The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets shook off bouts of inconsistency, and three turnovers, to keep their flawless American Southwest Conference record intact with a 30-18 victory over the McMurry War Hawks Saturday afternoon at Gordon Wood Stadium.
Reigning ASC Offensive Player of the Week Otis Lanier was the star of the show for Howard Payne (5-1, 4-0) as for the second week in a row he caught three touchdown passes from quarterback Landon McKinney.
Lanier finished with eight catches for 132 yards and scored on receptions of 54, 10 and 15 yards and accounted for the Yellow Jackets’ first three trips to the end zone.
McKinney was 19 of 40 for 254 yards with four touchdown passes and a pair of interceptions, as Jordan Carroll tacked on six catches for 61 yards and a score.
Howard Payne tacked on 196 rushing yards, to finish with 431 total yards, as Tauren Bradley finished with 71 yards, Lanier chipped in 41, and Billy Reagins finished with 33 yards.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets kept McMurry (0-6, 0-4) off the scoreboard for three quarters and yielded 329 yards – 167 passing and 162 rushing – with two takeaways and a pair of sacks.
Standouts included Kyle Bell with 15 tackles trailed by Jessie Paris with nine and two for loss, James Jakubowski with eight and a sack, and Jaden Elie, Aaron Alderete and Peyton Lowe – who returned an interception 50 yards – with five tackles apiece. Dylan Zeno recovered a fumble for HPU.
For McMurry, Luke Bradshaw completed 16 of 23 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown and a pick, Drew Hagler rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown, and Kristopher Martin, Xavier Williams and Jermond Lovely each hauled in three receptions, with Lovely finding the end zone.
Howard Payne grabbed a 3-0 lead on its first possession as Harrison Pustilnik booted a 20-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 60-yard drive with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
Lanier’s 54-yard catch-and-run from McKinney staked HPU to a 10-0 lead with 10:05 left in the first half. Then, with 2:15 to go, Lanier grabbed a 10-yard score to boost the lead to 17-0 at halftime.
After a scoreless third period, McKinney and Lanier again connected from 15 yards out as HPU’s lead peaked at 23-0 with 4:14 remaining.
The Jackets’ final touchdown came with 1:17 to go on a hook up from McKinney to Carroll, which made the score 30-12.
McMurry scored its three fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 1-yard Bradshaw run with 6:45 left, a 5-yard pass from Bradshaw to Lovely at the 3:10 juncture, and a 9-yard run from Hagler on the final snap.
Next week, the Yellow Jackets host Southwestern (2-3, 1-2), which had a bye Saturday.
