Box Score ABILENE – Coaches often say speed kills, and the McMurry War Hawks proved it here Saturday night.
"McMurry really used their talents well," Wayland Baptist coach
Butch Henderson said after his Pioneers fell to the War Hawks, 76-13. "They had some really good speed, and not just with the receivers and backs. Defensively they had a lot of team speed also, and we had a hard time adjusting to that (as well as) the pressure they were putting up front."
While Wayland (1-2) was looking to string together back-to-back wins after forging its first victory in 72 years last week over Howard Payne, McMurry (1-2) earned its first victory as an NCAA Division II team.
"The kids stayed in there and fought all the way through," Henderson said. "We learned a lot of things, one about ourselves, and learned a lot about how you've got to play and what you've to do as you go through."
The Pioneers trailed 42-7 at halftime after giving up 21 points in each of the first two periods. Behind head coach Hal Mumme's "air raid offense," McMurry scored 20 more points in the third quarter when Wayland tallied its other touchdown, making the score 62-13 going into the fourth quarter. McMurry tacked on 14 more points in the final 15 minutes.
Luis Gonzalez scored Wayland's first touchdown on a two-yard quarterback keeper. The Pioneers' other TD was on a four-yard touchdown run by
Kendall Roberson, who ended with 101 yards on 17 carries.
Three McMurry quarterbacks threw six touchdown passes for the War Hawks, who played their first game after spending $2.2 million to renovate their football stadium. McMurry also scored on four rushes, one after recovering a War Hawk fumble, and a 75-yard punt return.
"The (McMurry) quarterback read well," Henderson said. "Defensively we hung in there and battled with them." McMurry ended with 792 yards of total offense, compared to 271 for Wayland. The War Hawks passed for 597 yards. Pioneer quarterbacks
Luis Gonzalez (14-26-1, 137 yards) and
Braden Hudson (7-12-1, 71 yards) combined to throw for 208 yards. Wayland's leading tackler was strong safety
David Hockenberry with 10 stops. Safety
David Buck and cornerback Nathan Sisler added eight tackles each.
"We learned a lot from that one, and we'll be a lot better next week," Henderson said. Wayland stays on the road next weekend, going to Tyler to take on Texas College at 2 p.m. The Steers (0-4) will be looking for their first victory, having lost to St. Francis (Ind.), 46-10; Incarnate Word, 19-12; Southern Arkansas, 56-0; and Hardin-Simmons, 57-21. Texas College was idle this weekend.
