The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets put the finishing touches on their first winning season since 2005, dominating the American Southwest Conference rival Austin College Kangaroos by a 49-21 count Saturday afternoon at Gordon Wood Stadium.
As was the case a week ago at No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor, Howard Payne raced out to a 14-0 lead within the first five minutes of the contest. Unlike like last week, the Yellow Jackets maintained the momentum the rest of the afternoon and halted a three-game skid with the victory.
Otis Lanier caught a 79-yard touchdown pass from Landon McKinney on the first snap of the game, then the HPU (7-3, 6-3) defense got into the scoring act on Austin College’s (1-8, 1-8) third play from scrimmage as Byron Clark returned an interception of Tyler James 23 yards for a Yellow Jacket touchdown at the 12:54 mark of the first period.
The Yellow Jackets produced the game’s first five touchdowns before Austin College broke up the shutout bid late in the third period.
In gaining a 35-0 advantage, Howard Payne also scored on a 39-yard pass from McKinney to Lanier at 11:23 of the second period, a 61-yard toss from McKinney to Jake Parker with 8:51 left in the first half, and McKinney and Parker connected on a 8-yard touchdown pass at the 9:36 juncture of the third period.
Austin College lit up the scoreboard with 2:25 to go in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Makkedah Brown.
Both teams added two touchdowns before the contest concluded as McKinney hurled a 10-yard pass to Collyn Shipley with 13:59 remaining, and Peter McFarlin scored on a 1-yard run with 1:45 to go. For Austin College, Christian Johnson reached the end zone on a 6-yard run with 7:49 on the clock and Bo Garner scored from 10 yards out with 2:41 to go.
Howard Payne finished with 531 yards of total offense, including 468 passing, as McKinney completed 18 of 22 passes for 397 yards and five touchdowns. The Jacket quarterback concluded his season with 2,840 yards through the air and 32 scoring tosses.
Parker, a preseason All-American, eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark with seven grabs for 162 yards and two trips to the end zone. Parker was also the leading rusher for the Yellow Jackets with 29 yards and completed a 5-yard pass on his lone attempt. For the season, Parker tallied 52 catches for 1,113 yards with 13 touchdowns.
Lanier added four catches for 140 yards and scored twice, and Hunter Cheek tacked on seven receptions for 103 yards.
Also Saturday, Blake Phipps set a new HPU single-season record by upping his extra-point total to 46, topping the previous record of 43. Earlier in the season, Phipps established a new single-game record for PATs with 10 in a 73-30 homecoming win over Sul Ross.
Defensively, Howard Payne yielded 293 yards of total offense – 188 on the ground and 105 through the air – with a pair of takeaways. Along with Clark’s pick six, Parker intercepted a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half.
Kyle Bell recorded a team-high 10 tackles for the Yellow Jackets trailed by Peyton Lowe with nine and a sack, Dai’Shawn Fisher with seven tackles, and James Jakubowski and Mark Taplette with five apiece.
Howard Payne finished tied for third place with Belhaven in the final ASC standings. Counting the spring and fall campaigns, the Yellow Jackets have posted a 9-6 record since head coach Jason Bachtel took over the program in January.
***
| American Southwest Conference |
Conference Wins |
Conference Losses |
Overall Wins |
Overall Losses |
|
| Mary Hardin-Baylor | 9 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Hardin-Simmons | 8 | 1 | 9 | 1 | |
| Belhaven | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | |
| Howard Payne | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | |
| East Texas Baptist | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| Southwestern | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | |
| Texas Lutheran | 3 | 6 | 3 | 7 | |
| Sul Ross | 2 | 7 | 2 | 7 | |
| McMurry | 2 | 7 | 2 | 7 | |
| Austin College | 1 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
—
Week 11 Games
Howard Payne 49, Austin College 21
Mary Hardin-Baylor 77, McMurry 3
Hardin-Simmons 65, Texas Lutheran 0
Belhaven 41, East Texas Baptist 7
Southwestern 49, Sul Ross 15
END OF REGULAR SEASON
