HOUSTON – HCU head football coach
Jason Bachtel's first victory as the leader of the Huskies' program was a memorable one as the Huskies set a new single-game scoring record, defeating visiting Louisiana Christian 70-7 on Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
HCU's point total surpasses the previous high of 68 that was set during the 2019 season in a 68-31 win over Texas Southern.
The game started with fireworks as
Semaj Brown returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for his first collegiate touchdown on his first-ever kick return to stake the Huskies (1-2) to a quick 7-0 lead. On the first possession by the Wildcats (0-2), HCU forced a turnover on downs but then turned the ball right back over on the first play of the next drive on a
Deuce McMillan fumble at the visitors' 26.
On the fourth play of the next LCU drive,
Xavier Toliver picked off his second pass in as many games to give the Huskies the ball at the HCU 40. After a first down the Huskies' drive stalled and turned the ball over on downs. The HCU defense stepped up again on the next LCU drive with
Khary Crump coming up with the pick to regain possession.
HCU then drove 75 yards on six plays, scoring a touchdown on a 35-yard completion from
Eli Brickhandler to
Deuce McMillan. Punter
Reed Chandley then completed a pass to
Drake Martinez for a successful two-point conversion and a 15-0 lead. Both offenses were sluggish for a good stretch until HCU scored on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brickhandler to
AJ Wilson with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter and the Huskies gaining a 22-0 lead.
After forcing a four-and-out on the next LCU possession, it took just three plays with
Calvin Hill taking a 25-yard run to the house and the Huskies took a 29-0 lead into the half.
The Wildcats went four-and-out to start the second half, setting HCU up with a short field at the LCU 32. On fourth-and-two,
Cutter Stewart connected with Martinez for a 24-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats answered, however, and put together a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive to get on the board and bring the score to 36-7.
HCU again wasted little time in scoring as Stewart found
Ismael Fuller on a short pass that the senior receiver took 62 yards after the catch for a 71-yard touchdown pass and a 43-7 lead. The Huskies then recovered a fumble on the first play on the next drive with Stewart capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
LCU was moving the ball, getting to the HCU 40 before Brown picked off an Allen Hamilton pass and took it back 65 yards for the pick-six and his second non-offensive touchdown of the night, giving HCU a 57-7 lead at the end of the third. In the fourth quarter,
Darryle Evans ran for a pair of scores to cap the scoring, including breaking a 66-yard scoring run late.
Evans racked up the third 100-yard rushing performance of his career, finishing the night with 122 yards on just 12 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Brickhandler and Stewart each threw for 126 yards and two touchdowns while nine different receivers registered receptions. Wilson led the way with three catches for 77 yards and a score.
Defensively,
Ruperake Fuavai and
Taylor Behl led the team with nine tackles with
Jayhvion Gipson and
Isaiah Johnson each finishing with eight. Johnson and
Rufus Toe each had 2.5 tackles for loss.
The Huskies travel west on I-10 next weekend for a matchup with the UTSA Roadrunners inside the Alamodome at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.
