ABILENE, Texas — Hardin-Simmons junior running back
Tevin Mitchell ran for 209 yards and two touchdowns and the defense pitched a shutout as the Cowboy football team opened American Southwest Conference play with a 31-0 victory over Mississippi College on Saturday evening at Shelton Stadium.
It was the first shutout for the Cowboys since a 56-0 win over Howard Payne in 2010 and it also continues an impressive trend for a Cowboy defense that starts four freshmen. HSU allowed a school record 727 yards and 58 points in week one, then 563 yards and 49 points in week two, then 347 yards and 21 points in week three and tonight allowed just 131 yards and no points.
Abilene has received over six inches of rain over the last two days and the game was played in wet and muddy conditions. It didn't seem to bother either team as there was just one turnover in the game.
The Cowboys allowed just 65 yards in the first half and HSU had the only score of the first half when
Tevin Mitchell capped a 10-play 57-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 14:26 to play in the first half.
MC had a chance to score right before half after the Choctaws recovered a Mitchell fumble at their own 33 with 2:28 to play in the half. However,
Chad Laughlin shot into the backfield on third down to sack Jonathon Redd for an 11 yard loss and take MC out of field goal range.
Freshman
Jessie Ramos took the opening kickoff of the second half six yards deep and brought the ball out and found a seam and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his second TD return for a touchdown on the season.
After HSU's defense forced a punt, HSU went 69 yards in nine plays and Mitchell carried the ball the last 38 yards over four carries and capped it off with a 1-yard TD run with 5:16 to play in the third quarter.
On HSU's first possession of the fourth quarted Mitchell ran the ball five straight times to take the ball from the HSU 43 to the MC 18. The drive stalled but
Scott Newberry nailed a 32-yard field goal to make it 24-0.
HSU then forced another quick punt and HSU went 41 yards in nine plays for an
Alex Thomas 3-yard score.
The Cowboys had 403 yards of offense and 227 yards on the ground. Quarterback
Logan Turner was an efficient 14-of-22 for 161 yards. Jonathan Redd was 10-for-21 for just 69 yards passing and MC had just 62 yards rushing in the game, 33 of those by Redd.
James Place led the defense with 10 tackles and Laughlin had two sacks and seven tackles. Doc Ward led MC with 12 tackles and Brooks Villarreal was in on 11 stops.
The Cowboys will play at Howard Payne next Saturday at 1 p.m.
