The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets put the first points on the board and trailed by just a touchdown at halftime of their American Southwest Conference showdown with No. 8 Hardin-Simmons Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium, but a disastrous start to the second half allowed the visiting Cowboys to take control en route to a 38-14 victory.

Trailing 14-7 at intermission, Howard Payne (6-2, 5-2) kicked off to Hardin-Simmons (7-1, 6-1) to start the second half, and Cade Bell returned the boot 90 yards to extend the Cowboys’ lead to 21-7.

Then, on the Yellow Jackets’ second snap of the third quarter, Jamel LaFond recorded HSU’s third of five interceptions against HPU quarterback Landon McKinney and returned the pick to the Howard Payne 12. On the next snap, Myles Featherston scored on a 12-yard carry that put Howard Payne in a 28-7 hole just 68 seconds into the second half.

Howard Payne was plagued by the five turnovers and limited to 348 yards of total offense – 255 passing and 93 rushing. Since leading the nation in total yards at 614 per game and ranking fourth in scoring at 52 points per contest, over their next three outings the Yellow Jackets have produced a total of 45 points and 917 yards – 15 points and 306 yards on average.

McKinney completed 22 of 33 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown, but threw a career-high five interceptions and was sacked three times. Otis Lanier caught 10 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, Jake Parker added six grabs for 109 yards, Hunter Cheek hauled in two for 30 yards, Javonte Russell yanked down a pair for 24 yards and Tauren Bradley finished with two receptions for 12 yards.

On the ground, Bradley rushed for 45 yards followed by Stephen Willis with 25, McKinney with 19 and Parker with a 4 and a touchdown.

Hardin-Simmons manufactured 442 total yards behind a balanced attack that featured 241 yards through the air and 201 on the ground.

Kyle Jones connected on 19 of 32 passes for 236 yards with a pair of scoring tosses, while leading receivers included Bell with six grabs for 49 yards, Kevi Evans with three for 83, Kai Brinkerhoff with three for 30 and a trip to the end zone, and Jalen Crawford with two for 34 and a touchdown.

Gaylon Glynn led the ground game with 47 yards, Featherston added 42 and a touchdown, Kolby Younblood contributed 37 yards, and Jonathan Castaneda rushed for 34 yards and reached the end zone once.

Kyle Bell led the HPU defense with 11 tackles followed by Brayden Rhea and Dai’Shawn Fisher with eight each and Carson Padilla with seven and 1.5 sacks. Dylan Zeno recovered a fumble caused by Peyton Lowe, HSU’s lone turnover of the contest.

Down 21 points early in the second half, the Yellow Jackets closed the gap to 28-14 with 14:10 left in the contest on a 19-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to Lanier, but HPU got no closer.

Hardin-Simmons fired back with a 25-yard scoring toss from Jones to Crawford just 2:15 later as the Cowboys pushed the advantage to 35-14 with 10:55 to go. Then, with 6:30 left on the clock, Jamie Pogue converted a 33-yard field goal for the final 24-point margin.

The game began with three turnovers in the first six minutes, including one by Howard Payne on an interception in the end zone, and another pick immediately after Hardin-Simmons coughed up the ball on a fumble at its own 16.

Still, Howard Payne lit up the scoreboard first with 13:15 left in the opening half as an 11-play, 62-yard drive culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by Parker out of the wildcat formation.

Hardin-Simmons responded to grab a 14-7 halftime lead as Castaneda scored on a 27-yard carry on fourth-and-1 at the 9:12 mark of the second period, and Jones connected with Brinkerhoff on the go-ahead 15-yard scoring toss with 52 seconds left before the break.

Next week, the Yellow Jackets visit No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-0, 6-0), which collected a 30-0 victory over Belhaven (5-3, 4-3) Saturday.

American SW Conference		Conference Wins	Conference Losses	Overall Wins	Overall Losses
Mary Hardin-Baylor		7	0	8	0
Hardin-Simmons		6	1	7	1
Howard Payne		5	2	6	2
Belhaven		4	3	5	3
East Texas Baptist		3	4	4	4
Texas Lutheran		3	4	3	5
McMurry		2	5	2	5
Sul Ross		2	5	2	5
Southwestern		2	5	2	6
Austin College		1	6	1	6

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Week 9 Games

Hardin-Simmons 38, Howard Payne 14

Mary Hardin-Baylor 30, Belhaven 0

Texas Lutheran 20, East Texas Baptist 13

Sul Ross 24, McMurry 11

Southwestern 45, Austin College 19

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Week 10 Games

Howard Payne at Mary Hardin-Baylor

East Texas Baptist at Sul Ross

McMurry at Belhaven

Hardin-Simmons at Austin College

Southwestern at Texas Lutheran