yards (44.8). With a long punt of 59 yards, he placed one inside the 20 with no touchbacks.

The Yellow Jacket offense continues to improve under first-year offensive coordinator Brandon Houston. Last week, Howard Payne totaled 480 yards of offense, 351 passing, and scoring two TDs passing and two rushing.

LB Kale Shaw, Safety Jacob Korrodi, and DB KC Cornelious led the HPU defense with 23, 22 and 20 total tackles respectively after three games. 

WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY
The Tigers come off a 24-14 loss to Baldwin Wallace and a canceled game versus Hiram last week due to unforeseen circumstances in the Springfield, Ohio area.

In their first game of the season, Wittenberg totaled 279 yards of offense, with 203 yards in the passing game. They were led by Max Milton who was 22 of 37 passing for 203 yards, sacked four times with one touchdown. Christian Manville led their ground attack with 21 carries for 104 yards and a TD. LB Cameron Snurr led with nine tackles in the loss to Baldwin Wallace.

Picked to finish third in the North Coast Athletic Conference preseason poll, Wittenberg was 7-3 overall (6-2 NCAC) in 2023. Led by third year head coach Jim Collins, this game versus the Yellow Jackets is the home opener for the Tigers.

AROUND THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE
Hardin-Simmons ranks 7th in the D3football.com poll with 407 points and 8th in the AFCA poll with 863 points. Mary Hardin-Baylor makes their first appearance in the polls this season after a big win over No. 3 UW-Whitewater on Saturday, September 21st. The Cru is ranked 14th in the D3football.com poll with 251 points and 18th in the AFCA poll with 436 points.

WEEK 3 RECAP
Howard Payne headed to Arkansas as they earned a 41-14 win against Lyon College.
Mary Hardin-Baylor traveled to Wisconsin to take on No. 3 UW-Whitewater, claiming a 35-17 victory.
ETBU and Hardin-Simmons with open week

ASC FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: September 21, 2024
 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – AJ Williams III, WR, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Da'marion Morris, FS, So., Mary Hardin-Baylor
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jackson Coulson, P/WR, Gr., Howard Payne

CURRENT ASC STANDINGS

School Conf CPct. Overall Pct. Streak Hardin-Simmons 1-0 1.000 2-0 1.000 W2 East Texas Baptist 0-0 .000 2-0 1.000 W2 Mary Hardin-Baylor 0-0 .000 1-1 .500 W1 Howard Payne 0-1 .000 1-2 .333 W1

THIS WEEK'S ASC SCHEDULE

East Texas Baptist returns to action at 6:00 p.m. with a contest against Centenary in Marshall.
 
Hardin-Simmons opens action at home at 1:00 p.m. against North American in Abilene.
 
Howard Payne travels to Springfield, Ohio to take on Wittenberg at noon.
 
Mary Hardin-Baylor hosts John Melvin at 1:00 p.m. in Belton.