HOUSTON – The HCU football team closed out non-conference play with an emphatic 30-0 win over visiting Prairie View A&M on Saturday evening at Husky Stadium, giving the Huskies their second shutout victory of the season.
The Huskies (3-4, 1-2 SLC) opened the game with a strong defensive effort, forcing a Prairie View (3-4, 3-1 SWAC) punt after five plays and just 12 yards.
Karl Reynolds returned the punt 29 yards to the Panthers' 45, setting his team up with solid starting field position. Eight plays and 43 yards later, kicker
Dillon Fedor put HCU on the board with a 19-yard field goal with 9:08 on the clock.
After a three-and-out performance by the defense, the Huskies took over possession on their own 15-yard line.
Jesse Valenzuela got the drive started with a 32-yard rush, followed by a
Colby Suits pass to Reynolds to move the ball on the PV side of the 50. Suits then connected on a short cross with
Ismael Fuller who took the ball 42 yards after the catch for a score and a 10-0 HCU lead with just under six minutes still to play in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, HCU punted but the ball hit off a Prairie View player and was recovered by
Caleb King at the PV 36-yard line, giving HCU a short field. It took just five plays for the Huskies to score with Valenzuela scampering across the goal line on a five-yard run, putting HCU ahead, 17-0. The HCU defense again went three-and-out, setting the offense up at the HCU 26 after a punt. The Huskies utilized a good mix of rushes and passes to quickly move the ball up field, setting up
RJ Smith for a 22-yard scoring run with 5:29 left in the half with the Huskies leading, 24-0.
Fedor added a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 26-yarder in the fourth to cap the scoring for the Huskies while the defense held the Panthers to just 42 yards of offense in the second half.
HCU rolled up 445 yards of offense with 246 yards on the ground and 199 through the air. Smith posted the first 100-yard game of his career, rushing for 108 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Smith becomes the third Husky running back this season with a 100-yard rushing game, joining
Champ Dozier and
Darryle Evans. Valenzuela ended the night with a touchdown and 87 yards rushing on 13 carries while Suits ran six times for 58 yards.
Through the air, Suits finished 19-of-28 for 166 yards with one touchdown. He spread the ball out to 10 different receivers with
Karl Reynolds leading the way with five catches.
Defensively, the Huskies allowed less than a yard per rushing attempt by the Panthers, giving up just 20 yards on 22 attempts. Prairie View's quarterback, Trazon Connley, went 12-of-19 passing for 90 yards.
Xavier McIntyre led the HCU defense with 10 tackles, including one for a loss.
Rodney Dansby,
Devion Hargrove,
Zae Smith and
Judas McKenzie all recorded solo sacks while the Huskies finished with seven tackles for loss as a unit. Safety
Caleb Flagg recorded his second career interception with a 23-yard return.
HCU is off next weekend with a bye and will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, when Texas A&M-Commerce comes to Husky Stadium for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff.
