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Belton, Texas— The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team struggled through a sluggish first half before pulling away in the second half of a 40-18 victory over Sul Ross State Saturday night in Belton. The Cru improves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Lobos to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the ASC on the season.
Drew Owen gave UMHB a 3-0 lead with a 34-yard field goal to cap the opening drive. Owen added a 44-yard field goal on the next possession to make it 6-0 Cru.
Zach Anderson hit
Michael Carpenter with a 45-yard screen pass for a touchdown to put UMHB up 13-0 with 1:39 left in the first quarter. Owen hit a 45-yard field goal with 11:59 left in the second to make it 16-0, but Sul Ross hit for two quick touchdowns to close the gap. Derrick Bernard hit Cordrick Mobley for a four-yard TD toss with 8:31 left in the second and then scored on a 15-yard run with 2:38 remaining in the half to cut it 16-12 at the break. Those were the first two first half touchdowns allowed by UMHB on the season.
The Cru opened the scoring in the second half when
Brodrick Crain punched the ball loose from Brian Thomas, scooped it up and returned it 15 yards for a score just seven seconds into the third quarter. Bernard hit Xavier Jefferson with a 31-yard scoring strike to pull the Lobos to within 23-18, but Carpenter added a 19-yard scoring run and Owen hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 33-18 at the end of the third. Anderson put an exclamation point on the win with an 81-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter and the Cru held on for the victory.
UMHB rolled up 443 yards of total offense with 242 of those coming on the ground. The Cru defense gave up a season-high 353 yards of total offense but forced seven turnovers in the game and scored its first defensive touchdown of the year.
Carpenter ran for a career-high 140 yards on 28 carries as UMHB played without leading rusher
Elijah Hudson. Anderson ran for 121 yards on 15 carries and went 11-16 passing for 160 yards and another score.
Deshon Kinsey led the Cru defense with 13 tackles and Crain added nine to go with an interception and his fumble return for a touchdown.
Bernard was 19-48 passing for 222 yards and two scores, but he was picked off four times. He also ran for 89 yards on 25 carries. Jefferson caught five passes for 137 yards. Dillon Wolfe led the Lobo defense with 12 tackles and three other players also reached double figures.
UMHB has now won 38 consecutive regular season games and 27 straight ASC contests. The Cru will return to action with a non-conference home game against Trinity University next Saturday at 6:00 PM. The Tigers are 3-1 on the year after posting a 26-3 victory over Austin College on Saturday. The all-time series between UMHB and Trinity is tied 4-4, but the Cru has won the last four meetings between the two teams.
