ABILENE, Texas - The McMurry War Hawks celebrated Homecoming and Senior Day on Saturday, outslugging Howard Payne 52-39 in a high-scoring conference showdown at Wilford Moore Stadium. Powered by a relentless offensive attack that racked up 490 total yards and seven touchdowns, McMurry treated the home crowd to a victory on a chilly afternoon.
The War Hawks answered an early Howard Payne touchdown on their opening possession.
Marcus Maple ignited the sideline with an explosive 48-yard kickoff return into opponent territory. Just four plays later, running back
Tedrick Williams found daylight around the left edge and sprinted 30 yards to the end zone.
Jax Rodriguez added the extra point to knot the score at 7-7. McMurry's defense quickly capitalized on the momentum shift when
Noah Hatcher scooped up a loose fumble at the McMurry 48-yard line. Quarterback
Carson Roper then engineered a 10-play drive featuring key completions to
Jadyn Pruitt,
Drake Grimes, and
Thomas Chandler, setting up a 22-yard field goal from Rodriguez to give the War Hawks a 10-7 advantage.
McMurry carried that momentum into the second frame after
Celdon Gooch delivered a huge pass breakup on fourth down, giving the ball back to the offense. Roper capitalized immediately, breaking free for a 31-yard scramble on third-and-10 before finding Chandler over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown strike, extending the lead to 17-7. After Howard Payne answered to narrow the deficit to 17-14, the War Hawks responded with an 11-play, 67-yard march. Facing a fourth-and-6 in opponent territory, McMurry pulled out some Homecoming magic as running back
Corey Layne took a direct handoff and tossed a 15-yard completion to Pruitt for a crucial first down. Grimes finished the job on the very next snap, darting up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown run. While Howard Payne scored in the closing seconds of the half, McMurry entered the locker room with a 24-21 lead.
The War Hawks took control with a dominant 13-0 run in the third quarter. Following a defensive stop highlighted by a third-down pass breakup from
Cai Whitfield, McMurry drove 69 yards in seven plays. Roper connected with Grimes on back-to-back completions of 23 and 16 yards, and Layne capped the drive by powering into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown run to push the margin to 30-21. The War Hawk defense stepped up again on the next drive as
Jackson Preng and
Cooper Barnard combined to stuff a fourth-and-short rush attempt. Roper made the visitors pay right away, converting a third-and-9 with a 24-yard dime to Pruitt before calling his own number on an 11-yard touchdown scamper to widen the lead to 37-21.
The final quarter delivered a flurry of big plays. After Howard Payne cut the deficit to 10 early in the frame, Maple struck again on special teams with a 51-yard kickoff return. Roper went right back to work, hitting
Kason O'Shields for 19 yards before finding Chandler on a 4-yard touchdown pass, marking Chandler's second scoring grab of the day, to push McMurry's lead to 44-27. Howard Payne countered with a touchdown, but
Jackson Harris broke through to block the PAT, preserving an 11-point lead at 44-33. McMurry answered in just two plays: Roper unleashed a 52-yard bomb down the sideline to Grimes, and Roper punched it in on the next play for a 7-yard rushing score before adding the two-point conversion rush to make it 52-33. Howard Payne drove to the McMurry 2-yard line on their next possession, but the War Hawk defense authored a dramatic goal-line stand as
Jayson Henley batted down a fourth-and-goal pass in the end zone to force a turnover on downs.
Bryce Neves, who paced the defense with a team-high 10 tackles, corralled Howard Payne's late onside kick attempt to put the finishing touches on the 52-39 triumph.
Next week, the War Hawks travel to Kerrville for their season finale against Schreiner on November 14th, with kickoff set for 2:00 p.m.
