The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets will attempt to end their 2023 football campaign on a positive note following losses in two of the last three outings, as the American Southwest Conference rival Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders are headed to Gordon Wood Stadium for a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff.
Howard Payne (6-3, 3-3) is coming off a 47-42 loss at Sul Ross last weekend, while Mary Hardin-Baylor (5-4, 5-1) held off East Texas Baptist, 21-12, a week ago.
Regarding the loss last week, HPU first-year head coach Kevin Bachtel said, “It was another back-and-forth, high-scoring game and basically we missed some plays. We blew three coverages and all three resulted in touchdowns. We also fumbled or didn’t even field the opening kick after halftime. That wasn’t the end because we came back, but at the end we didn’t make plays when we had to and they did.”
Despite the four losses this season, Bachtel feels UMHB isn’t far removed from the national championship contender teams of the past decade.
“They’re really good,” Bachtel said. “Their record doesn’t do them justice. They lost three games to teams in the Top 7, along with Hardin-Simmons and any year with those two it can go back and forth. They look the same as the last two years I’ve seen them on film, maybe not quite as athletic at receiver, but they’re plenty good.”
UMHB is producing 31 points and 357 yards – 215 passing and 142 rushing – per game, with 17 turnovers.
Sparking the offense have been quarterback Isaac Phe (1,544 passing, 16 TDs, 4 INTs), running backs Kenneth Cormier Jr. (595 rushing yards, 5 TDs) and Ozias Wright (455 rushing yards, 4 TDs), and receivers Jerry Day Jr. (35-420, 5 TDs), TJ Rone (24-323, 2 TDs), Jerry Cephus (16-246, TD), Romelio Cook (14-190, 3 TDs), and Christopher Gacayan (14-178, 5 TDs).
“Offensively they’re on their third or fourth quarterback, but he’s still good,” Bachtel said. “And they have really good weapons and are gigantic up front. When you turn the tape on they look the same as they have the last couple of years.”
The Cru defense allows 21 points and 250 yards – 137 through the air and 113 on the ground – per outing and has forced 14 takeaways this season.
Leading the charge are Durand Hill (76 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions), Omari Frazier (47 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Myles Terry (46 tackles, 12 for loss, 6 sacks), and Trace Holmes (45 tackles, 2 interceptions).
“My biggest concern is our offensive line holding up against their defensive line,” Bachtel said. “They have four really talented guys that just come after you. They sacked ETBU eight times. We lead the conference in rushing defense and they’re No. 2, and they’re the No. 1 overall defense in the conference at this point.”
On the flip side, HPU generates 37 points and 471 yards – 385 through the air and 86 on the ground – per contest, with 11 turnovers.
Quarterback Landon McKinney has connected on 221 or 357 passes for 2,899 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. Primary receiving threats are Gus Charles (54-939, 8 TDs), Jordan Carroll (53-788, 10 TDs), Deon Collins (35-472, 6 TDs), Casey Dufner (13-300, 3 TDs) and Samuel Sims (18-234, TD). Leading rushers include Javian Myles (359 yards, 5 TDs), Reece Rodgers (249 yards, 1 TD) and Blessing Ngene (169 yards, 4 TDs).
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets are yielding 22 points and 343 yards – 235 passing and 108 rushing – per game, with 20 takeaways.
Standouts are KJ Kelley (84 tackles, 6 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery), Jessie Paris (62 tackles, 6 for loss), Jacob Korrodi (51 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 interception), KC Cornelius (40 tackles, 2 interceptions), KD Bookman (38 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), and Peyton Lowe (35 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 1 sack).
“We competed the whole game last week, there wasn’t any give up so that’s not a concern,” Bachtel said. “But I want to see if we can finish a game that matters, not that Sul Ross didn’t. But this could be a huge win for a program to knock off someone like that in Week 10, it’s a step for us in the right direction going into the offseason and spring. It would be a staple win for our program and a chance to finish 7-3 again.”
The Yellow Jackets dropped a narrow 27-24 decision to UMHB at Gordon Wood Stadium last season, and that performance has fostered confidence heading into Saturday’s showdown.
“They believe they can beat them,” Bachtel said. “The teams have most of the some guys and I think they’re confident and believe they can play with them and hopefully we’ll win in the end instead of them.”
Saturday’s contest will also close out the football careers for 20 Yellow Jackets, who are playing one final time in front of the HPU faithful.
“It’s Senior Day and we have several guys that have been here a while including a few fifth-year guys,” Bachtel said. “We have a really good group of seniors and it will be sad to see them leave, but we’re going to play for them and help them go out on the right note and hopefully get a staple win for us.”
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| American SW Conference |
Conference Wins |
Conference Losses |
Overall Wins |
Overall Losses |
|
| Hardin-Simmons | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| Mary Hardin-Baylor | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
| East Texas Baptist | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
| McMurry | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | |
| *Sul Ross | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Howard Payne | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | |
| Austin College | 0 | 6 | 1 | 8 | |
| Texas Lutheran | 0 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
* Not eligible for ASC Championship due to reclassification
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Week 11 Games (Nov. 9-11)
Mary Hardin-Baylor at Howard Payne
Hardin-Simmons at East Texas Baptist
Sul Ross at McMurry
Austin College at Texas Lutheran
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Week 10 Games (Nov. 2-4)
Sul Ross 47, Howard Payne 42
Mary Hardin-Baylor 21, East Texas Baptist 12
Hardin-Simmons 59, Austin College 19
McMurry 36, Texas Lutheran 33