CLINTON, Miss. — On a perfect night for football in Mississippi, Hardin-Simmons' football team lost four fumbles and threw an interception and Mississippi College converted four of the turnovers into touchdowns as the Cowboys lost 45-28 in the American Southwest Conference opener for both teams.  

MC took advantage of a Cowboy fumbled punt and into went 42 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Reyer to Matt Burke. It set a theme for what was later to come.

HSU answered with back-to-back touchdowns on long throws to Corey Jones from Taylor Byrd. The first was from 58 yards out and the other from 47 on back-to-back possessions. 

MC scored on a 72-yard run from Steven Knight to make it 14-14 with 8:02 to play in the first half. HSU was then driving inside the MC 30 when Raeon Jones intercepted a Taylor Byrd pass and returned it to the HSU 12 with :29 seconds to play.

Randall Pharr scored from two yards out on a pass from Reyer to make it 21-14 at halftime. 

The Cowboys then forced a three-and out on the first possession of the second half, but Bryce Johnson fumbled the punt and MC scored on the next play on a 27-yard pass from Reyer to Knight.

On the next HSU possession, Derrick Grant fumbled and MC turned that into another Knight touchdown run to make it 35-14. MC later kicked a 48-yard field goal by Chris Campbell.  

Byrd then fumbled on a scramble early in the fourth quarter and MC capped the drive and Knight scored his fourth touchdown of the night, this time from 8-yards out.

Zach Stewart came in and led the Cowboys on a 13-play, 74-yard touchdown drive. He hit Tatsch on a 5-yard touchdown to cap the drive. The next drive he led the Cowboys 74 yards in 11 plays and hit Jones on a 25-yard TD pass. 

Jones had a huge game with 10 catches for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Byrd was 14-for-31 for 281 yards and two TDs and Stewart was 11-for-23 for 131 yards and two touchdowns.  

Steven Knight had 181 yards rushing and Reyer was 12-for-22 for 124 yards and three TDs. HSU had 487 yards of offense in the game and MC had 391. 

HSU is now 2-1 on the year and 0-1 in ASC play. MC improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. HSU hosts Mary Hardin-Baylor next Saturday at Shelton Stadium.

--- HSU ---