PLAINVIEW, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' football team had a successful start to its 2022 season with a 79-14 win over Wayland Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Sherwood Stadium in Plainview.  

HSU dominated the game from the outset. The defense forced a quick three-and-out on the first possession of the game and the snap was mishandled by WBU punter Brayden Welch and Gatlin Martin picked it up and ran 20 yards for a touchdown. Freshman Grayson Bearden capped a busy debut with the PAT for his first career point.

The defense forced a second straight punt and K.J Peoples returned the punt 24 yards for a touchdown but a holding penalty brought it back. The Cowboys ended up scoring in three plays when Gaylon Glynn, in his first career drive as the starting quarterback, hit Jalen Crawford for a 37-yard touchdown.

For the third straight possession, the defense forced a punt this time the punt was downed at the HSU 1-yard line. It didn't matter as Noah Garcia went 10 yards to give the Cowboys some breathing room and on the next play busted off an 89-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-0.

A short WBU punt on the fourth possession led to a short field and A.J. Hawkins had a 7-yard touchdown run to cap the drive. HSU forced one more punt in the first quarter and led 28-0.

HSU scored early in the second quarter on a 39-yard strike from Glynn to Kevi Evans. Garcia scored on a 22-yard run on the next HSU possession that Brock Bujnoch set up with an interception.

The Cowboys had a fourth down stop and then executed a drive that resulted in a Bearden 25-yard field goal as time expired at halftime and the Cowboys led 45-0.

The first team offense played the first two possessions of the second half and punched it in two more times. Glynn hit Garcia on a 22-yard touchdown pass and he hit Martin on a 7-yard fade for another score to make the score 59-0.

WBU scored its first points of the game on a 32-yard run by Damon Ford with 7:16 to play in the third quarter. HSU came right back with a 40-yard touchdown run by Hawkins. Kolby Youngblood added a 6-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Bryan Ponder hit Kamron Williams on a 28-yard touchdown for WBU to make it 73-14. HSU scored on a 54-yard run by Brad Nunez on the final play of the game.

HSU had 642 yards of offense and limited the Pioneers to 209 yards. Glynn had a solid debut going 17-of-24 for 298 yards and four TDs through the air. Garcia had 122 yards rushing on six carries and rushed for two scores and added two catches for 32 yards and another touchdown.

Matt Mitchell led the defense with eight tackles. Terrell Franklin added seven stops and Bujnoch had seven tackles and an interception. Tre Allen also had an interception for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys are off next week and will hit the road on Sept. 17 to UW-Platteville for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

--- www.hsuathletics.com ---