ABILENE, Texas - The McMurry War Hawks fought to the end in conference action on Saturday afternoon, going toe-to-toe with #17 Mary Hardin-Baylor before ultimately falling 26-14 at Wilford Moore Stadium. The War Hawks seized early momentum with an electrifying opening-quarter touchdown drive. They clawed back to within two points late in the third quarter courtesy of a trick-play score, but a resilient second-half effort fell just short against the visiting Crusaders.
McMurry wasted no time setting the tone in the opening quarter. After the defense opened the contest with an emphatic three-and-out stop, the War Hawk offense marched 77 yards in six plays on its opening possession. Quarterback
Carson Roper jump-started the drive with 14-yard completions to
Thomas Chandler and
Kason O'Shields, while
Corey Layne and
Xavier Williams churned out tough yardage on the ground. Roper then finished the series in style, tucking the ball and sprinting 26 yards through the defense for a touchdown on a keeper up the middle. Layne powered across the goal line on the ensuing two-point conversion run, handing McMurry an 8-0 lead. Mary Hardin-Baylor answered midway through the frame with a long touchdown pass to cut the margin to 8-7, but McMurry's defense—led by early stops from
Zach Mitchell,
Brayden Youree, and
Bryce Neves—kept the War Hawks ahead heading into the second frame.
Momentum swung toward the Crusaders early in the second quarter. After a pinned punt that led to a safety on the quarter's opening play, the Crusaders took a 9-8 lead. McMurry's defense repeatedly held its ground, powered by tackles from
Cooper Barnard and
CJ Kidd, and a massive third-down stop by Neves that dropped the Crusaders for an 11-yard loss. The War Hawks seemed poised to regain the lead when Roper connected with
Jadyn Pruitt on an apparent 78-yard touchdown strike, but a penalty negated the highlight play. Mary Hardin-Baylor capitalized on an interception shortly thereafter, punching in an eight-yard touchdown pass to carry a 16-8 lead into the locker room.
The War Hawks emerged from halftime with renewed fire. With Mary Hardin-Baylor driving deep into McMurry territory, defensive lineman
Jackson Harris delivered a pivotal strip-sack, and
Ryland Hurst pounced on the loose ball at the McMurry 24-yard line. Punter
Jax Rodriguez flipped the field moments later by booming a towering 70-yard punt that pinned UMHB inside its own 10-yard line. After another defensive stop, McMurry took over near midfield and put together a clutch nine-play, 64-yard touchdown drive. On fourth-and-4, Roper delivered under pressure, finding Chandler across the middle for a 43-yard strike to the three-yard line. Two plays later, McMurry reached into its bag of tricks: Chandler took an end-around handoff and lofted a two-yard touchdown pass back to Roper in the end zone. The two-point attempt failed, but the War Hawks trimmed the deficit to 16-14.
Mary Hardin-Baylor pushed back to open the fourth quarter, orchestrating an 11-play drive capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass to push the margin to 23-14. McMurry answered with an aggressive air attack as Roper found Pruitt for 7 and 18 yards, hit O'Shields for 16, and connected with Williams for 19 into Crusader territory before the drive stalled on downs. The visitors tacked on a 45-yard field goal with 3:27 remaining to seal the 26-14 decision.
Neves led the McMurry defense with 11 total tackles, while Mitchell recorded eight stops. Harris contributed four tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. Offensively, Roper accounted for two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) and threw for 190 yards, while Chandler racked up 70 all-purpose yards and tossed a touchdown.
Next week, the War Hawks travel to Marshall to play a conference game against ETBU on Saturday, October 31st at 1:00 p.m.
