WAXAHACHIE – The Howard Payne University football fell in a close, 29-27 loss to Nelson University on the road Saturday night.

The Lions improved to 1-0 on the season while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 0-2.

Zy Gravitt led Howard Payne’s passing attack with 260 yards through the air, tossing two touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Blessing Ngene paced the Yellow Jackets rushing attack by accumulating 46 yards and one touchdown over the course of the game, averaging 9.2 yards per carry. Jalen Davis also added 14 yards and one touchdown on the ground.

How It Happened

Howard Payne responded to an early 22-0 Nelson advantage with a third quarter touchdown to narrow the deficit to 22-7.The Yellow Jackets then got on the scoreboard again to narrow Nelson’s lead to 22-14.

Nelson scored to increase their lead to 29-14 before Howard Payne answered with 14:18 left in the fourth quarter and narrowed the gap to 29-20.The Yellow Jackets then got on the scoreboard again, narrowing the gap to 29-27. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Notes

» Nelson outgained Howard Payne 369-319 in the contest.
» Howard Payne had their highest scoring quarter in the third period, when they put up 14 points.
» Howard Payne converted 4 of 13 third downs while Nelson was successful on 6 of 18.
» Jackson Coulson punted eight times for the Yellow Jackets with an average of 47.0 yards per punt while pinning the Lions inside their own 20 four times.
» Howard Payne scored on an 82 yard strike from Gravitt to Gus Charles.
» The Yellow Jackets didn’t allow a sack in the contest.
» The Yellow Jackets ended the game on a high note, scoring 13 unanswered points to close out the contest.
» Briley Green led the Lions passing attack, completing 20 of his 33 attempts for 168 yards and one touchdown.
» Dakeevion Rose led the Nelson rushing attack with 113 yards and one touchdown.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Batesville, AR to play Lyon College next Saturday. It will be a 6:00 pm kickoff.