BROWNWOOD, Texas — The second half became the difference in the game as East Texas Baptist University (3-7, 1-4) fell in their final game of the season to Howard Payne University (6-3, 2-3) 56-40 on Saturday at Gordon Wood Stadium. ETBU gave up 28 points in the second half while scoring just six. Offensively, ETBU threw for 356 yards and scored six touchdowns, but gave up 652 yards of total offense to Howard Payne.
Jack Crawford completed 30 of 47 attempts and
EJ Stovall caught 10 passes for 208 yards for a career-high. Howard Payne finished with 652 yards at 8.6 yards per play, including 390 through the air and 262 on the ground, and held the ball for 33:46 compared with the Tigers' 26:14. ETBU also had strong running production from
Paul Woodard, who finished with 146 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and had scoring runs of 43, 13,and 40 yards.
Rayvon Sauls recorded eight tackles, one interception with a 27-yard return and one forced fumble.
Montrevian Cushionberry led the team with 10 tackles, Jalen Wilride had eight tackles, and
Adrian Porter finished with six tackles and one sack. Ja'Kaylon Thomas also had one interception.
With Woodard collecting three rushing touchdowns, he becomes ETBU's all-time rushing touchdown leader with 33 surpassing Jourdan McNeill's 32 set from 2013-16. Stovall finishes the season with 1,008 yards receiving becoming first ETBU wide receiver with 1,000 yards receiving since Richard Johnson in 2017.
ETBU generated 135 passing yards, 73 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter while forcing two takeaways in a back-and-forth opening quarter. Sauls forced an HPU fumble that
LaDavian Red recovered at the Yellow Jacket 49, and Woodard broke a 43-yard touchdown run at 12:04 for a 6-0 lead after the kick failed. After a Tigers fumble set up Howard Payne's one-play touchdown possession and a 7-6 lead, Crawford found Stovall for 36 and 19 yards on the next drive before Woodard's 13-yard touchdown and
Mitchell White's point-after put ETBU back ahead 13-7. Howard Payne answered with a touchdown for a 14-13 lead, but the Tigers responded with a 65-yard possession for a touchdown. This included Crawford's third-down completion to
Carson French and a 12-yard pass to
Brandon Kennedy before Crawford hit Stovall for a 42-yard touchdown and a 20-14 lead at 4:39. Howard Payne regained a 21-20 lead with 3:00 left, and after ETBU punted, Sauls intercepted HPU's pass and returned it 27 yards to the Yellow Jacket 25. ETBU then reached the Howard Payne 14 before the quarter ended with Howard Payne ahead 21-20.
Crawford found
Kyler Paul for a 20-yard touchdown with nine seconds left, and
Mitchell White's extra point sent ETBU out of the second quarter ahead 34-28. Crawford opened the quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Stovall at 14:55, and White's kick gave the Tigers a 27-21 lead. After Howard Payne drove into the red zone, ETBU kept it out of the end zone when a fourth-down pass from the ETBU 27 fell incomplete at 10:15. Howard Payne later turned an interception into a touchdown and extra point for a 28-27 lead, but the Tigers answered with an 11-play, 62-yard drive that included Crawford's 11-yard fourth-down completion to Stovall before the possession ended on downs at the HPU 19. The defense forced a punt to give the offense the ball at the HPU 33 with 32 seconds left, and after the late Crawford-to-Paul score, Ja'Kylon Thomas intercepted Howard Payne's final pass to close the quarter as ETBU took a six-point lead at the half, 34-28.
ETBU's third-quarter answer came late, when Crawford completed passes for 4 and 31 yards before Woodard broke a 40-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left, pulling the Tigers within 42-40 before the two-point pass failed. ETBU went three-and-out on its opening possession of the quarter, but the defense produced negative plays during Howard Payne's long drive, including tackles for loss by Sauls and
Colton Wilson and a Porter sack. Howard Payne still converted fourth-and-23 for a touchdown at 4:42, then recovered its onside kick and added another touchdown to build a 42-34 lead. White's touchback followed Woodard's score, and
Jalen Wilridge stopped the final Howard Payne rush for no gain as the quarter ended with ETBU down 42-40.
ETBU was kept off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, and Howard Payne added two touchdown passes to close out a 56-40 final. The Tigers opened the quarter with a defensive stop and Kennedy's 11-yard punt return, then Crawford completed passes to Ja'Michael Cooper and
Vontez Martin and ran for 14 yards before a sack and fumble out of bounds forced a punt. After
Seyram Tamakloe hurried an incompletion and the defense forced another punt, ETBU was pinned at its 9 and later a punt sequence with a holding penalty gave Howard Payne a short field. That led to Bryce Still's 29-yard touchdown pass to Deuce Martin and the kick made it 49-40 with 7:43 left. The Tigers answered with an eight-play drive featuring Cooper's 11-yard run, Paul's 13-yard catch and Woodard's third-and-1 conversion, but the possession ended with an interception. Howard Payne followed with a 46-yard scoring pass to Martin for a 56-40 score at 3:52. Crawford completed five passes on ETBU's final drive, but another fourth-down interception at the Howard Payne 30 with 1:26 remaining ended the last possession before Howard Payne finished the game.
QUARTER BREAKDOWN
First Quarter
- ETBU generated 135 passing yards and 73 rushing yards, with eight first downs and three touchdowns.
- Paul Woodard scored on runs of 43 and 13 yards, and Crawford added a 42-yard touchdown pass.
- The defense forced two turnovers: Sauls forced a fumble recovered by LaDavian Red, then later intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards.
- Howard Payne was 3-for-3 on PATs to ETBU's 2-for-3 and led 21-20 after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
- ETBU outscored Howard Payne 14-7 in the quarter and led 34-28 after Crawford threw touchdown passes to EJ Stovall and Paul.
- Crawford completed 9 of 12 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and all six of the Tigers' first downs came through the air.
- Howard Payne finished with 170 passing yards in the quarter, but ETBU allowed one touchdown on two red-zone trips, stopped a fourth-down try at the ETBU 27 and got Ja'Kylon Thomas' interception at :00.
Third Quarter
- ETBU closed the quarter with a three-play, 75-yard scoring drive, capped by Paul Woodard's 40-yard rushing touchdown at :15 to make it 42-40 after the failed conversion.
- Howard Payne scored 14 points in the quarter on two passing touchdowns and converted both fourth-down attempts, including a 31-yard touchdown on fourth-and-23.
- The Tigers' defense recorded three tackles for loss, including a Porter sack, but Howard Payne finished the quarter with 78 rushing yards and 11:59 of possession.
Fourth Quarter
- - ETBU was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while Howard Payne scored 14 points, and the game ended 56-40.
- - Crawford went 9-for-16 for 86 yards in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers' final two possessions ended on fourth-down interceptions.
- - Howard Payne turned its only two completions of the quarter into touchdown passes of 29 and 46 yards.
- - ETBU was limited to nine rushing yards on nine attempts, while Howard Payne had 61 rushing yards on nine carries.
ETBU Top Performers
EJ Stovall
- 10 receptions
- 208 receiving yards
- 2 receiving touchdowns
Paul Woodard
- 146 rushing yards on 18 attempts
- 3 rushing touchdowns
Jack Crawford
- 30 completions on 47 attempts
- 356 passing yards
- 3 passing touchdowns
- 3 interceptions
Rayvon Sauls
- 8 tackles
- 1 interception
- 27-yard return
- 1 forced fumble
Montrevian Cushionberry
- 10 tackles
