Game 2 vs. Curry College
Sept. 14 | 11 a.m. CST | Milton, Mass.

 
Headlines
? Hardin-Simmons hits the road to Milton, Mass. for a game at Curry College. The Cowboys are making the trip to Massachusetts for the second straight year. The Cowboys will charter into Providence, Rhode Island on Friday morning and return after the game. The Cowboys are staying near Foxboro Stadium, which is home to the NFL's New England Patriots.
 
? The Cowboys opened the season with a 38-6 win at Howard Payne last weekend. HSU has now won 17 straight games in the series with the Yellow Jackets. HSU has played HPU more than any other opponent and now holds a 47-24-4 all-time advantage in the series.
 
? HSU has moved up in both national polls. The Cowboys are now No. 13 in the D3football.com poll and No. 14 in the AFCA poll. HSU has been ranked for 93 straight weeks and in the top 10 for 56 of those weeks.
 
? The Cowboys were efficient on offense and defense last week as the Cowboys rolled to a 38-6 win over Howard Payne. The defense allowed just six points and the Cowboys had 38 points and 427 yards of offense. The Cowboys did not commit a turnover or allow a sack in the contest.
 
The Opening Kickoff
Hardin-Simmons will travel to Milton, Mass. for an 11 a.m. CST game with Curry. It marks the second straight season the Cowboys have gone to Massachusetts for a game. HSU is coming off a 38-6 win over Howard Payne in the season and American Southwest Conference opener. Curry comes into the game 0-1 as it lost to Salve Regina 28-10 in the season opener last week. 
 
HSU vs. Curry
This marks the first time the Cowboys have played Curry College. CC is in the Conference of New England, the same as Endicott.
 
Up Next
The Cowboys will not have a game next week and will host North American University on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. at Shelton Stadium. 
 
A Cowboy Win Would
?Be the 511th in school history.
?Be the 99th in head coach Jesse Burleson's career.
?Be the first win in the Eastern time zone since 1959.
?Start a new streak against regular-season non-conference opponents. HSU had won 19 in a row before a loss to Endicott last season in Beverly, Mass.
 
Nearing The Century Mark
Jesse Burleson is in his 14th season as the head coach and 19th season overall at HSU. He has posted a 98-33 record as the Cowboys' head man. Burleson has led the Cowboys to the NCAA playoffs on six occasions, including last year and two ASC Championships (2015, 2023). Only 25 active Division III coaches have 100 wins.
 
Defense Puts On The Clamps
The Cowboy defense was impressive in the first game under new defensive coordinator Craig Neece. HSU ended the night allowing just six points and that came on a slip in the secondary that allowed HPU to score on a 74-yard touchdown pass. Take that play out and the Cowboys allowed just 198 yards on the night. HSU was especially effective on third and fourth down. HPU went just 3-of-10 on third-down conversions and were 0-for-2 on fourth-down tries. The Cowboy defense forced the only turnover in the game.  
 
Impressive Debut
Kyle Brown took over as the starting quarterback for the Cowboys this season and he was impressive in his debut. He completed 23-of-34 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown and also ran four times for 19 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run.  
 
Hargrove Gets Another
Senior defensive end Braden Hargrove blocked another kick as he got the Yellow Jackets only PAT attempt in the game. Hargrove is the school's all-time leader with seven blocked kicks. He was named an All-American specialist last season because of his ability to impact the kicking game.
 
Seyi Gets Home In First Game
Defensive end Seyi Joseph got home for the only sack of the night for the Cowboys. It was an impressive play where he chased down the quarterback from behind. He is the only freshman in the two-deep on the defensive side of the ball.
 
Sims Finds The End Zone 
Kris Sims made his first start at wide receiver and had four catches for 63 yards. He scored on a 21-yard touchdown reception in the opening drive of the year.
 
Foster Impressive In First Start
Harrison Foster, a transfer from Abilene Christian, led the defensive unit with 11 tackles on Saturday and he also came up with an interception.
 
Noah Hits Paydirt Three Times
Running back Noah Garcia had a solid first game of the season as he ran 15 times for 87 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first three-rushing touchdown game of his career. He also added three catches for 27 yards.
 
Feed 'Em
Senior tight end Brock Gibson had a pair of catches for 43 yards. The two catches tied his career high and the 43 yards was a new career high.
 
Tackling Machine
Charlie Patterson, an All-American a year ago at Illinois College, had seven tackles in his first start as a Cowboy. He also shared a tackle for loss. He was a two-time conference defensive player of the year before coming to HSU for his fifth year with new coordinator Craig Neece.
 
Brumgard Shows Off Big Leg
Freshman Ethan Brumgard showed off a big leg for the Cowboys. He had a pair of touchbacks on kickoffs, including kicking his first career kickoff through the end zone. He also averaged 44.3 yards on three punts, including a 59-yarder.
 
Spreading the Love
The Cowboys had 10 different players catch a pass in the win over Howard Payne. Tailon Garrett led the way with five catches and Kris Sims had the most yards with 63.
 
Keeping The Quarterback Clean
The offensive line did not allow a sack in 36 passing attempts on Saturday.
 
First Starts On Offense
Three Cowboys on offense made their first Hardin-Simmons starts. Kyle Brown at quarterback, Jaxon Lunsford at right tackle and Kris Sims at wide receiver.
 
First Starts On Defense
The Cowboys had eight players make their first Hardin-Simmons start on Saturday. Caden Sampson-Stuckey got the start at defensive tackle as the Cowboys started in a three front. Charlie Patterson, Kaden Roden and Brody McClure started at linebacker. Perrish Cox, Mike Akinbisola, Harrison Foster and Mason Cravens all made their first career starts in the secondary. Mekhai Coleman at nickel, Braden Hargrove at defensive end and Hayden Hays at defensive end were the only other Cowboys to start Saturday that have ever started a game at HSU.
 
Bearden Earns ASC Honor
Grayson Bearden hit all five of his PATs and made a 31-yard field goal to earn ASC special teams player of the week honors. Bearden won the kicking job in the preseason after sharing time last year. He now has 10 career field goals and 83 PATs made.
 
 

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