MARSHALL – Leading by nine points, or two possessions, 21-12 midway through the fourth quarter, the lead evaporated for Howard Payne as the East Texas Baptist Tigers stormed back to force overtime, but the Yellow Jackets escaped with a 34-27 victory in the extra session to sweep the American Southwest Conference football series.

Howard Payne (4-5, 2-3), which won the first meeting in Brownwood, 36-18, back on Oct. 11, scored on the very first play of overtime against East Texas Baptist (4-5, 0-5) as receiver Mateo Hernandez connected with fellow receiver Cooper Staton on a 25-yard touchdown pass.

ETBU picked up one first down on its possession and advanced the ball to the Yellow Jacket 11, where the HPU defense held on a fourth-and-6 thanks to a game-ending sack by Justin Griffith.

The Yellow Jackets surrendered 487 yards of total offense – 296 passing and 191 rushing – to the Tigers, while amassing 397 yards – 200 on the ground and 197 through the air. Each team coughed up the ball once.

Blessing Ngene rushed for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns to spark the HPU offense. JD Mays contributed 21 yards on the ground and reached the end zone as well.

Through the air, Bryce Still connected on 13 of 26 passes for 172 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Chance Hehman caught a 20-yard touchdown on his lone reception, while the Jackets were led by three grabs for 57 yards by Hernandez, and three catches for 28 yards by Ryan Gonzales.

Defensively for HPU, Cade Rochinski and Ryan Campbell logged 10 tackles apiece followed by eight from Justin Kay and six from KD Bookman. Kay also intercepted a pass, while the lone sack for HPU came from Griffith, who tallied four tackles, to end the game.

The Yellow Jackets wrap up their season with a chance to level their overall record at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 as they host Mary Hardin-Baylor (6-3, 3-1), which defeated HPU, 41-17, in Belton on Oct. 25. UMHB handed No. 5 Hardin-Simmons (8-1, 4-1) its first loss, 21-17, Saturday, to create a tie atop the ASC standings.