In the midst of their best start since 2002, the undefeated, American Southwest Conference co-leading Howard Payne Yellow Jackets will play a 1:30 p.m. Saturday homecoming contest at Gordon Wood Stadium against the Sul Ross Lobos.
Howard Payne (4-0, 3-0), fresh off a 49-38 victory at East Texas Baptist last week, received 10 votes in the latest D3football.com Top 25 rankings, which would be good for 40th in the nation. No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor (4-0, 3-0) and No. 7 Hardin-Simmons (3-1, 2-1) are the only other ASC schools represented in the poll.
“I go back to the opening press conference on Jan. 7 and everything we’ve ever talked about doing here is getting us back to national relevance,” said HPU first-year head coach Jason Bachtel. “It’s exciting that you now get kids who are seeing Howard Payne football receiving votes to make the Top 25, that’s a huge step in the right direction. We’re starting to receive some national recognition not only in our play but in individual kids, and when we can start doing that then our program is starting to become relevant, and that’s all we ever wanted. It’s exciting to be a Yellow Jacket and an exciting time to be at Howard Payne. We’re just ready for everybody to jump on board and continue to grow.”
Also for homecoming, the Yellow Jackets will debut alternate gold helmets in honor of the 1971 squad, the best in school history, and the last at Howard Payne to don gold headgear.
“We’re just trying to gain some respect back into our program and also show respect back to those guys who wore that original helmet,” Bachtel said.
In last week’s win over ETBU, the Yellow Jackets overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to take the lead, only to see the Tigers regain the advantage with a fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown. HPU fired back with three consecutive touchdowns, including a pick six of its own, to seal the victory.
“You’re seeing a bunch of resilient kids that are getting after it that have bought into our system,” Bachtel said. “Never was there a time in our minds where we felt like we were out of the ballgame. They just kept plugging along and getting after it and making plays.
“All three groups stepped up when they needed to. There was a point in time where we were down 10 and we looked at the offense said, ‘hey it’s time to start moving.’ Our kids said, ‘we’re good, let’s go.’ They did exactly that. We had a huge fourth quarter defensively with three interceptions. That was huge to stop any momentum they might try to establish, and the pick six by Peyton Lowe sealed the deal. Then you had Selah Smith who returned a kickoff for a touchdown after a safety, that was a huge nine-point swing for us 28 seconds into the second half. It was a great game all around, obviously there’s stuff to learn from, but it was just a huge team win.”
Sul Ross (1-2, 1-2) is coming off its first win of the season over Texas Lutheran, 12-10, which followed losses to Hardin-Simmons, 27-0, and Austin College, 16-7.
“It’s going to be a good battle,” Bachtel said. “Sul Ross and Howard Payne always play tough ballgames, even if one is a power and one is not that year, it always seems like it’s a good ballgame. I don’t expect anything different. Weather, I think, is going to be play a factor early in the ballgame. Whichever team withstands those negative conditions, I think you’re going to see that team be the winner.”
Howard Payne enters the contest averaging 47 points and 623.5 yards – 415.5 passing and 208 rushing – per game, with eight turnovers.
ASC Offensive Player of the Week Landon McKinney has completed 68 of 116 passes for 1,361 yards with 15 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Leading receivers include Jake Parker (24-637, 8 TDs), Otis Lanier (12-255, 3 TDs), Selah Smith (8-112, TD), Josh Aldama (6-86), Max McCuiston (5-165, 2 TDs), and Hunter Cheek (5-67, TD). Top ground gainers are Tauren Bradley (351 yards, TD), Stephen Willis (202 yards), and Derrick Berry (154 yards, 2 TDs).
Sul Ross counters with a defense that gives up just 18 points and 357 yards – 184 through the air and 173 on the ground – per outing, while forcing a dozen turnovers on the season.
Standouts include Eduardo Garcia (19 tackles, 1 sack), Jade Rios (18 tackles), Jalen Howard (17 tackles), Ronin Williams (17 tackles), and Quincy Blair (16 tackles).
“Defensively, to the No. 7 team in the nation Hardin-Simmons they gave up 27 points,” Bachtel said. “That’s their strong suit, they play very hard on defense. They’re pretty athletic, they’ve got a good bunch of defensive linemen and they’re real good in the back end.
“I’m big on scoring the first two drives of the ballgame, I think that sets the tone early, especially the first drive. You never want to be trailing but at that point last week we were trailing after our first possession because we did not capitalize on some mistakes they made, so we need to score early and often.”
Sul Ross’ offense has scored just 19 points all season and is producing a mere 6 points and 209 yards – 138 passing and 71 rushing – per game, but has committed just two turnovers.
Quarterback T.J. DeShields has connected on 49 of 79 passes for 386 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Matthew DeLeon (112 yards, TD) and Devon Mendoza (89 yards) are the top rushers and Vicente Luevano (16-130) is the leading receiver.
The Yellow Jackets’ defense, meanwhile, is yielding 28 points and 405 yards – 282 through the air and 123 on the ground – with 12 takeaways.
Leading the charge defensively are Peyton Lowe (26 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 2 INTs, 1 FR), Dai’Shawn Fisher (22 tackles, 1 FR), James Jakubowski (18 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 FR), Kyle Bell (16 tackles, 1 INT), Jarrett Brown (14 tackles), and Dylan Zeno (12 tackles, 1 FR).
“Offensively, I don’t know that Sul Ross has found their identity and we need them to hold off one more week before they find that,” Bachtel said. “Quarterback play has been kind of suspect for them, but they may have found one this ballgame against TLU.
“Defensively, we want to see that we’re continuing to stop the run, which we’ve done a good job of so far this season, but our secondary needs to keep improving. If our secondary keeps improving I think you’re going to see a team that starts to get some national recognition and I think you’re going to see the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in the playoff hunt.”
***
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE
Conference Overall
Howard Payne 3 0 4 0
Mary Hardin-Baylor 3 0 4 0
Hardin-Simmons 2 1 3 1
Belhaven 1 2 2 2
East Texas Baptist 1 2 2 2
Austin College 1 2 1 2
McMurry 1 2 1 2
Sul Ross 1 2 1 2
Southwestern 1 2 1 3
Texas Lutheran 1 3 1 3
—
Week 4 Games
Howard Payne 49, East Texas Baptist 38
Sul Ross 12, Texas Lutheran 10
McMurry 41, Southwestern 31
Mary Hardin-Baylor 34, Hardin-Simmons 28
Belhaven 41, Austin College 14
—
Week 5 Games
Sul Ross at Howard Payne
McMurry at Hardin-Simmons
Mary Hardin-Baylor at Austin College
East Texas Baptist at Southwestern
Belhaven at Texas Lutheran