Coming off their first loss of the season, the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets will look to return to the win column in their final non-conference outing before resuming the American Southwest Conference schedule.

The Yellow Jackets (1-1) and Hendrix Warriors (1-1) will square off in a neutral site battle for the second year in a row, again crossing paths at Prosper’s Children’s Health Stadium with a 3 p.m. Saturday kickoff.

“Sitting here at 1-1, there’s been a refocus because these guys aren’t used to having an early loss and they’re feeling that maybe we’re not where we should be right now on both sides of the ball,” said HPU second-year head coach Jason Bachtel. “It’s been a great week of practice with a refocus, reassess type of atmosphere. I’m really anxious in a good way to see what our performance is going to be Saturday because of the way it’s been in our locker room. Is it a must-win? I don’t think so because it’s a non-conference game, but it is a winnable game. And we need to win it to go back into conference with some confidence.”

The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 42-39 loss to George Fox, a game in which Howard Payne committed three turnovers and created none. Miscues resulted in HPU falling in a 21-10 halftime hole, and the defense’s inability to make a vital stop prevented the Yellow Jackets from pulling off the second half comeback.

“The key to the ball game last week is we knew we needed to win the turnover battle and we lost it,” Bachtel said. “I knew that we would have to do a better job defensively, and we tackled better, but obviously there’s some things in the back end we still have to clean up. I’m proud of what our kids showed in terms of grit, integrity and the fight that we showed. That’s been missing from Howard Payne football quite a while.”

Despite the loss, the Yellow Jackets did rush for 281 of their 539 total yards.

“It’s one of the best offensive running game attacks we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Bachtel said. “The line played outstanding in my opinion, the backs did a really great job, and we probably should have gotten to the run a little bit faster. That’s completely my fault, I didn’t know enough about that conference to know how well we would match up, and we were more physical. Going into the ball game next year with those guys we’ll know how to attack earlier.”

Through two games thus far this season, the HPU defense has yet to record a turnover or a sack, deficiencies that must change in order for the Yellow Jackets to have success going forward.

“That was one of our key highlights in the team meeting Sunday night, we lost three turnovers and got zero,” Bachtel said. “We have put a premium on the turnovers defensively, a lot of individual drills, and trying to cause some excitement in a ball game. For sacks, we’re going to have to end up bringing more pressure than we normally do and you may start seeing that this week. We’re going to have to bring some creative blitzes and stunts to get some of those guys going. If you look, our nose is being doubled and (Jake) Jakubowski is being slid to, and those are good problems to have because people respect them, but at the same time we have to get some other guys free.”

An improvement in special teams, especially in terms of allowing free yardage, was another area of focus this week.

“We can’t kick the ball out of bounds and give them short fields,” Bachtel said. “George Fox’s average starting field position was the -37, where ours was the minus -23. That’s a huge difference in a ball game when a team has to go 13, 14 yards less than you do, so we have to better.”

The Yellow Jackets will be facing a Hendrix offense that averages just 13.5 points and 262 yards – 189 passing and 73 rushing – per game, with four turnovers.

Quarterback Jacob Wood has completed 36 of 57 passes for 378 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Leading receivers are Tajae White (12- 121), Christian Gadison (6-79), Jaxon Cobern (4-38), Mason Hays (4-25), Jax Johnson (3-38), and Kanyn Utley (2-46, TD).

The ground game is anchored by Cobern (89 yards), Brian Gittens (40 yards), and Auvic White (16 yards, 3 TDs).

“Hendrix doesn’t look explosive, but we can see them trying to mirror some of the things we do offensively,” Bachtel said. “Splits are a big one because they’re trying to get a run box even. They’ve got a good quarterback, maybe not quite as good as what we just saw, but he does some good things. Their skill kids are good, very disciplined and do a good job, Up front, I think we have a chance to be physically dominant and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The HPU defense will attempt to improve on the 43.5 points and 457.5 yards – 314 through the air and 143.5 on the ground – allowed per contest thus far.

Standouts include Kyle Bell (14 tackles), Jarett Brown (13 tackles, one for loss), K.C. Cornelious (11 tackles), Peyton Lowe (10 tackles), Jessie Parris (10 tackles), Jaden Elie (eight tackles, 2.5 for loss), and Aaron Alderete (seven tackles, one for loss).

The Hendrix defense is yielding just 20 points and 353 yards – 201.5 rushing and 151.5 passing – per contest, with four takeaways.

Leading the charge for the Warriors – who blanked Austin College, 20-0, in Week 1 and dropped a 52-7 decision to Washington (Mo.) last week – are Nathan Hahn (11 tackles, one for loss), Mitch Johnson (10 tackles, one fumble recovery), Jaden Davis (seven tackles, one for loss, one fumble recovery), Mitche Johnson (six tackles, one for loss), and Brayde Smalley (six tackles).

“Austin College has switched offenses and gone to a traditional triple option attack and are new to it, so I wasn’t surprised by a shutout there,” Bachtel said in regard to evaluating the Hendrix defense. “Then Washington U. is a playoff team from last year. So they’ve seen two different offenses from two different types of programs, and I hope we lean more to Washington U.”

The Yellow Jackets produce 49 points and 574.5 yards – 377 through the air and 197.5 on the ground – with three turnovers.

Reigning ASC Offensive Player of the Week Landon McKinney has connected on 45 of 75 passes for 745 yards with six touchdowns and a pair of interceptions, while also rushing for 20 yards and two scores.

The rushing attack is sparked by Tauren Bradley (148 yards, TD), Billy Reagins (112 yards), Javian Myles (78 yards, 2 TDs), and Stephen Willis (37 yards, TD).

Receiving threats include Otis Lanier (14- 147, TD), Hunter Cheek (6-204, 3 TDs), Jordan Carroll (6-151, 2 TDs), Samuel Sims (5-57), and Gavin Rountree (5-48).

Regarding the keys to coming away with a victory Saturday night, Bachtel said, “Let’s go create some turnovers, win the special teams battle, and be explosive on offense.”