Sunday, September 22, 1996

HPU edges HSU in emotional thriller
By MARK WILSON
Staff Writer

BROWNWOOD - The latest football matchup between Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons seemed to have all the emotion and tension of a championship battle.

Even though Saturday's 24-21 win for Howard Payne at Gordon Wood Stadium was a non-conference clash between two NAIA Division II teams ranked in the top 10 nationally, it was an exciting see-saw preview of what could turn out to be the most important game in the American Southwest Conference this season.

HPU, which is 3-0 for the first time since 1971, will travel to Abilene Oct. 26 for a conference battle against Hardin-Simmons, which is now 1-1 on the season. Last season the two teams were co-champions and met three times, with HSU winning twice - including a 17-6 win over the Yellow Jackets in the opening round of the playoffs.

Coach Vance Gibson's ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets continued to get big plays on defense, returning one fumble for a touchdown and coming up with a key interception at their own 16-yard line as the fifth-ranked Cowboys were trying to drive in for the winning score with 31/2 minutes left in the game.

The Cowboys got the ball back one more time, but a bad snap foiled what would have been a 46-yard field goal attempt by Brian Beddow. After Beddow picked up the loose ball and tried to lateral it to a teammate, Lonnie McNeil of Howard Payne recovered it near midfield to end the game.

Beddow missed wide right on a 43-yard field goal try late in the second quarter, after HPU's Billy Young had misfired on a 42-yard attempt with 61/2 minutes left in the first quarter.

"For the defense to limit them to the number of points we did, with the field position they had, is outstanding because Hardin-Simmons is a great offensive team. Defensively, we did play well when we were backed up."

"The last four years, they've been putting a pounding on us," said HPU cornerback Wilmer Ray, a senior who was converted from wide receiver this season and now has three interceptions in three games. "We knew we could beat them.

"They had been running trips and running either the counter or the bootleg," Ray said of his interception. "I kept falling for it. We got pressure from the linemen, and I just stepped in front of him and got it."

HSU - which took possession of the ball at the HPU 29- and 35-yard lines in the second half without scoring - also hurt its own cause with seven penalties in the second half (11 for 92 yards overall) and three lost fumbles.

"It really wasn't their defense. It was our offense and penalties," said HSU slotback Todd Bloom, who caught 15 passes for 138 yards. "I just think penalties were the reason we couldn't put it in.
"We'll get better, and build off this game. The season's not a loss at all. At our house (Shelton Stadium in Abilene), it seems to be a totally different ballgame."

The two squads combined for just 102 net yards rushing.

HSU quarterback Todd Baumann passed for 266 yards, completing 27 of 43 including a 73-yarder to Bloom that set up the Cowboys' first touchdown, putting them ahead for the first time in the game, 7-3.

HPU quarterback Wes St. Aubin matched Baumann's yardage exactly, connecting on 18 of 36 with one interception. Billy Spiller caught four of the aerials for 95 yards.

"We made too many mistakes, especially in the form of penalties," HSU coach Jimmie Keeling said. "We've just got to correct those mistakes and move forward. Their defense did a good job, and we're still developing. We didn't get it done. It's hard to take. The bottom line is, very obviously, we've got to improve."

The Jackets had scored first on Young's 23-yard field goal with 12:50 remaining in the first quarter, but the Cowboys got a 2-yard touchdown run from Cameron Creager with 8:12 left in the quarter.
Creager, the starter at running back, left with an ankle injury with 1:55 to go in the first quarter and was unable to return.

HPU benefited from 30 yards worth of infractions against HSU on a punt - a personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct - that set up a six-play, 39-yard TD drive. Jeff Williams carried the ball in from the 3 as the Jackets regained the lead, 10-7, with 13:20 left in the second quarter.

The Cowboys were back on top 14-10 at the 7:35 mark as Baumann dropped back to pass, saw a huge hole and ran to paydirt from 30 yards out.

HPU took the advantage for good as St. Aubin finished off a 71-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 10:24 to go in the third quarter.

The Cowboys couldn't capitalize on Robert Brown's fumble recovery with 8:14 left in the quarter, and on their next possession the Jackets cranked up their big-play defensive skills.

Baumann lost the ball when he was sacked by Rushard Hudson, and Tommie Ford returned the fumble 14 yards for a touchdown that gave the Jackets a 24-14 lead with 4:16 left in the third quarter.

Four plays after Bloom returned a punt 14 yards to the HPU 32, Baumann connected with Mitch Ables for a 31-yard TD with 14:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The first play of that series was a strange play. An inadvertent whistle by one of the referees wiped out what likely would have been a 32-yard TD reception by Chance Sampson, who was inside the HPU 10 heading for the end zone when the play was whistled dead.