BROWNWOOD, Texas – The McMurry University football team shutout Howard Payne University in the second half, but a few early scores became too much to overcome as the War Hawks dropped a 24-3 defensive contest at Gordon Wood Stadium on Saturday.
Howard Payne moved to a 2-2 record and secured the third place spot in the American Southwest Conference West Division standings. McMurry fell to 1-3 and will finish fourth in the West. As a result, the War Hawks will travel to Louisiana College next Saturday, March 27 for the ASC Playoffs, while HPU will host Belhaven.
The Yellow Jackets wasted no time getting on the board with a touchdown just over a minute into the contest, sparked by a 68 yard pass from Landon McKinney to Jake Parker to set up a Billy Reagins rushing touchdown near the goal line.
McMurry answered with its lone points of the day on its second possession, converting three first downs and two fourth down conversions to set up a 24 yard field goal by Jared Mendoza. The impressive drive went 13 plays for 58 yards and took 4:07 off the clock.
HPU take advantage of another long pass by McKinney to Parker to set up another touchdown drive, making it 14-3 at the quarter break. In the second quarter, HPU added a 30 yard field goal and a 25 yard TD pass to add insurance.
Despite a couple of early blemishes, the McMurry defense held its own and kept the game alive deep into the contest with a second half shutout.
Senior Josh Smith had a season-best 13 tackles on the day, including 1.5 tackles for loss in the effort. Smith moves into seventh place on the all-time career tackles list for McMurry, passing Drew Wallace (2006-09) with 289 for his career.
Offensively, the War Hawks finished with 353 yards, including 229 through the air. HPU finished with 551 yards and forced McMurry into three interceptions to gain the edge.
Sophomore Carlos Garibay led the quarterbacks with a 10-for-24 day for 154 yards and one interception. Freshmen Ricardo Luna and Dexter Wyble also earned reps, combining for 12 passing attempts. Jermond Lovely was the leading receiver for McMurry with four catches for 92 yards.
Dee Robinson led the run game with 18 attempts for 66 yards, while Kameron Session added nine carries for 39 yards.
McMurry will close the season in Pineville, Louisiana with an ASC Playoff meeting against Louisiana College on Saturday, March 27. Details around that game will be determined this coming week and announced prior to game day.
