Austin College Falls to McMurry on Homecoming

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College football team dropped a 31-13 contest against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe McMurry University on Saturday afternoon as the 'Roos celebrated Homecoming with a lightning-delayed start, bringing the team to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play this season.

Austin College gained 377 yards of offense, including 236 on the ground, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the War Hawks, who had 380 passing yards and 441 yards of total offense on their way to handing the 'Roos the loss. McMurry got on the board first a little over halfway through the opening frame, as Corey Layne ran one in from nine yards out to cap a seven play, 80 yard drive to make it 7-0 and that's how things would stand at the end of the first.

The War Hawks lead grew to 14-0 early in the second, with Dylan Plake connecting with Thomas Chandler for a 10 yard touchdown strike, but Austin College countered shortly after, thanks to a 42 yard touchdown burst from Zyan Stewart with 10 minutes on the clock. However, McMurry responded less than three minutes later, with Plake finding Kam Carrington from 37 yards out to make it 21-7 with just over seven minutes left before the break. Austin College got three more points on the board just before halftime, as Caleb Balderas drilled a 28 yard field goal with 1:18 on the clock to make it 21-10 at the half.

McMurry tacked on a field goal of its own midway through the third quarter to make it 24-10, and the War Hawks found the endzone with two seconds left in the period to make it 31-10 heading into the fourth. Austin College got the final three points of the game with 5:38 left, as Balderas knocked in a 38 yard field goal to finish an 11 play, 59 yard drive that spanned nearly six minutes, making it a 31-13 final.

Stewart rushed 16 times for 134 yards, an average of 8.2 yards-per-carry, and added a touchdown while Barrett Hudson added 70 yards on 14 carries. Jaylon Talton completed 15-of-24 passes for 141 yards with a pick, and Jermiah Johnson led the 'Roos with six catches for 93 yards. Pablo Cantu and Kenneth Alexander each had 10 tackles for Austin College. Plake completed 27-of-40 passes for 343 yard and two scores and Chandler caught nine passes for 123 yards to lead the War Hawks.