Posted: Sep 14, 2019
Hendrix spoils Texas Lutheran home, season-opener with 26-23 victory at Bulldog Stadium
Hendrix
(2-0)
26
Texas Lutheran
(0-1)
23
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hendrix (2-0) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 26 |
|
Texas Lutheran (0-1) | 0 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 23 |
SEGUIN, Texas -- Sandy Burks kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Hendrix College (Ark.) Warriors to a 26-23 non-conference road win over Texas Lutheran, spoiling the Bulldogs home and season-opener Saturday.
At TLU's Bulldog Stadium (Frank L. Dunne Field), Burks shook off a missed PAT with 1:32 to play that would have given Hendrix the lead after a Kip VanHoose 1-yard touchdown run.
The Warriors got the ball back in TLU territory with 35 seconds remaining in regulation after a Bulldog fumble. TLU fumbled four times and lost two against Hendrix.
TLU also was hurt by 14 penalties for 150 yards.
"You can't make those critical mistakes against a good football team, especially against a good quarterback like that," said Carl Gustafson, TLU's third-year head coach. "(Miles Thompson) is going to make you pay. All credit to Hendrix. I thought those kids played really hard, but we have to get out of our own way. We just shot ourselves in the foot."
"We did a lot of good things, and then about the time we thought we were going to finally get it all together and find our rhythm, we would do things that as a good team you can't do. You can't make those critical mistakes. We have to learn from them. Conference play starts next week, and that is where it counts. Our guys know we have a good football team, but we just have to correct those mistakes."
The Bulldogs dominated time of possession (36:21 to 23:39) and out-gained the Warriors 505 to 350.
TLU ran 84 plays, rushed 52 times, and gained 310 yards on the ground.
The Bulldogs had three running backs gain at least 87 yards and average at least 6.7 yards per carry. Ian Leslie, back in fine form after missing eight games with an injury last season, rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries.
Austin Mathews carried the ball 14 times for 96 and had a 10-yard touchdown run, and Chris Monroe, also back from injury after missing five games in 2018, tallied 96 yards on 14 carries and had a 13-yard scoring run.
TLU led by six points in the second half on two different occasions. The Bulldogs took a 23-17 lead on a Juan Ocampo 28-yard filed goal with 4:10 to play in the fourth.
Ocampo made field goals of 30, 31, and 28.
TLU quarterbacks Wade Freeman and Andrew Lotz split time throughout the game and combined to go 23-for-32 for 195 yards. Freeman was 12-for-18 for 117 yards, and Lotz was 11-for-14 for 78 yards. Freeman rushed eight times for 32 yards.
Mason Perkins led TLU receivers with five catches for 75 yards. Hunter Jaehne added five catches for 30 yards.
DaKwa Davis collected 13 total tackles for the Bulldogs, and Brandon Bennett registered six tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Thompson threw for 283 yards with 17 completions on 29 attempts. He threw a 79-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. He hit RP Upshaw for the score. Upshaw and Thompson would hook up again on a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Brooks Parham and Cannon Roeder each collected 15 tackles for the Warriors, and each player had a forced fumble.
TLU hits the road for the American Southwest Conference opener next Saturday against East Texas Baptist University. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at ETBU's Ornelas Stadium in Marshall, Texas. TLU will have live video and radio from Marshall. Links to the video and audio can be found on www.tlubulldogs.com.
