HSU's defense seals Kangaroos' fate

By AL PICKETT / Sports Editor

The Hardin-Simmons University defense stuffed Austin College with a record-setting performance Saturday at Shelton Stadium, handing the Cowboys a share of another conference title and a fifth straight postseason appearance.

The HSU defense held the Kangaroos to only eight net yards rushing in a 33-0 victory.

The win gives Hardin-Simmons (8-2 overall and 3-1 in conference) a share of the American Southwest Conference championship with Sul Ross State. And the 11th-ranked Cowboys should learn later today that they will receive their fifth straight bid to the NAIA Division II football playoffs.

The HSU defensive effort broke a school record set in 1954 when the Cowboys limited Texas Tech to just 27 net rushing yards.

"This week we had no problem focusing," HSU defensive coordinator Mike Phillips said. "This was do or die. We wanted to make them throw the ball. We felt we had picked up some keys on the video, and they held true."

Playing Hardin-Simmons has become an effort in futility for Austin College, which was shut out for the third consecutive meeting with the Cowboys. The Kangaroos (3-7 overall and 1-3 in the ASC) threatened three times, but Stephenville's Jon Loudermilk recovered a fumble at the 1-yard line to stop the first threat early in the second quarter.

A fourth-down pass was caught by Brandon Mays on the final play of the first half, but he was ruled out of the back of the end zone. And the Kangaroos failed to punch it in after recovering a fumble at the HSU 4-yard line in the fourth quarter.

"The defense did a good job, and the offense got it in the end zone," Hardin-Simmons head coach Jimmie Keeling said.

Keeling's first decision of the day may have been his best one. The Cowboys won the opening toss and elected to take the 25-mph wind at their backs instead of taking the ball to start the game.

"We were going to take the wind," Keeling said. "That turned out to be a great decision - having the wind and taking advantage."

The Cowboys scored 21 first-quarter points with the wind at their backs.

The HSU defense forced Austin College to go three-and-out on its first three posssessions, and Jason Fegraeus managed punts of just 21, 19 and 23 yards, giving the Cowboys the ball at the Kangaroos' 38 and 35 and their own 48-yard line.

The Cowboys turned the excellent field position into three scores on runs of 2 and 1 yards by Jeff Whitley and Todd Baumann's 35-yard TD pass to Todd Bloom.

With the way the HSU defense was playing, the 21-point first quarter advantage was more than enough.

Baumann, who was 16 of 20 passing for 185 yards, added a 14-yard touchdown toss to Mitch Ables in the second period and a 15-yard TD strike to Chance Sampson in the third quarter before turning things over to backup Bill Poe for the final 20 minutes.

"We knew the title and the playoffs were on the line," Baumann said. "We didn't have a choice but to come out tough."

Robert Brown and Gary Burling led the HSU defense with eight and seven tackles, respectively, while Loudermilk had an interception and a fumble recovery.