ORANGE, Calif. – Hardin-Simmons' football team opened the 2025 campaign with a 37-30 win over Chapman late Saturday night in Orange, Calif.
 
The Cowboys had control most of the game but three costly miscues turned into 21 points for the Panthers to keep the game close until the end.
 
Kris Sims put the Cowboys on the board in the first quarter when he scored on a 76-yard pass from Kyle Brown with 1:56 to play in the quarter. Pedro Altamirano nailed his first career PAT.
 
Chapman got on the board with 9:05 to play on a Brendon Manzano 5-yard pass from Tyler Pacheco. It capped a three-play drive of nine yards after Brown fumbled when he was hit from behind on a sack.
 
Altamirano nailed a 38-yard field goal with 1:43 to go in the half. Chapman answered with a Carson Nichols 24-yard field goal with :18 left in the half to tie the game at 10.
 
HSU took the opening drive and went 75 yards in 10 plays and freshman Ty Thompson scored from one yard out to make the score 17-10. After a quick stop from the defense, Noah Gacia went 76 yards on a touchdown run to push the lead to 24-10.
 
Chapman came right back with a 62-yard drive in eight plays with an 11-yard touchdown run and HSU blocked the PAT. The Cowboys answered right back with a 3-yard touchdown run by Braylon Henry to push the lead to 31-16 after three quarters.  
 
The Panthers got back within a score when they blocked a punt and the recovery was fumbled by the Cowboys and Chapman recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 31-23.
 
HSU then went 72 yards and Brown hit Douglas on a perfect third-down pass for a 31-yard touchdown. Chapman blocked the PAT making the score 37-23 with 3:32 to play. Chapman added an 11-yard touchdown pass from Pacheco to Kade Zimmerman with :53 to play and Douglas recovered the onside kick to seal the win.  
 
The Cowboys finished the night with 506 yards of offense and held Chapman to 259 yards. Without the 32-yard loss on the blocked punt and fumbled return, the Cowboys had 296 yards rushing on the night and finished with 264.
 
Brown went 13-of-21 for 242 yards and two scores and Pacheco finished the night 10-of-23 for 93 yards with an interception. He did run for 127 of Chapman's 166 yards on the ground.
 
Garcia had 162 yards on 23 carries and Henry added 122 yards on 18 carries. Kris Sims finished the night with four catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
 
Kaiden Roden led the defense with seven tackles and Harrison Foster, Kade Sink and Hayden Hays had five stops each. Collin Hill had his first career interception in his first start.
 
HSU is now 1-0 on the year and will return home for four straight games at Shelton Stadium over a five-week period. First up is a 6 p.m. game with McMurry on Saturday.
 
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