Led by a crushing defensive performance the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets held the Lyon College offense to just 27 rushing yards, Howard Payne knocked off the Scots 41-14 on the road Saturday night.

The win improved Howard Payne’s record to 1-2 on the season while Lyon the fell to 1-2.

Zy Gravitt led Howard Payne’s passing attack with 316 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Kiante Stoker led all Yellow Jackets rushers with 37 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, picking up 5.3 yards per carry. Jalen Davis also added 32 yards on the ground, averaging 6.4 yards per carry.

Gus Charles hauled in five catches for 139 yards. Jackson Meller made his presence felt in the passing game, recording one reception for 81 yards. The Yellow Jackets also added 73 yards receiving and one touchdown from Klyderion Campbell in the game.

Jerwayne Parker showed out for the Howard Payne defense, totaling one interception. Lance Robertson added 1.0 TFL and one recovered fumble and Jesus Mendoza had one interception in the win.

The Yellow Jackets won the turnover battle in Saturday’s game, forcing four turnovers with Howard Payne turning those takeaways into 14 points.

The Howard Payne offense did a good job keeping drives alive, converting on 43.8 percent of third-down attempts.

Defensively, Howard Payne held up fairly well against the offensive attack, holding the Scots to 201 total yards. The Yellow Jackets defense disrupted the passing attack on the way to grabbing three interceptions and breaking up six passes.

How It Happened

Howard Payne took a 7-0 lead over after scoring the game’s first points with 7:54 remaining in the first quarter.The Yellow Jackets then expanded the lead to 14-0 with another score.

Howard Payne kept off the scoreboard and increased its lead to 28-0 with 10:52 left in the second quarter.  The Yellow Jackets continued to extend their lead, scoring again to go ahead 35-0.

Howard Payne continued to increase its lead, scoring again with :05 left in the second quarter to go up 38-0. The Scots then rallied, tallying 14 points before the Yellow Jackets responded with a field goal to extend their lead to 41-14. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Notes

» Howard Payne outgained 480-201, including a 351-174 advantage through the air.
» Howard Payne won the turnover battle 4-1 after intercepting three passes and recovering one fumble.
» The Yellow Jackets scored first with 7:54 left in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to victory.
» Howard Payne had their highest scoring quarter in the second period, when they put up 24 points.
» Howard Payne converted 7 of 16 third downs while Lyon was successful on 4 of 15.
» The Yellow Jackets collected eight tackles for loss.
» Howard Payne won the time of possession battle 32:52 to 27:08.
» Howard Payne got off to a great start in the contest, putting 38 unanswered points on the board before Lyon could respond.
» Gravitt completed 66.7% of his passes on the day, going 12-for-18 while averaging 17.6 yards per attempt.
» Lyon’s Grayson Johnson led the passing attack, completing 10 of his 18 attempts for 116 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.

The Yellow Jackets will be on the road again next week in Springfield, Ohio versus Wittenburg University. It will be a 12:00 noon central time (1 pm eastern) start.