Sunday, September 29, 1996

HSU wins crosstown battle with McMurry

By TED DUNNAM
Assistant Sports Editor

It might not have been apparent to the casual observer, but penetrations decided Hardin-Simmons University's 42-7 win over cross-town rival McMurry University Saturday night at Indian Stadium.

Every time HSU's defensive line penetrated the Indians' backfield, bad things happened. Every time the Cowboys' offense dented the McMurry defense, bad things happened.

That is, bad things happened to McMurry. Good things happened to the Cowboys.

"Coach (Steve) Keenum and his staff run a lot of misdirection," HSU defensive coordinator Mike Phillips said. "And if you're going to disrupt that kind of offense, you've got to get penetration.

"Our young kids played hard. They came off the line of scrimmage and did exactly what they're supposed to do. For the most part, I thought they played well the entire game."

Jon Loudermilk and Jason Cothran each came up with second half interceptions while defensive lineman Link Harris rambled 7 yards with a fumble for a touchdown.

Meanwhile, the Cowboy offense had three possessions in which it had time-consuming drives of 10 plays or more. One of those was a 15-play march.

"The offensive line did an excellent job," HSU quarterback Todd Baumann said. "They gave me plenty of time to throw and opened some big holes for our backs."

Before he departed and gave way to backup Bill Poe, Baumann connected on 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. Poe was 7 of 13 for 73 yards.

"The last two games we really came out flat, even though we won one of them. We knew we had to come out and take control immediately," Baumann said. "We got some momentum on offense and our defense maintained it. They only gave up seven points. You can't ask for much better than that."

Defensive right end O'Brien Satcher of Eastland was one of the Cowboy defenders that kept Cowboy running backs and quarterbacks bottled up most of the night.

McMurry had only 69 yards rushing and 162 passing.

"With their type offense, they've always got the potential for a big play," Satcher said. "We knew we had to be strong up front. McMurry's strong up front, too, but we came off the ball well.

"God blessed us with a few breaks and things just went our way tonight."

HSU head coach Jimmie Keeling was pleased his team could establish a big lead early (28-7 at halftime) and coast home to the victory.

"The kids did a good job tonight," Keeling said. "McMurry battled us hard the whole game. We just did what we needed to do. Except for getting quite a few penalties at the end, I was pleased.

"Getting the lead allowed us to play a lot of people. We've got a lot of young guys that need playing time."

McMurry managed just one rushing first down the entire game as the Cowboy defense kept constant pressure on Indian quarterbacks Eric David and Braxton Shaver.

Darren Bailey of Wylie gained 70 yards on 12 carries for the Indians, but 50 of that came on one play. The Cowboys weren't particularly effective on the ground, either, but Baumann's timely completions led to 16 first downs through the air to keep HSU drives alive.

"We came out with a different attitude than we've had the past two weeks," the Cowboy quarterback said. "We set the tone early and maintained it."