HOUSTON – HCU led 10-3 at the half before a wild second half saw East Texas A&M take a 24-16 lead in the third and the Huskies respond with 27 unanswered fourth quarter points to earn a 43-24 Southland Conference win on Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
Quarterback
Cutter Stewart accounted for five touchdowns in the win, throwing for three and rushing for two while amassing a career-high 110 yards on the ground.
Javon Bejarano finished the night with 12 tackles, a pick-six, a forced fumble and a pass breakup to lead the defense.
Following a three-and-out by the Huskies (4-3, 3-1 SLC), East Texas A&M (2-5, 2-3 SLC) took the ball 63 yards down the field into the red zone but safety
Javon Bejarano stripped the ball at the one on an EJ Oakman run with the ball bouncing into the end zone for a touchback and HCU ball at the 20.
On their next drive, the Lions traveled 64 yards and got as close as the HCU 16 where they set up Ozlo Rigby for a 33-yard field goal attempt that he sent through the uprights for a 3-0 ETAM lead. The Huskies got on the board in the second quarter after taking over possession at the East Texas 34-yard line after a short punt that went out of bounds. HCU got down to the ET four-yard line for a first-and-goal but settled for a 25-yard
Lukasz Smolen field to tie the score.
The Lions again moved the ball on their next possession, reaching the HCU red zone but Rigby pulled a 20-yard field goal try wide left to give HCU the ball at their own 20. The Huskies responded with a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown rush by Stewart to give HCU a 10-3 lead the Huskies would take into the half.
East Texas A&M evened things up quickly in the third quarter on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Luke Glass to Sean Sallis less than two minutes into the second half. Just over two minutes later, EJ Oakman closed out a 33-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to put ETAM ahead by seven. The Huskies had a response, however, and marched 65 yards on the next drive with Stewart tossing a 15-yard touchdown pass to
Mason Graham. Smolen's extra point attempt was blocked with the Lions returning it 100 yards but the conversion was nullified by a penalty.
A bad snap on a punt led to a turnover on downs by the Huskies and set up the Lions with a short field from the HCU 22. Three plays later and the visitors held a 24-16 lead they took into the fourth quarter.
From there, it was all Huskies with Stewart connecting with
Keith Wheeler and Dozier on touchdown passes within the first five minutes. The HCU quarterback ran in another one from six yards out and Bejarano put an exclamation point on the win with a 55-yard interception return for a score with just 29 seconds left on the clock for his second pick-six in as many games.
HCU finished the night with 362 yards of offense, passing for 188 and rushing for 174. The Huskies won the turnover battle, 3-1, with two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Stewart ended the game with 110 yards rushing with two touchdowns on 18 carries while throwing for 188 yards with three touchdowns while completing 19-of-33 passes. Dozier racked up 188 all-purpose yards with 102 kickoff return yards on four returns, 52 yards rushing and 34 yards receiving.
Ja'Ryan Wallace led the receiving corps with 55 yards on two catches.
Jayven Anderson added 10 tackles for the Huskies with 1.5 tackles for loss with 0.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and also forced a fumble. HCU's other interception belonged to
Matai Tomas who also had a tackle for loss. As a group, the HCU defense recorded six tackles for loss and three sacks with six different players credited with 0.5 sacks.
The Huskies will hit the road for their next two games, beginning next Saturday, Oct. 24, with a trip east on I-10 to face the Lamar Cardinals at Provost Umphrey Stadium at 3:00 p.m. Both teams head into the matchup at 3-1 in conference play and a chance to stand alone in second place on the line.
