Boxscore
ABILENE, Texas — Hardin-Simmons'
defense put the clamps on the Air Raid offense and the Cowboys
defeated crosstown rival McMurry, 21-10, in American Southwest
Conference football action at Wilford Moore Stadium.
The Cowboys defense limited McMurry to 258 yards of offense and
harassed quarterback Jake Mullin all day. He finished the day
28-for-50 for 187 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown
and he was sacked five times and hurried several more times. He did
rush for 13 times for 60 yards.
HSU jumped on the board first with a 7-yard touchdown pass from
Taylor Byrd to Justice Baker with 4:42 to play in the first
quarter. The drive was nine plays and 84 yards. It came after
McMurry had driven down the field, but Mullin was picked off by
Jonathan Wise.
McMurry came back and turned a Byrd fumble into seven points as
Mullin hit Delfonte Diamond on a 7-yard touchdown pass to cap a
12-yard drive. McMurry took the lead with 1:00 to play in the first
half on a 39-yard field goal by Jessie Garcia.
The Cowboys took the opening drive of the second half and went 69
yards in eight plays. Steven Rockwell capped the drive with a
14-yard touchdown run.
HSU then forced a McMurry fumble and Derrick Grant scored from six
yards out to give HSU a 21-10 lead with 7:07 to play in the third
quarter. Neither team was able to score after that.
Rockwell and the Cowboy running game punished McMurry on the
ground. Rockwell went for 160 yards and the Cowboys ran for 237
yards on the day.
Byrd was 8-for-15 for 127 yards passing for the Cowboys. The
sophomore quarterback went 5-2 as a starter for the Cowboys after
replacing injured All-American Justin Feaster.
HSU retained the Wilford Moore Trophy with the win and increased
its winning streak over McMurry to 22 games. HSU closes the year
with a record of 6-4 overall and 5-3 in ASC play. It was the 18th
straight season with a winning record for the Cowboys and they had
to win the last five games of the year to do it. McMurry is now 4-5
overall and 4-3 in ASC play.
--- HSU ---
