PINEVILLE, La. – McMurry University's football team was unable to come back from its first half deficit at Louisiana College, suffering a 52-34 defeat at Wildcat Stadium. The loss dropped the War Hawks to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the ASC, with the Wildcat improving to 2-4 and 1-4 in ASC play.
 
Down 7-0 midway through the first quarter, McM quarterback Kevin Hurley Jr. engineered a 10-play, 76-yard drive that knotted the game. Hurley's five –yard run, along with Tanner Wright's extra-point kick,  made it 7-7 with 2:37 left in the opening period.
 
But the Wildcats would answer with a score of their own to close out the first period, 14-0. Then, in the opening minutes of the second frame, Hurley was intercepted near midfield and LC returned the pilfered pass to the McM three.  One play later, Louisiana College made it 21-7.
 
After the ensuing kickoff, McMurry began its series first-and-10 from its own 10 yard line. On a third-and-seven, Hurley and Justin Eaton hooked up on an 87-yard pass-and-run that helped McM cut the gap to a single score, 21-14.
 
Eaton would finish the evening with his third-consecutive 100-yard receiving game. Eaton had four catches for 149 yards, giving him a total of 392 yards in receptions over the past three games.
 
Louisiana College blew the game open during the final eight minutes of the first half.  The Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points to take a 42-14 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
Opening the second half, the War Hawks looked like they might give a repeat performance of the previous week, where they overcame a big halftime deficit and gained the win over Belhaven. With 11:15 left in the third quarter, McM's Eriel Dorsey (6 catches/98 yards) hauled in 22-yard strike from Hurley that, with the PAT, made it 42-21.  Then just a little under three minutes later, Hurley ran in the ball from 18 yards out to cap a three-play, 69 yard drive that tightened matters and made it a two-score game, 42-28, with 8:20 left in the third.
 
But McM would get no closer, as the Wildcats would add 10 points to their total down the stretch.  The War Hawks' final tally came on a 21-yard touchdown run from Kelvaughn Hayes with 3:29 left to play, 52-34.
 
Hurley finished the evening completing 21-of-32 passes for 367 yards and a pair of TDs. Hurley also had 41 rushing yards and scored twice on the ground, as well.
 
In all, the War Hawks had 129 rushing yards. Conversely, Louisiana College's strong ground attack rolled up 310 rushing yards.  The teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards of total offense, with the War Hawks holding a slight advantage, 496-to-491 yards.
 
On defense, Josh Smith, Michael Green Jr and Reagan Miller each booked nine tackles for McM. Senior defensive back Jordan Washington had eight tackles and made his team-leading fourth interception.
 
McMurry will have a bye next week, before returning to action on October 28 versus No. 1-ranked – and defending national champion – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at Wilford Moore Stadium.