ABILENE, Texas -- Hardin-Simmons' rolled up a season high 42 points and ran away from Trinity University 42-17 on Saturday afternoon in non-conference football action at Shelton Stadium.

The Cowboys won their third straight game to improve to 3-1 on the year and the Tigers fell to 1-4. HSU will have an open date next week before hosting Sul Ross State Oct. 18 at 1:30 for the American Southwest Conference opener and it also marks homecoming on the HSU campus.

HSU started off strong and never looked back. The Cowboy defense forced a quick Trinity punt and Jessie Ramos took the lid off the defense on the first play from scrimmage for HSU. Ramos ran right by his defender and Weston Garner threw a perfect pass for a 48-yard touchdown and the Cowboys were off and running.

The Cowboy defense forced another quick Trinity punt and the Cowboys scored again as Garner hit Ramos and HSU led 14-0 with 7:26 to play in the first half.

Garner made it 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter when he hit Kerry Sloan on a 7-yard swing pass. Trinity answered with a 16-yard Jeremy Simmons touchdown run and the Cowboys scored on the next drive when Garner connected on his fourth touchdown pass of the half this time to Phillip Fuentes from 10 yards out with 5:14 to play in the half.

Trinity added a field goal before half to make it 28-10 at intermission. Kerry Sloan scored on touchdown runs of two and 20 yards in the second half and Trinity added a 10-yard touchdown pass from Robert Broyles to Sam Harford.

HSU Game Notes

• Jessie Ramos scored on the first offensive play of the game for the Cowboys. It was the first time since 2007 against Howard Payne that the Cowboys scored on the first play of the game. Ramos scored another touchdown on the second series. It snapped a seven-game streak without a receiving touchdown for the Cowboys' top receiver.
• Ramos moved into a tie for eight on the career receiving touchdown charts at HSU with his 17. He is also now 14^th all-time with 24 touchdowns in his career.
• Weston Garner, making just his fourth career start, completed 18-of-27 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns. The four TDs matched his career total going into the game.
• Sophomore Ryan Breton saw his first career action at quarterback going 1-for-1 for 10 yards on a nice out route on third down and also ran two times for nine yards.
• Sophomore receiver Phillip Fuentes had a solid game as he scored his first career touchdown and had four catches for 60 yards.
• HSU won for the third straight game. It marks the longest winning streak for HSU since 2012.
• The Cowboys had a season-best 463 yards of offense and scored a season-best 42 points. HSU had great balance with 233 yards rushing and 230 receiving.
• HSU has held three of its four opponents under 400 yards this season. You have to go back 14 games prior to this season to see a four-game streak where the opponents were under 400 yards in three of four games.
• Kerry Sloan had his second straight 100-yard game as he rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 7-yard touchdown pass as well. He leads the Cowboys with 373 rushing yards and has scored six times on the ground and one through the air.
• James Place returned to the lineup and had 10 tackles to pace the Cowboys. He also had a tackle for loss and broke up a pass.
• Ryne Lewis had his fifth sack of the year
• HSU forced three turnovers and is now +4 in turnover margin on the year.  
• HSU is now 20-6-4 all-time against Trinity. The Cowboys have played the Tigers more than any other non-conference opponent in school history. However, it was the first meeting since the 2000 NCAA playoff game.

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