SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Howard Payne University's Mateo Hernandez and Gus Charles each racked up more than 100 receiving yards for the Yellow Jackets Saturday afternoon, but the Jackets fell 36-29 on the road at Wittenberg University.
The Tigers improved to 1-1 on the season while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 1-3.
Zy Gravitt led Howard Payne's passing attack with 407 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Blessing Ngene paced the Yellow Jackets rushing attack by accumulating 31 yards and one touchdown over the course of the game. Kiante Stoker also added nine yards on the ground, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Mateo Hernandez, who had five catches for 131 yards and one touchdown and Gus Charles, who added nine grabs for 128 yards, led the way in the pass-catching department for Howard Payne. Ellis Myers also hauled in three passes for 70 yards and one touchdown.
Jacob Korrodi led the Howard Payne defensive effort, totaling seven tackles and one interception. KC Cornelious added seven tackles and one interception.
The Yellow Jackets forced two turnovers in Saturday's contest, with Howard Payne turning those takeaways into seven points.
Howard Payne's defense held up fairly well against the run, limiting Wittenberg to 154 yards on the ground. The Yellow Jackets defense disrupted the Wittenberg passing attack on the way to recording two interceptions and breaking up two Tigers passes.
How It Happened
After Wittenberg jumped out to a 16-0 lead, Howard Payne responded with 11:06 left in the third quarter to narrow the margin to 16-7.After Wittenberg scored to increase its lead to 29-7, the Yellow Jackets got on the scoreboard again to narrow the deficit and make it a 29-15 game.
After Wittenberg scored to increase its lead to 36-22, Howard Payne scored again with 4:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to narrow the gap and make it a 36-29 game. Neither team scored again in the game.
Game Notes
» Wittenberg outgained Howard Payne 457-410 in the contest.
» The Yellow Jackets got 100 yard receiving days from Mateo Hernandez and Gus Charles.
» Howard Payne tallied 22 points in the fourth quarter, accounting for 75.9% of their total score.
» Howard Payne converted 4 of 14 third downs while Wittenberg was successful on 3 of 16.
» Kale Shaw led the Yellow Jackets with nine tackles.
» Howard Payne allowed just 17 points in six Wittenberg trips to the red zone.
» Howard Payne forced one red zone turnover in the contest.
» The Yellow Jackets ended the game on a high note, scoring 14 unanswered points to close out the contest.
» Max Milton led the Tigers passing attack, completing 19 of his 32 attempts for 303 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
» Christian Manville led the Wittenberg rushing attack with 116 yards and one touchdown.
The Yellow Jackets will be at home this next Saturday versus Westgate Christian University at 4:00 pm.
