Game Highlights
HOUSTON - HBU scored in all three phases of the game and set a school record with four interceptions in a 49-7 victory over Southwest Baptist in the season opener, which was delayed in the first quarter two hours, 18 minutes by thunderstorms, by Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback
Bailey Zappe completed 21-of-31 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns for the Huskies (1-0), then sophomore quarterback
Andrew Haidet completed 4-of-7 for 54 yards and a score. Sophomore running back
Dreshawn Minnieweather rushed 11 times for 96 yards and a touchdown. Ten different Huskies made a reception, led by junior
Nick Sexton with six for 48 yards and freshman Jerreth Sterns with four for 62 yards. Sophomore running back
LaDarius Dickens and wide receivers senior
David Racine, freshman
Aaron Marquez and junior
Jeremy Smith each had a receiving touchdown.
Sophomore linebacker
Langston Tunson led HBU with 16 tackles, six for loss, two sacks and recorded an interception. Sophomore linebacker
Caleb Johnson racked up 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks and sophomore safety
Ethan Beek added eight stops. Senior cornerback
Raphael Lewis returned an interception for a touchdown, while senior linebacker
Kyle Bowling and sophomore safety
Patrick Wolfe each came up with a pick. Senior
Alec Chadwick handled all the kicking duties, going 7-for-7 on extra points, but missing field goals from 53 and 48 yards, and average 52.7 yards on six punt with a long of 65 yards.
Quarterback Dylan Mountain completed 9-of-21 passes for 66 yards and a pair of interceptions, while rushing 14 times for 46 yards, and Bryse Salik was intercepted twice. Eric Knight carried 14 times for 33 yards and a touchdown, while Matt Lechuga caught three passes for 18 yards for the Bearcats. Tyler Curts recorded 12 tackles for SBU, while Connor Hicks and Quincy Jones Jr. each had eight.
HBU piled up 478 yards of total offense, 268 through the air and 210 on the ground, while holding SBU to 179 yards – 108 on the ground and 71 passing. The Bearcats held the ball for nearly nine more minutes than the Huskies and committed five fewer penalties.
Minnieweather got the scoring started with a 42-yard touchdown run up the middle with 6:18 left in the first quarter. Roughly four minutes of game time later, lightning and heavy rain delayed the game, with play resuming at 8:50 p.m.
The Huskies finished the first half with a flurry as back-to-back 14- and 23-yard runs by Minnieweather set up Zappe's 6-yard touchdown toss to Racine. On SBU's next possession, Bowling intercepted a pass that bounced off the chest of the Bearcats receiver who was falling to the turf and returned it 24 yards to the SBU 26. Zappe then hit
Jeremy Smith with a back-shoulder touchdown for a 21-0 lead. Mountain was picked off by Lewis and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to send the Huskies to halftime with a 28-0 lead. Lewis now has five career interceptions and has returned three of them for touchdowns.
Zappe completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Dickens out of the backfield with 7:05 left in the third. SBU lined up for a punt from its own endzone, but punter Jackson Bagley had trouble with the snap, sophomore defensive end
Jeremy Ardoin chased him down, causing a fumble, which freshman running back
Ean Beek scooped up and scored from two yards out and a 42-0 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Bearcats took advantage of a personal foul penalty, which set up Knight's 1-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat to get on the board with 9:47 to go in the game.
On HBU's next possession, freshman running back
Myles Lewis had a 33-yard run, which set up Haidet's 17-yard touchdown strike to Marquez with 7:12 remaining to cap the scoring.
HBU opens Southland Conference play at home against McNeese Saturday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. at Husky Stadium.
