HCU Huskies (4-3, 3-1 SLC) at #15/#16 Lamar Cardinals (5-2, 3-1 SLC)
Saturday, Oct. 24 – 3 p.m.
Provost Umphrey Stadium – Beaumont, Texas

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BEAUMONT, Texas – The HCU football team, off to its best start in Southland Conference play since starting the program, heads to Provost Umphrey Stadium for the first time since 2022 on Saturday afternoon for an SLC battle with the 15^th-ranked Lamar Cardinals at 3:00 p.m.
 
The Huskies (4-3, 3-1 SLC) and Cardinals (5-2, 3-1 SLC) are currently tied for second place in the league standings behind first-place Stephen F. Austin. While HCU has won its last two, most recently a 43-24 home victory over East Texas A&M, Lamar suffered a close 34-31 road loss to Southeastern this past Saturday.
 
The two teams have not faced each other in either of the last two seasons with the most recent matchup coming in 2023 with Lamar squeaking out a 21-19 win. The last meeting in Beaumont went to the Huskies as HCU built a 37-7 lead and held on for a 37-34 win.
 
In HCU's win over East Texas last Saturday, the Huskies scored 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to dispatch the Lions. Cutter Stewart and Javon Bejarano earned SLC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors for their performances in the win while Champ Dozier garnered an honorable mention nod for Special Teams Player of the Week. Stewart rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing three touchdown passes and completing 19-of-33 for 188 yards. Stewart hasn't thrown an interception since the second game of the season for a streak that stands at 111 attempts without a pick.
 
Bejarano, meanwhile, filled up the stat sheet against the Lions. The senior safety finished with a game-high 11 tackles, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and an interception with a 55-yard return for a touchdown. The pick-six was his second in as many games for the Huskies. Dozier, meanwhile, racked up 188 all-purpose yards in the win with 102 yards on four kickoff returns, 52 yards rushing and 34 yards receiving with a touchdown catch.
 
Stewart and Dozier continue to march up the career record lists at HCU with Stewart already second all-time in passing yards (2,477), second in touchdown passes (23) and third in completions (174). Dozier has moved into fourth in program history in all-purpose yards (2,073) and is tied for fourth in total touchdowns (13).
 
The Cardinals took an early 6-0 lead at SLU last weekend but fell behind, 21-6, midway through the second quarter and played catch-up the rest of the game but never quite caught all the way up in the three-point loss. Quarterback Aiden McCown completed 27-of-46 passing for 297 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception and also ran for 34 yards. Receiver Blake Thomas hauled in seven catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Junior running back Jojo Uga leads the SLC in rushing so far this season with 447 yards on the ground with his 6.12 yards per carry checking in at 21^st in the nation. For the year, McCown is completing 59.6 percent of his passes and has totaled 1,292 yards through the air with 12 touchdown passes to just four interceptions. Defensively, junior defensive back Mar Mar Evans leads the team with 38 tackles and has five pass breakups. Senior linebacker Andrew Huff leads Lamar with four sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.
 
The Huskies are right back on the road for their next game with a trip to Nacogdoches, Texas to face a Stephen F. Austin team currently ranked No. 2 in the nation on Oct. 31 for a 2:00 p.m. Halloween matinee matchup.