ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' football team moved to 3-0 with a 52-17 win over Louisiana Christian on Saturday afternoon at a steamy Shelton Stadium.
LC got on the board first with a 21-yard Levi Hilborn field goal with 7:48 to play in the first quarter. HSU first points came on the next LC possession when punter Preston Baker caught the snap on the endline in the back of the end zone for a safety.
Noah Gacria's 25-yard return on the free kick after the safety set the Cowboys up at the LC 47 and the Cowboys took four plays to score on a 30-yard pass from
Kyle Brown to Garcia. Deep snapper
Cade Smillie then caught a pass from holder
Kaden Turner for a 2-point conversion to give the Cowboys a 10-3 lead with 2:55 to play in the first quarter.
After a quick three-and-out by the defense, HSU went 50 yards in six plays and Garcia scored on an 18-yard rush on the first play of the second quarter. The defense had another three-and-out and the Wildcats had a bad snap on the punt and
Aden Kincaid made the tackle for a 20-yard loss at the LC 7-yard line. Brown hit tight end
Christian Marshall on a 7-yard touchdown on the first play and HSU led 24-3 with 12:56 to play in the half.
LC scored on a 30-yard flea flicker from Bryce Perkins to Omarius Davis and the Cowboys answered right back with a 60-yard drive and Brown hit
Wes Douglas on a 53-yard touchdown to give HSU a 31-10 lead at halftime.
Perkins hit Davis on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 4:28 to play in the third quarter for the only points in the quarter.
Brown had his fourth touchdown pass of the game with 7:12 to play to give the Cowboys a 38-17 lead when he connected with
Kris Sims on a 13-yard pass. The defense got a quick stop and freshman quarterback
Ty Thompson scored on a 29-yard run.
Douglas then blocked a punt on the next defensive series and Thompson found high school teammate, roommate and fellow freshman
Harison Brockway for their first career reception which Brockway broke free from the defender and took 24 yards for a touchdown.
Kade Sink led the defense with 15 tackles, three for losses, one and a half sacks and a forced fumble.
Harrison Foster had 13 tackles,
Brandt Patek and
Matt Pascuzzi each had 10 tackles.
Brown was 21-for-33 for 259 yards passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Garcia became the third different Cowboy player with a 100-yard receiving effort this season as he had seven catches for 100 yards. He also added 37 yards rushing and had 81 kickoff return yards.
HSU is now 3-0 for the year and will next be in action on Oct. 4 when it hosts Howard Payne in the conference opener and homecoming game. LC fell to 2-2 on the year. The game was the Cowboys' 14
th straight win over a scholarship program.
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