MARSHALL, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' football team completed an unblemished regular season with a 45-23 win over East Texas Baptist in Marshall on Saturday afternoon.
The win was the Cowboys' ninth straight against ETBU and their 19th straight American Southwest Conference win. It also gave the Cowboys their fourth undefeated regular season in Division III history.
The Tigers struck first when Kaden Brown hit Zay Thomas on a 70-yard touchdown pass on its opening drive. HSU answered with a 3-yard touchdown run by
Braylon Henry with 7:50 to play in the first quarter.
Kyle Brown found
Wes Douglas on a 28-yard pass to give the Cowboys the lead with 3:19 to play in the first quarter.
The Cowboys special teams had a big day.
Mike Akinbisola took a blocked field goal 65 yards for a touchdown.
HSU pushed the lead to 35-7 with 1:44 to play as Brown hit
Kris Sims on back-to-back touchdowns on the same corner route the first from 11 yards and the second from 14 yards out.
ETBU struck on another long pass when Kaden Brown hit Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox on a 69-yard pass with :20 to play in the half. The Tigers failed on the PAT after a bad snap to make the score 35-13 at halftime.
The only scoring of the third quarter was an
Ethan Brumgard 31-yard field goal for the Cowboys.
ETBU scored on a 27-yard field goal with 5:52 to play in the game.
Dameon Gomes returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. It was his third kickoff return touchdown of the season.
Justin Qualls added a 4-yard run for ETBU with 3:42 to play.
Kyle Brown finished the day 13-of-21 for 260 yards and three touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Tailon Garrett had five catches for 162 yards.
Kaden Brown was 20-for-25 for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Zay Thomas had 170 yards on eight catches and Llanas-Wilcox had four catches for 141 yards.
Kaiden Roden had 10 tackles, including three for losses, one sack and forced and recovered a fumble to lead the Cowboy defense.
The Cowboys finished the season with a record of 10-0 and 6-0 in American Southwest Conference play. ETBU closed its season with a 5-4 record overall and 2-4 in league play.
HSU will find out its playoff opponent on Sunday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com. It is expected the Cowboys will be a top-eight seed which will mean a first-round bye and a home game in the second round on Nov. 30.
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