PROSPER – The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets put forth their most dominant performance of the young season and improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2014 with a 55-21 thrashing of non-conference foe Hendrix in a neutral site contest here Saturday night.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Howard Payne (3-0, 2-0) jumped out to a 10-0 lead after one quarter which grew to 34-7 by intermission. The Yellow Jackets carried a 55-7 advantage into the fourth period.

Howard Payne finished with 754 yards of total offense – 476 passing and 278 rushing – with two turnovers, and the Yellow Jackets’ depth was on full display as five players attempted at least one pass, nine rushed the ball, and 13 caught at least one pass.

Defensively, the Yellow Jackets limited Hendrix (0-2) to 256 yards – 174 through the air and 82 on the ground – with a pair of takeaways.

HPU’s Landon McKinney completed 12 of 22 passes for 294 yards with five touchdowns, including three to Jake Parker who hauled in seven catches for 181 yards. Nick Infante connected on all five of his pass attempts for 103 yards with a scoring toss, Austin Valdez was 6 of 10 for 55 yards with an interception, Parker completed a 19-yard pass, and Jackson Coulson was 2 of 4 for 5 yards with a pick.

Along with Parker, a dozen other Yellow Jackets caught passes – Max McCuiston (2-88, TD), Selah Smith (2-58), Otis Lanier (2-51, TD), Hunter Cheek (2-17), Quentin Gray (2-10), Tyler Vann (2-10), Justin Gonzales (2-5), Jeremiah Milton (1-25), Casey Dufner (1-16), Reed Collins (1-7, TD), Javonte Russell (1-7), and Josh Aldama (1-1).

The nine ball carries for Howard Payne were Tauren Bradley (66 yards), Derrick Berry (54 yards, TD), Milton (40 yards), Peter McFarlin (36 yards), Stephen Wills (35 yards), Lanier (15 yards), McKinney (14 yards), Ethan Cortez (11 yards), and Infante (7 yards).

Leading the way for the HPU defense were James Jakubowski with seven tackles, including 2.5 for loss and two sacks, with one forced fumble; David Bush with five tackles, including one for loss; Dai’Shawn Fisher with four tackles; and Caleb Bennett, Brevin Wilson, and Jerrion Watson, who also tallied a sack, with three tackles each. Byron Clark and Dae-Shun Weakly intercepted passes.

HPU started the scoring with a 25-yard Blake Phipps field goal with 7:57 left in the first period. McKinney then found Lanier for a 32-yard touchdown reception which boosted the Jackets’ lead to 10-0 with 3:30 left in the first period.

On the first play of the second period, HPU stretched the lead to 17-0 on a 20-yard hook up from McKinney to Parker. At the 10:27 mark of the second quarter, Phipps’ second field goal from 26 yards out made the score 20-0 in favor of the Jackets. Collins’ 1-yard catch from McKinney extended the advantage to 27-0 with 8:54 left in the first half.

Hendrix notched its only first-half points on a 1-yard run by Jacob Wood at the 4:38 mark of the second period, shaving HPU’s lead to 27-7.

The Jackets tacked on one more touchdown before halftime on a 9-yard connection from McKinney to Parker.

Leading 34-7 at the break, Parker caught another 9-yard touchdown pass from McKinney, Berry scored on a 1-yard carry, and McCuiston hauled in an 82-yard scoring toss from Infante as Howard Payne padded the cushion to 51-7 after three frames.

Hendrix tallied the fourth-quarter points on touchdowns catches of 16 and 23 yards by Chris Childress.

The Yellow Jackets resume American Southwest Conference at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 as they visit East Texas Baptist (2-1, 1-1), a 24-15 winner over McMurry (0-2, 0-2) Saturday.

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AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

Conference Overall

Howard Payne 2 0 3 0

Hardin-Simmons 2 0 3 0

Mary Hardin-Baylor 2 0 3 0

East Texas Baptist 1 1 2 1

Austin College 1 1 1 1

Southwestern 1 1 1 2

Texas Lutheran 1 1 1 2

Belhaven 0 2 1 2

McMurry 0 2 0 2

Sul Ross 0 2 0 2

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Week 3 Games

Howard Payne 55, Hendrix 21

Trinity 51, Texas Lutheran 14

Hardin-Simmons 21, Belhaven 16

Austin College 16, Sul Ross 7

East Texas Baptist 24, McMurry 15

Mary Hardin-Baylor 54, Southwestern 3

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Week 4 Games

Howard Payne at East Texas Baptist

Texas Lutheran at Sul Ross

Southwestern at McMurry

Hardin-Simmons at Mary Hardin-Baylor

Austin College at Belhaven