SAN ANTONIO — Hardin-Simmons' football team fell 34-24 to Trinity in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Trinity Stadium in San Antonio.
The Cowboys had the ball inside the 50-yard line with a chance to either tie the game with a field goal or take the lead with a touchdown inside of two minutes, but on fourth down T.J. Scannell intercepted a tipped pass and raced 70 yards for a touchdown to seal the game for Trinity.
Trinity quarterback Hondo Franklin rushed for 125 yards and a score on 12 carries and completed 17 of 26 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
Kyle Brown, threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns, including an 80-yard strike to
Noah Garcia late in the first quarter that tied the game 7–7. Garcia finished with 115 receiving yards and added 41 yards rushing, while
Dozie Ifeadi,
Christian Marshall, and Garcia each hauled in touchdown passes.
After Franklin opened the second quarter with a 26-yard touchdown run to make it 14–7, Trinity strung together a 12-play, 77-yard march capped by Franklin's 3-yard scoring pass to Alejandro Tavarez for a 20–7 lead. Hardin-Simmons responded just before halftime with a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive as Brown found Marshall from 15 yards out to cut the margin to 20–14. HSU had the ball back and
The Cowboys inched closer when
Pedro Altamirano knocked in a 29-yard field goal midway through the third, but Trinity answered again. Freshman running back Luke Sams finished a grinding 75-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the quarter for a 27–17 advantage.
Brown's 13-yard touchdown pass to Ifeadi early in the fourth tightened it to 27–24, and
Matt Pascuzzi later blocked a field goal to stay within one score. But Trinity's defense produced the turning point in the final minute.
The Cowboys' defense got 12 tackles from Pascuzzi and 11 from
Kade Sink.
Garcia had 115 yards receiving, 45 rushing yards and 21 yards on kickoffs. He finished the season with best single-season all-purpose yardage mark in Hardin-Simmons history with 1,957 yards.
Trinity (9-1) advances to the third round next weekend. The Cowboys ended their season with a 9-2 record.
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