EDINBURG, Texas – Senior wide receiver
Deuce McMillan surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards and redshirt freshman running back
Xai'Shaun Edwards recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season but HCU football fell in its Southland Conference opener to the UTRGV Vaqueros, 27-7, on Saturday night at Vackar Stadium.
Neither team got much going offensively on the first four drives of the game but the Huskies (1-4, 0-1 SLC) forced a turnover on downs midway through the first quarter before starting a 10-play, 50-yard drive that resulted in a missed 21-yard field goal that left the game scoreless. UTRGV (5-1, 1-1 SLC) opened the ensuing drive with a 46-yard completion with quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger scrambling for a 3-yard touchdown run three plays later.
The Huskies came back and sustained a 17-play, 75-yard drive that ended with
Xai'Shaun Edwards punching it in from the one to even the score, 7-7, with 7:26 left in the half. Three plays into the next Vaqueros drive, DJ Roberts stepped in front of Kyran Lee to pick off Marburger and give HCU possession at the UTRGV 33. That Husky drive started with a sack and while HCU was able to get back to the 32, a fourth down attempt was unsuccessful. The Huskies forced a punt on the next drive and then later in the half got the ball back on a
Norey Johnson interception at the HCU 36. The Huskies got to the UTRGV 44 before the half ended with the score knotted, 7-7.
UTRGV received the ball to open the second half, eating up 5:48 off the clock with a nine-play drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by Marburger. The Vaqueros added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 17-7. The next drive for the Huskies made it to the UTRGV 44 but stalled out, resulting in a turnover on downs. UTRGV scored one more touchdown and added a field goal late.
Edwards finished the night with 101 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown for the second-highest single-game rushing total of his career. Edwards now has six rushing touchdowns on the year, good for second most in a single season in program history and just one behind Dreshawn Minnieweather's seven during the 2019 season.
McMillan, meanwhile, eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for his career with 40 yards on four receptions. The senior now stands at 1,025 career receiving yards and is now just six catches shy of 100 for his career.
Darius Bean and
Rodney Dansby paced the HCU defense with seven tackles each. Bean had a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss while Dansby now has 392 career tackles and is just 23 shy of moving into second all-time at HCU.
Trent Zappe added six tackles for the Huskies while
Mike Sylvalie had five tackles and his first career sack.
The Huskies will be back home at Husky Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 11, for a Family Weekend matchup against the Northwestern State Demons at 7:00 p.m.
