HOUSTON - HBU knocked away Lamar's pass attempt on a fourth-and-one at the 33 with 1:15 remaining to preserve a 31-26 victory, the Huskies' program record fifth of the season, in Southland Conference football Saturday at Husky Stadium.
Junior quarterback
Bailey Zappe completed 14-of-27 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns for the Huskies (5-6, 2-5 SLC). Sophomore wide receiver
Jerreth Sterns caught five passes for 53 yards and three touchdowns, while junior wide receiver
Ben Ratzlaff made five catches for 83 yards. Junior running back
Dreshawn Minnieweather rushed 18 times for 129 yards and a touchdown and made two catches for 59 yards.
Junior linebacker
Caleb Johnson led HBU's defense with 14 tackles, while sophomore linebacker
Brennan Young made 11, freshman safety
Tra Fluellen made nine and junior safety
Patrick Wolfe eight. Senior cornerback
Alfred King recorded his second interception of the season and senior defensive end
Andre Walker registered a sack, his nation-leading 15th of the year.
Marcel Johnson completed 10-of-21 passes for 108 yards and an interception, adding 19 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals (4-7, 2-6). Chaz Ward rushed 20 times for 91 yards. Erik Pizzaro led Lamar's receivers with four catches for 35 yards and Bailey Giffen nailed four field goals, including a pair from beyond 50 yards.
Daniel Crosley made eight tackles and two sacks, while Davion May had four tackles and a pair of sacks for Lamar. Kevin O'Neill added seven stops.
Zappe hit junior tight end
Coleman Robinson for a 57-yard completion on the first play of scrimmage to set up Minnieweather's 1-yard touchdown run.
Lamar answered with Giffen's 51-yard field goal, then he hit a 36-yarder to make the score, 7-6, with 1:41 to go in the first quarter.
HBU had to settle for Garcia's 24-yard field goal to open the second quarter scoring, but Johnson led Lamar on an eight-play, 65-yard drive, capped by his four-yard touchdown run, to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 13-10 with 9:04 remaining in the first half.
The Huskies picked up a third-and-16 on Zappe's 53-yard pass to Minnieweather, then Zappe found Sterns for a seven-yard touchdown as HBU led, 17-13, with 5:55 on the clock.
King picked off Johnson and his 14-yard return set up HBU at the Lamar 30. The Huskies ran a double reverse pass, with Zappe hitting Sterns for a 30-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 24-13.
Giffen drilled a 53-yard field goal to cut HBU's lead to 24-16 heading into halftime.
A fumbled snap on a punt gave Lamar the ball at the HBU 2 and Johnson punched it in to pull the Cardinals within one, 24-23, with 11:29 left in the third quarter. Sterns scored his third touchdown of the game on a seven-yard reception from Zappe as the Huskies went up, 31-23, with 5:40 to go in the third.
The Cardinals got another field goal from Giffen, a 24-yarder, to make the score, 31-26, with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game, but the Huskies couldn't answer as Garcia missed wide right from 46 yards.
HBU had another chance to move ahead by a touchdown, but Garcia had another 46-yard attempt blocked and Lamar took over near midfield with 3:18 left. The Cardinals picked up a first down on fourth-and-one at the HBU 43, but Wolfe batted down the Cardinals' next fourth-down attempt to turn the ball back over to the offense to run out the rest of the clock.
The Huskies wrap up the regular season against Sam Houston State Saturday, Nov. 23, at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas.
