SAN ANTONIO, Texas – HCU football fell in a 45-20 ballgame on Saturday afternoon, losing to No. 9 UIW at Gayle & Tom Benson Stadium in a Southland Conference matchup.
The Huskies (3-6, 1-3 SLC) received the opening kickoff with
Semaj Brown returning the kick 37 yards to the HCU 47. On third and six,
CJ Rogers connected with
Calvin Wiggins on a 27-yard completion to the UIW 22. The HCU drive stalled at the 20 and culminated in a 37-yard field goal from
Dillon Fedor for a 3-0 HCU lead.
UIW (7-2, 4-0 SLC) got a 40-yard return from Mason Pierce to start its first drive at the UIW 40 yard line. The Cardinals moved the ball into the red zone but the HCU defense stiffened up, forcing a 25-yard field goal to even the score at 3-3. The Huskies went three-and-out on the next possession. Two plays later, UIW's Dekalon Taylor rushed for a 28-yard score and a 10-3 UIW lead.
The Cardinals came up with an interception on the second play of the next HCU drive but the Huskies came up with a big stop on fourth-and-one at their own 34-yard line to force a turnover on downs and get the ball back. The Huskies, however, turned the ball over after moving into UIW territory on a fumble by
Darryle Evans that was recovered by UIW at the 31.
On the next UIW drive, the Cardinals moved the ball just past midfield and on fourth-and-one, Lontrell Turner carried the ball up the middle to the HCU 47 where
Andrew Huff knocked the ball loose with
Zae Smith recovering it at the 47. The teams then traded punts but UIW found the end zone again with a touchdown pass from Zach Calzada to Roy Alexander with 8:42 left in the half for a 17-3 lead.
Calvin Hill broke a 43-yard run on the first play of the next HCU drive, moving the chains down to the UIW 32. The Huskies moved it down into the red zone to the 17-yard line before settling for a 34-yard field goal from Fedor to cut the UIW lead to 17-6 with 4:46 on the clock. UIW scored twice more before the intermission to take a 31-6 lead into the half.
The Cardinals scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter to lead 45-6 heading into the final 15 minutes of the game. HCU went on a nine-play, 92-yard drive that saw
Cutter Stewart complete 5-of-6 passes and was capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by
Jesse Valenzuela for a 45-13 game with 4:52 left to play.
The Huskies regained possession after a UIW punt and quickly drove 85 yards on five plays for a score on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Stewart to
AJ Wilson with 1:53 on the clock and HCU trailing 45-20.
Wilson finished the day with a career-high 111 yards receiving on three catches with a score. Hill led HCU on the ground, picking up 53 yards on four carries while Valenzuela added 43 yards on six rushes. Stewart finished the game completing 10-of-12 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, redshirt freshman
Darius Bean led all players with a career-high 12 tackles after coming into the game with just 16 tackles on the season.
Braden Hay also reached double-figures in tackles, with 10.
HCU finished with 301 yards of offense, throwing for 217 and rushing for 84. UIW, meanwhile, totaled 332 yards through the air and 241 on the ground. Calzada ended the day with four touchdown passes while completing 49-of-44 attempts.
The Huskies return home to Husky Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 9, for the team's first home game since Oct. 12 to host Nicholls at 2:00 p.m. for Homecoming.
