NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The HCU football team trailed 17-6 late in the second quarter but fell by a 55-6 final to the SFA Lumberjacks on Saturday evening at Homer Bryce Stadium in a Southland Conference matchup.
The game started with four consecutive punts with just one first down among the four possessions. On the Huskies' (3-5, 1-2 SLC) third possession, an
Eli Brickhandler pass while under pressure was picked off by Tim Muhammad and returned to the HCU nine-yard line. The HCU defense stood firm and forced a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 SFA (5-3, 3-2 SLC) lead with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter.
After a three-and-out possession for HCU, safety
Semaj Brown intercepted a Sam Vidlak pass at the HCU 29 and returned it near midfield to the Huskies' 49. The Huskies moved the ball into the red zone, reaching the SFA 12 when a backward pass on a screen from
CJ Rogers to
Calvin Hill was bobbled and dropped and then recovered by the Lumberjacks' Edward Bobino. After a
Reed Chandley 52-yard punt pinned the Lumberjacks at their own four, Vidlak found Jordan Nabors over the top for a 96-yard touchdown pass and SFA took a 10-0 lead with 9:44 left in the half.
HCU started its next drive at its own 35-yard line and Brickhandler dropped a pass into the arms of
Deuce McMillan for a 42-yard gain. The Huskies reached the SFA 20 but stalled, giving
Dillon Fedor a chance to put HCU on the board with a 37-yard attempt, which he converted, for a 10-3 ballgame. The Lumberjacks took just three plays to score on their next drive to go up 17-3. The next HCU drive was a 12-play 44-yard drive that resulted in a 44-yard field goal for Fedor to bring the score to 17-6. The Lumberjacks tacked on one more score before the half and led 24-6 at the intermission.
The Lumberjacks added 31 unanswered points in the second half with the Huskies' best drive of the half coming in the final minutes, ending with a
Cutter Stewart completion to
Calvin Wiggins down to the SFA three-yard line.
The Lumberjacks out-gained the Huskies by a 561 to 208 margin. HCU finished with 126 yards through the air and 82 on the ground. Brickhandler led the team in both passing and rushing, finishing with 31 yards on the ground on nine carries and completing 4-of-12 passing for 69 yards.
D.J. Harris ended the night with a season-high 12 tackles while a trio of Huskies,
Braden Hay,
Joe Cadette and
Ravonte Blowe, all had eight tackles. Cadette recorded his first sack of the season and finished with two tackles for loss. Brown's interception was his second of the season. Fedor was a perfect 2-of-2 kicking field goals and is now 10-of-10 on field goal attempts for the year. Punter
Reed Chandley ended the game averaging 45.8 yards per punt on eight kicks.
HCU remains on the road next weekend, heading to San Antonio, Texas to face UIW on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2:00 p.m. at Benson Stadium.
