MARSHALL, Texas – Starting off the season 3-0 for the second year in a row, the East Texas Baptist University football team finds themselves playing for the top spot in the American Southwest Conference on Saturday when #6 Hardin-Simmons University comes to town in a battle of undefeated teams. Both the teams are 2-0 in ASC play along with #1 Mary Hardin-Baylor as the only other unbeaten in the ASC.
 
In a battle of undefeated teams, Coach Highsmith expects this game to be a war. "You're going to see a good football team," says Coach Highsmith. "Defensively, they've given up 13 points in three games. They are very aggressive. They do a lot of things up front and their kids play hard with a lot of confidence. They are very, very intelligent. They don't make very mistakes at all. Offensively, they can run it. They can throw it. They've been good offensively for years. They always have a premiere receiver. They got a great running back. The offensive line is very talented. It's going to be a tough test, but we're going to get after it."
 
Now ETBU will face their toughest test to date as they welcome in the 3-0 Cowboys of Hardin-Simmons. Coming off a 63-3 win over Howard Payne, HSU is scoring 64 points per game, which leads the nation while their defense is third in the country allowing 4.3 points per game. Landry Turner leads all HSU quarterbacks with 629 yards passing and nine touchdown passes. The ground game will be a challenge for ETBU as HSU averages 312.3 ypg. Jaquan Hemphill has 367 yards total and four touchdown runs. Reese Childress will be the go to wide receiver for with 261 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
 
HSU is 15-2 all-time against ETBU including last season's 66-30 win in Abilene. The last time these two teams met at Ornelas Stadium, ETBU stunned the Cowboys with a 27-21 win to claim a share of the ASC Championship.
 
Last weekend, ETBU made their home opener a memorable one on Gold Rush Day as they piled up a 79-40 win over the Belhaven Blazers. The 79 points scored by ETBU are the second highest amount of points they scored in a game behind the 85 points against SAGU last year.
 
Dru Smith had his best game to date on offense with four touchdown passes on 408 yards (26-35) passing and even had a 23 yard touchdown run to his credit. The ground game was in effect as both Justin Ward (two touchdowns) and Dominic Haggerty had nine carries for 70+ yards and a touchdown run. Xavier Gray caught five passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns while Cameron Goodlett caught 10 passes for 112 yards and two touchdown passes. Gray's performance also earned him a spot on the D3 Team of the Week.
 
Defensively, CJ Johnson had a record-breaking game with 4.5 sacks to break the single-game record that was over 13 years old. Ty Parsons (14 tackles) and Caleb Taylor (12 tackles) were the top tacklers while Zack Biles had a pick-six of 84 yards.
 
Head coach Scott Highsmith was pleased with his team's performance in the win. "It was very gratifying," said Coach Highsmith. "We had a great crowd there. The atmosphere was very electric. The kids were ready to play. We beat a very good opponent. I think we played really well and it was just a very exciting night for us."
 
Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Ornelas Stadium on Saturday.