ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' football team rallied to beat crosstown rival McMurry 24-21 to retain the Wilford Moore Trophy on Saturday afternoon at Shelton Stadium.

The War Hawks jumped on the board first when Dee Robinson returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. The War Hawks went for two and the pass was knocked away by Jeffrey McCutcheon.

HSU answered with a 53-yard drive and settled for a Jamie Pogue 39-yard field goal. McMurry went ahead 13-3 with 13:25 to play in the first half. Dexter Wyble hit Xavier Williams on a 38-yard touchdown pass.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to 13-10 when Kyle Jones hit Kevi Evans over the top on an 81-yard touchdown pass with 4:10 to play in the half.

HSU took its first lead in the third quarter when Myles Featherston scored on a 1-yard run after Cade Bell had set the Cowboys up with a short field on a 50-yard kickoff return to start the second half.

The Cowboys made it 24-13 with 12:23 to play when Colton Marshall capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

McMurry drove down and missed a 24-yard field goal with 6:32 to play, but Marshall fumbled on the next drive and McMurry's Xavier Gayle recovered in the end zone for a touchdown with 6:19 to play.

The Cowboys then put the game away with a 10-play drive to run out the clock.

HSU had 456 yards in the game and held the War Hawks to 222 yards in the game. Featherston had a career-best 142 yards and Marshall added 114 yards for HSU. Evans had two catches for 86 yards.

Matt Mitchell led the Cowboy defense with 10 tackles and added two sacks in the game.

HSU is now 4-1 on the year and 3-1 in ASC play and will not have a game next week. HSU returns to action on Oct. 16 at East Texas Baptist. McMurry fell to 1-3 on the year.  

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