The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets tallied the first 22 points in their American Southwest Conference home opener, only to witness the East Texas Baptist Tigers answer with two third-quarter touchdowns before putting the final touches on a 28-14 victory at Gordon Wood Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets (4-1, 1-1) produced 458 yards of total offense – 363 passing and 95 rushing – and no turnovers while ETBU (2-3, 1-1) manufactured 358 yards – 304 through the air and 54 on the ground – with two passes intercepted.
Landon McKinney completed 22 of 33 passes for 363 yards with four scoring tosses and no picks, as Gus Charles caught four passes for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jordan Carroll pulled down a team-high five passes for 77 yards and a touchdown, Samuel Sims added four receptions for 78 yards, and Deon Collins caught two balls for 40 yards and scored once.
On the ground, Javian Myles led the way with 58 yards while Reece Rodgers contributed 54 yards rushing,
For ETBU, Cornelius Banks passed for 224 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Carlos Garibay threw for 80 yards and was picked off once. Banks was also the leading rusher with just 13 yards and one score. Tobias Jackson Jr. finished with 86 receiving yards on three catches while Devin Phillips caught two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown.
The Howard Payne defense was sparked by KJ Kelley with nine tackles and two interceptions followed by Peyton Lowe with eight tackles and a sack, Jessie Paris with eight tackles and Jacob Korrodi with seven tackles.
The Yellow Jackets led 14-0 after one quarter as McKinney connected with Carroll on a 20-yard touchdown pass at 6:01 of the opening period, and Rider Davila added the extra point. Then, with 51 seconds left in the first quarter, McKinney found Collins on a 39-yard scoring toss to boost the lead to two touchdowns after another Davila PAT.
Howard Payne increased its advantage to 20-0 with 7:18 left before the half as McKinney and Charles connected on a 9-yard touchdown pass that was set up by a Kelly interception in the end zone on fourth down.
The Yellow Jackets’ lead peaked at 22-0 just 2:08 into the second half as Brevin Wilson and KC Cornelius combined to tackle Elijah Nicholson in the end zone for a safety on a first down from the ETBU 1.
The Tigers quickly fired back with a pair of touchdowns before the third period ended, however, as just 1:34 later Banks scored on a 17-yard keeper to the close the gap to 22-7, and Banks later connected with Phillips on a 15-yard scoring strike to trim the deficit to 22-14.
With ETBU still hanging around midway through the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets delivered the dagger with a two-play, 80-yard drive as first McKinney hit Sims for a 35-yard gain, then found Charles on a 45-yard fade with 7:11 to go for the final 14-point margin.
Next week, the Yellow Jackets welcome Austin College (1-4, 0-2) – coming off a 49-7 loss to Sul Ross Saturday – for a 2 p.m. ASC and homecoming game at Gordon Wood Stadium.
