Leading 3-0 after one quarter, the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets scored four times in the second period to fuel their 48-17 homecoming victory over the Southwestern Pirates Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium – the fifth straight American Southwest Conference victory for second-year head coach Jason Bachtel’s squad.
Howard Payne (6-1, 5-0) sputtered offensively through the first quarter, much as its did during most of last year’s 21-17 come-from-behind victory at Southwestern (2-4, 1-3). Still, for the fourth straight game the Yellow Jackets tallied at least the first three scores of the contest before surrendering a point.
Harrison Pustilnik’s 30-yard field goal capped a 14-play, 61-yard drive to put Howard Payne in front, 3-0, with 3:52 left in the opening quarter.
HPU’s offensive onslaught began with a special teams spark as Otis Lanier returned a punt 38 yards to the Southwestern 30. Three plays later, facing and third-and-3, Billy Reagins barreled into the end zone from 23 yards out at the 12:37 mark of the second quarter to trigger a string of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Jackets.
Southwestern’s next possession ended after one first down and the fourth-down punt attempt was bobbled and dropped by Benjamin Lancaster, which HPU’s Kyle Bell pounced on at the Pirate 15.
Three plays later, Landon McKinney connected with a wide open Lanier in the left corner of the end zone on a 15-yard scoring toss that boosted the advantage to 17-0 with 9:13 left before intermission.
The Pirates’ next possession ended when Jarett Brown picked off Southwestern quarterback Landry Gilpin and returned the interception into Pirate territory. On the very next snap, HPU running back Tauren Bradley dashed his way through the Southwestern defense for a 33-yard scoring sprint that stretched the lead to 24-0 at the 6:31 juncture of the second period.
Southwestern responded with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Gilpin to Ethan Powell to close the gap to 24-7 with 4:31 left in the half.
But Howard Payne lit up the scoreboard again before halftime on a 42-yard field goal by Pustilnik at the 2:26 mark, which was the culmination of a nine-play, 39-yard drive that gave the Yellow Jackets a 27-7 lead at the break.
By the end of the contest, Howard Payne had amassed 428 yards of total offense – 242 rushing and 186 passing – as the Yellow Jackets overcame three turnovers.
Reagins led the ground game with 60 yards trailed by McKinney with 40, Bradley added 33 and Javian Myles finished with 29 yards and a score.
McKinney completed 10 of 24 passes for 144 yards with a touchdown and a pick, while Tucker Bridwell was 3 of 4 for 42 yards with one scoring toss and one interception.
Lanier recorded a team-high five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown, Jordan Carroll added three grabs for 36 yards, and Kadarius Carr grabbed a 16-yard scoring toss.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets allowed 356 yards – 320 through the air and just 36 on the ground – but forced seven takeaways, including five interceptions.
Brown finished with two interceptions and nine tackles while Dylan Zeno, Byron Clark and Davion Tolliver also picked off passes. Clark also recovered a fumble and recorded six tackles with two behind the line of scrimmage. Bell led Howard Payne with 11 tackles and the fumble recovery and Homecoming King Jessie Paris was credited with seven tackles. Riley Butts, Peyton Lowe and Trevonn Williams-Franklin logged sacks for the Jackets.
Gilpin finished 24 of 39 for 274 yards with two touchdowns and five picks, Powell caught six passes for 150 yards and two scores while Jojo Wilson added 10 grabs for 93 yards, and Sam LeBlue rushed for a team-best 39 yards.
Leading by 20 at halftime, a 14-yard touchdown run by Myles increased Howard Payne’s lead to 34-7 just one minute into the second half.
Southwestern crept within 34-14 on Powell’s 23-yard reception from Gilpin with 4:14 left in the third.
Howard Payne added two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pad the lead to 48-14 on a 16-yard connection from Bridwell to Carr with 14:26 remaining, and Zach Simon’s 16-yard rush into the end zone with 8:44 to go.
Southwestern capped the scoring with a 39-yard field goal by Charlie Fournier with 2:11 left.
Next week, Howard Payne enjoys its bye. The Yellow Jackets return to action Oct. 29 at No. 10 Hardin-Simmons (5-1, 3-1), which knocked off East Texas Baptist (2-4, 2-3) by a 21-7 count Saturday.
