Yellow Jackets throttle SAGU, 42-10, in home opener

September 9, 2023 at 11:23 pm Derrick Stuckly

Gus Charles (6) hauls in one of his two touchdown receptions as he led HPU (2-0) with four catches for 86 yards Saturday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.

After producing just 17 points despite seven red zone trips in a season-opening 17-3 victory at George Fox last weekend, the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets revved up their offense in a 42-10 triumph over the Southwestern Assemblies of God Lions in Saturday night’s home opener at Gordon Wood Stadium.

A 30-minute lightning delay, and the loss of starting quarterback Landon McKinney to a knee injury, did little to slow down the Yellow Jackets (2-0), who amassed 358 yards of total offense – 255 passing and 103 rushing – and did not commit a turnover in first-year head coach Kevin Bachtel’s debut at home.

Defensively, Howard Payne has surrendered 13 points through two games as SAGU (0-1) mustered just 281 yards – 197 through the air and 84 on the ground – Saturday night in its first game this season under the direction of head coach Greg Ellis, a former Dallas Cowboy. The Yellow Jackets also intercepted four Lion passes.

Tucker Bridwell came on in relief of McKinney and completed 11 of 22 passes for 161 yards with four touchdowns to spark the Howard Payne offense. McKinney was 8 of 17 for 88 yards with a scoring toss before exiting in the first half.

Gus Charles caught four passes for 86 yards and Deon Collins added three grabs for 52 yards, and both players reached the end zone twice. Javian Myles added three receptions for 51 yards and also scored through air, while rushing for a team-high 82 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well.

Other key contributors on offense included Brownwood-ex Reece Rodgers, who tacked on 33 rushing yards and caught three passes for 17 yards, along with Blessing Ngene with 33 yards on the ground, and Samuel Sims with three receptions for 18 yards.

On the defensive end for HPU, Korey Kelley led the team with 10 tackles and two interceptions, followed by eight tackles each from KD Bookman and Jessie Paris and six from Carson Padilla. KC Cornelius and Jacob Urbina also picked off passes for the Jackets.

Howard Payne led 7-0 after one quarter as McKinney connected with Myles, who weaved through the SAGU defense for a 27-yard touchdown reception.

The Yellow Jackets heated up offensively in the second period and carried 28-3 lead into the halftime locker room thanks to a 27-yard gallop to the end zone by Myles, along with a pair of 26-yard scoring tosses from Bridwell to Charles and Collins.

After SAGU closed the gap to 28-10 early in the fourth period, Sims returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lion 15, which set up another instant scoring strike from Bridwell to Collins.

The final touchdown for the Yellow Jackets was the result of a 25-yard connection between Bridwell and Charles with 10:40 left in the contest.

Howard Payne is home for the second week in a row next Saturday as Lyon College (1-1) – a member of the NCAA Division III St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – visits for a 1 p.m. showdown. Lyon lost to Howard Payne’s former American Southwest Conference rival Belhaven, 48-15, Saturday.

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American SW Conference	Conference Wins	Conference Losses	Overall Wins	Overall Losses
Hardin-Simmons	0	0	2	0
Howard Payne	0	0	2	0
East Texas Baptist	0	0	1	1
McMurry	0	0	1	1
Texas Lutheran	0	0	1	1
Austin College	0	0	0	2
Mary Hardin-Baylor	0	0	0	2
Sul Ross	0	0	0	2