ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Football put on a show in front of a capacity crowd at Wilford Moore Stadium on Saturday, scoring early and often in a 48-13 win over Austin College on Homecoming.
Both teams entered with 1-3 records in the American Southwest Conference standings, but McMurry separated itself from the bottom tier in dominant fashion. McMurry (2-3, 2-3) scored 31 unanswered points before halftime and coasted the rest of the way.
The War Hawks scored all five of its offensive touchdowns through the air, led by sophomore quarterback Dexter Wyble with 14-of-25 completed passes, 251 yards and five touchdowns. Xavier Williams and Jermond Lovely each had two receiving touchdowns on acrobatic catches, while Kristopher Martin also had one.
The offense finished with 27 first downs – 13 passing and 12 rushing – while totaling 517 yards of offense. The War Hawks used a balance attack with 278 passing yards and 239 on the ground. Kameron Session and Dee Robinson combined for 118 yards, but more impressively, eight rushers totaled double-digit rushing yards in the win.
The defense had its way with Austin College (1-3, 1-3) most of the game, holding the 'Roos to just 86 rushing yards and 223 passing – though 62 of those yards came from one touchdown play on a missed coverage. The War Hawks also held AC to just 3-of-14 on third down conversions.
Junior linebacker Xavier Gayle usually leads the defense with his tackling ability, but today, he did it in turnovers with two interceptions. He also added a tackle for loss. Sophomore safety Coryell Fillmore led with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss, while Josh Smith added six and a sack. McMurry had 28 players record at least one tackle – nearly a quarter of its roster.
On special teams, McMurry had a touchdown return for the second straight game. This time, freshman Darrin Boston scored on a first half punt return for his first career touchdown. Jared Mendoza also made his lone field goal of the day from 33 yards.
First Quarter – McMurry 16, Austin College 0
The War Hawks won the toss and elected to defer, proving to be a wise decision. AC stalled on its opening drive and was forced to punt, putting McMurry on its own 20 for the first offensive possession. Although it forced a punt, McMurry took a huge blow on the opening drive when starting safety Brenden Torrence left the game due to a targeting penalty.
Despite his departure, McMurry buckled down and started its next offensive drive. Six plays in, Dexter Wyble connected with Xavier Williams on a 60-yard pass behind the defense for the first score.
McMurry is no stranger to trying two-point conversions on its opening touchdown, and this time was no different. Wyble rolled and found Kristopher Martin in the back of the end zone, giving McMurry an 8-0 lead just over four minutes in.
Later, Wyble hooked up with Martin for a 31-yard touchdown and McMurry decided to go for two again. This time, Wyble had no open receivers and punched it in himself to make it 16-0 near the quarter break.
On its four offensive drives, Austin College was forced into three punting situations and had one turnover. Starting near midfield, the Roos entered enemy territory and tried throwing a sideline route towards the red zone, but instead were picked off by Xavier Gayle in the flat.
The quarter would end after a third down stop, forcing the third punt for AC.
Second Quarter – McMurry 31, Austin College 7
The second quarter started with a bang, as Darrin Boston broke a tackle and ran down the home sideline for a 63-yard score. McMurry Head Coach Jordan Neal tried his luck once more on two-point conversions and made nice on it with another completed pass to Martin.
The teams traded punts until finally AC had the ball with 5:40 to go. This drive felt like the final nail – even before the half – as a batted pass landed in the arms of Xavier Gayle for his second interception. McMurry took over 40-yards away from the end zone and used three rushes by Dee Robinson to move into the red zone. This set up a 13-yard TD from Wyble to Jermond Lovely. Mendoza's kick made it 31-0.
AC finally struck back on its first play from scrimmage after that, scoring on a 62-yard pass with 3:23 to go.
McMurry had one more drive, but punted away with under 30 seconds to go. AC threw up one more pass before the half, but it was ruled incomplete. The original call was a fumble in the end zone recovered by McMurry for a touch back, but it was overturned after further discussion.
Third Quarter – McMurry 45, Austin College 7
The second half did not get much better for the Roos, as McMurry started with the ball and went down to score on its first drive of the half. Using nine plays to go 91 yards, Wyble found Lovely for a tip-toe catch in the end zone.
Later in the quarter, Wyble threw his fifth and final touchdown, finding Williams for a second time. Andy Flores would enter for the extra point in place of Mendoza, sailing it through to make it 45-7.
Fourth Quarter – McMurry 48, Austin College 13
Austin College continued a long third quarter drive into the fourth, scoring its final touchdown with 13:46 to go to cap an 11 play, 64 yard drive. The PAT was missed to make it 45-13.
With the game seemingly in hand, McMurry turned to its reserves to finish out the contest.
The final score came from a Jared Mendoza field goal from 33 yards out.
Up Next
The War Hawks hit the road to take on Texas Lutheran next Saturday, Oct. 23 in Seguin, Texas.
