Game Notes |
Broadcast
Hardin-Simmons (3-1, 1-0 ASC) at McMurry (2-2, 0-0 ASC)
Oct. 7, 2023 | 6 p.m. | Wilford Moore Stadium | Abilene, Texas
The Teams
The Cowboys come into the game with a 3-1 record after a 40-33 win over Howard Payne last week at Shelton Stadium. The Cowboys are 1-0 in league play. McMurry beat Lyon College last week 52-14 and the War Hawks are 2-2 on the year and 0-1 in ASC action.
The Coaches
Jesse Burleson is in his 13th season as the head coach for the Cowboys and has posted a 91-32 record at HSU. Former Cowboy standout quarterback Jordan Neal is in his fifth season with the War Hawks and has a record of 7-31.
In The Polls
The Cowboys are ranked No. 19 in both the D3football.com poll and No. 20 in the American Football Coaches Association poll. McMurry is not receiving votes in either poll. The Cowboys have been ranked for 85 straight weeks and in the top 10 for 56 of those weeks.
Wilford Moore Trophy Game - Dyess Trophy
? HSU and McMurry play for the Wilford Moore Trophy and have since 1998. Wilford Moore played at Hardin-Simmons and later coached at McMurry and he is in both schools' athletic Hall of Fames. The McMurry Stadium is named after Moore. HSU has won 20 of the 21 meetings since the trophy was first handed out.
? The Cowboys lead the all-time series 32-4 with the crosstown rivals and have won 31 of the 32 games since bringing back football in 1990.
? The two schools play for the Dyess Trophy as well. The Dyess Trophy is an all-sports competition between the two crosstown rivals. HSU has won all five years of the competition and leads 2.5 to .5 so far this season.
Broadcasts
HSU will be broadcasting home games only this season on www.hsuathletics.com. Al Pickett is back for his 19th season as HSU's play-by-play man and he will be joined in the booth by former Cowboy player Ty Crain. For this week's game you can find the game at https://mcmurrysports.com/sports/2019/8/28/video.aspx.
Tickets
McMurry is selling tickets for Saturday's game on their website at https://mcmurrysports.com/sports/2023/9/6/tickets.aspx.
Last Time Out
HSU outscored Howard Payne 20-7 in the third quarter to overcome a 17-14 halftime deficit in 40-33 win at home. The Cowboys sealed the game with an interception by Demarcus Coleman.
Next Up
The Cowboys will be home to celebrate homecoming next week at 1 p.m. against Texas Lutheran. Cowboy alum Adam Hernandez will be inducted in the Hall of Fame on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
A Cowboy Win Would
? Be the 504th win in school history.
? Give
Jesse Burleson win No. 92 as the Cowboys' head coach.
? Be the ninth straight over McMurry.
? Push its record against McMurry to 31-1.
Running Away
For the second time in the last 12 years, McMurry is running away from a regular Hardin-Simmons/McMurry rivalry. McMurry left the ASC for a failed attempt at going Division II after the 2011 season. They aborted that failed mission after three years and came back to the ASC. They went 4-6 in 2015 and 4-5 in 2016 when they still had some scholarship players. Since 2017, the War Hawks are 11-47 overall and have not won more than two games in any season. This time they are leaving for another Division III conference.
First Time Starters
The Cowboys had six first-time starters on Saturday against Howard Payne, three on each side of the ball.
Hayden Philpot made his first start at center and
A.J. Hawkins got his first nod at quarterback.
Dameon Gomes started at slot back. On defense,
Greg Hawkins started as the extra safety in a 3-3-5 look.
Tray Ervin and
Blair Neighbors each received their first starts at linebacker. Four weeks into the season and the Cowboys have had 34 players start a game and freshman
Evan Tapp is expected to get a start this week at middle linebacker after
Cason Hanna received a targeting penalty last week and has to sit the first half of the game.
Tre Allen also made his season debut and earned his first start of the season at free safety.
Hawkins Wins Debut
A.J. Hawkins made his starting debut for the Cowboys under center and had a solid game. He was 14-of-24 for 168 yards and had a touchdown and an interception. He had a couple of big plays a 57-yard touchdown pass to
Goddy Pyeatt and a 50-yarder to
Tailon Garrett. Hawkins also made some plays with his feet to keep drives alive, including a 23-yard rush on third and eight.
To The House
K.J. Peoples turned the game around for the Cowboys on Saturday with an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It came right after Howard Payne had regained the lead and it gave the Cowboys the lead for good. He is the only ASC player with a kickoff return for a touchdown this season and he ranks second averaging 22.2 yards per return. He now has a punt return (67 yards in 2022 against Southwestern) and kickoff return for touchdowns in his Cowboy career.
D-Cole Shuts It Down
Demarcus Coleman had another late interception for the Cowboys. He had one in the win at UW-La Crosse. On Saturday, HPU took over the ball down seven points with 2:07 to play and Coleman stepped in front of a Landon McKinney pass and intercepted it to give the Cowboys the ball back for them to run out the clock.
Moving Up The Charts
Junior running back
Colton Marshall has moved his way up the career rushing touchdown charts. He moved into 10th place last week as his three touchdowns in the game moved him to No. 10 with 22 career rushing touchdowns. He will move up quickly as Kerry Sloan is at No. 9 with 23, Justin Feaster is No. 8 at 24 and Matt Carroll and Tommy Cupil are tied for sixth with 26. He is tied for the ASC lead with six touchdowns on the year and he is second in rushing yards with 297. He also sealed the game with the Cowboys facing a fourth and one he jumped under center and was able to draw HPU offsides with a hard count to give HSU the first down, which let them go into the victory formation and end the game.
No Nerves Here
Freshman linebacker
Tray Ervin received his first career start and on the opening drive he was in on four tackles, including a 12-yard sack that ended the first drive and forced a punt. He finished with two tackles for loss a sack and seven tackles. The Alpine native was named the ASC defensive player of the week.
Blair Neighbors had four tackles in his first start and
Greg Hawkins had one tackle in his first start.
100-Yard Effort
Noah Garcia had his second 100-yard rushing effort of the season and fourth of his young career with 112 yards rushing and a touchdown. He was named the ASC offensive player of the week. He leads the league with 329 rushing yards on the year.
Paving The Way
The Cowboy offensive line has been shuffled around since the start of the season and is continuing to develop. Several times last week the Cowboys ran behind
Miguel Valdez when they needed a big conversion. He has moved back to guard and leads what is now a less-experienced group.
Hayden Philpot has taken over for the injured
Michael Callahan at center.
James Sandifer and
Bryce Hernandez continue to develop in their first seasons as starters at tackle and
Khalil Spivey paves the way at the other guard. The Cowboys have rushed for over 200 yards in three of the four games and HSU has 11 rushing touchdowns.
Purple Zone
The Cowboys have been perfect in getting scores in the red zone and are one of just 11 teams to score in every trip to the red zone. HSU has scored touchdowns on 11 of the 12 trips to the red zone.
About McMurry
The War Hawks come into the game averaging 33.2 points and 394.3 yards per game, while allowing just 303 yards and 21.5 points per game. The War Hawks are averaging just 2.4 yards per carry, but only allow 2.5 per carry. No rusher has more than 83 yards on the year. Freshman Jess Hoel is the starting quarterback and he has completed 89-of-134 passes for 964 yards and six touchdowns with six interceptions. Kristopher Marting leads the way at receiver with 23 catches for 427 yards and four scores. He leads the ASC in receiving at 110 yards per game. The War Hawks have 14.5 sacks on the year and 36.5 tackles for loss. Five different players lead the way with 15 tackles each for McMurry.
