Box Score McMurry University scored 13 points in the last five minutes of the game to win a 36-33 thriller on the road Saturday, Nov. 4 against Texas Lutheran University in Seguin.
The War Hawks got on the scoreboard with 18 seconds left in the first quarter on a 24-yard field goal by senior
Jared Mendoza (Fort Worth, Texas). They took the lead at 9-7 with 6:11 left in the second quarter when freshman defensive back
Sy Johnson (Houston, Texas) intercepted the ball and took it 42 yards to the end zone.
The opponent scored 19 points and led 26-9 late in the third quarter. Coach
Jordan Neal's team then started clawing back.
Freshman quarterback
Jess Hoel (Abernathy, Texas) threw a 41-yard touchdown strike to sophomore wide receiver
Karmelus Card (El Paso, Texas) at the 1:28 mark in the third stanza and Mendoza nailed the extra-point kick. With 10:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, Hoel tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver
Kristopher Martin (El Paso, Texas) and Mendoza added the extra point, and this put McMurry down by just three points at 26-23.
The opponent, however, scored again to increase the lead to 33-23.
McMurry was trying to answer at the 5:31 mark in the final stanza when Hoel's pass was intercepted at TLU's 10-yard line, and the opponent returned it just beyond midfield. The War Hawks got the ball back 26 seconds later when junior defensive lineman
Kane Strohman (Katy, Texas) forced a fumble on McMurry's 49-yard line that was recovered by junior defensive back
Timothy Leatherman (Ingram, Texas). Hoel then threw a 50-yard bomb to Martin for a touchdown with 4:41 left in the game and Mendoza kicked the extra point.
Down 33-30, the War Hawks worked the clock and scored the winning touchdown with five seconds left in the contest on a 9-yard connection from Hoel to freshman wide receiver
Thomas Chandler (Waco, Texas).
Offensively, senior
Jack Ishmael (Paradise, Texas) had 6 carries for 52 yards, Hoel had 9 carries for 47 yards and was 24 of 32 for 267 yards, Martin had 7 catches for 110 yards and Card had 4 catches for 70 yards. Sophomore
Pablo Cabello (Dallas, Texas) had 4 punts with 2 landing inside the 20-yard line. Freshman
Corinthean Coleman (Dallas, Texas) returned 3 kickoffs for 101 yards including a 58-yarder.
On defense, junior linebacker
Herman Lee (Prosper, Texas) had 10 tackles (6 solo, 4 assisted), senior lineman
Markeis Williams (Spring, Texas) had 7 tackles (6 solo, 1 assisted), Strohman, aside from his forced fumble, had 7 tackles (5 solo, 2 assisted), 1.5 sacks for loss of 2 total yards and 4.5 tackles for loss of 9 total yards.
The victory marks the team's fifth for 2023 which is the most since 2016 according to d3football.com.
McMurry, 5-4, will play its home finale in Wilford Moore Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11 against Sul Ross State University
