SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Despite the team's best offensive output of the season, HBU dropped a Southland Conference matchup to 22
nd-ranked UIW, 49-21, on Saturday afternoon at Benson Stadium.
The Huskies (0-8, 0-5 SLC) finished the game with 364 yards of offense, the team's highest total of the season, with freshman quarterback
Orion Olivas completing 38-of-49 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
Sophomore receiver
Tyson Thompson eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career, finishing with 103 yards on 16 catches with a touchdown. Thompson also added 74 yards on three kickoff returns for 177 all-purpose yards.
Vernon Harrell, meanwhile, returned to the lineup and totaled eight catches for 91 yards.
Xzavier Ford ended the day with 62 yards rushing on 13 carries with
Ean Beek adding 46 yards on the ground on eight carries.
Freshman linebacker
Rodney Dansby continues to pile up the tackles, finishing with 17 stops with one tackle for a loss. Over the last three games, he is averaging 16.7 tackles per game. Senior linebacker
Brennan Young added 11 tackles with one for a loss. Punter
Brady Buell averaged 42.7 yards on three punts with a long of 52, placing two inside the UIW 20.
UIW (6-2, 4-1 SLC) was led by sophomore quarterback Cameron Ward who finished 34-of-46 passing for 328 yards and four touchdowns. Robert Ferrel had 10 catches for 102 yards and two scores while Marcus Cooper had two rushing touchdowns and 104 yards on the ground.
UIW opened the scoring on the opening drive, taking the ball 65 yards down field and culminating in a three-yard touchdown pass by Cameron Ward to Robert Ferrel. Kevin Brown made it 14-0 in favor of the Cardinals later in the first quarter on a 28-yard touchdown run.
The Huskies forced a fumble at their own 31 with
Xavier Toliver jarring the ball loose on a tackle with
Rodney Dansby falling on it for the turnover. HBU drove the ball down the field but the Cardinals answered with a turnover of their own, pulling down an interception at the UIW 14. UIW took the ball 89 yard down the field to make it 21-0 on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
HBU came back off that touchdown with a 15 play, 75-yard drive with Olivas finding
Tyson Thompson in the end zone on a two-yard scoring pass, making it a 21-7 ballgame. The Cardinals extended the lead to 28-7 with just two ticks left on the clock in the first half with a TD pass from Ward to Darion Chafin.
In the second half, HBU received the kickoff and marched the ball downfield 75 yards on 11 plays with the drive capitalized by Ford taking in a 10-yard scoring run and cutting the Huskies' deficit to 14.
Following a three-and-out by the HBU defense, the Huskies' next drive ended with a fumble that led to a 44-yard UIW touchdown drive and a 35-14 score. Marcus Cooper took the ball in on a 14-yard run on the next Cardinals' possession, pushing it to 42-14. The Huskies' next drive went nine plays for 67 yards with Beek fumbling at the end of a seven-yard run at the one yard line with center
Christian Hood falling on the ball in the end zone for the score. UIW's final touchdown came with 11:30 left in the game on another Cooper rush.
The Huskies will remain on the road next weekend when they travel to Natchitoches, La. for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff against Northwestern State inside Turpin Stadium.
