Football | 9/17/2016 11:12:00 PM
Box Score HOUSTON – Houston Baptist quarterback Tony Dawson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Lewis on the Huskies' first play of overtime Saturday night to give HBU a 27-24 win over ACU in the Wildcats' Southland Conference-opener at Husky Stadium.
The Wildcats are now 0-3 on the season (0-1 in the conference), while HBU improves to 2-1 and 1-1. ACU will be back on the road next Saturday for a 6 p.m. game against Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. The Wildcats last started a season 0-3 since 2002 under head coach Gary Gaines. The Wildcats, however, rallied that season to finish 6-4 and win a share of the Lone Star Conference South Division championship.
ACU trailed 21-14 in the fourth quarter before sophomore quarterback
Dallas Sealey capped an 11-play, 83-yard touchdown drive with a 12-yard scramble for a score to tie the game 21-21. The ACU defense then forced a punt and the Wildcats took over in good field position to try and drive for the game-winning score. The Wildcats got a big third-down conversion on a pass from Sealey to
Josh Fink, and then got the ball down to the HBU 21-yard line before bogging down.
Nik Grau -- who booted home a 42-yard field goal at the end of the first half to cut ACU's deficit to 14-11 – had a 37-yard attempt blocked, and after HBU ran out the clock on regulation, the game went to overtime ACU settled for a 38-yard field goal on its first drive of overtime before Dawson connected with Lewis on the game-winner on HBU's only offensive play of overtime.
Sealey – the reigning Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week – was magnificent again, completing 32 of 45 passes for 345 yards and one score and rushing for 86 yards and another touchdown.
Adrian Duncan ran for 88 yards and
Troy Grant had seven catches for 87 yards for the Wildcats, who racked up 515 yards of total offense.
ACU was hurt, however, by 13 penalties for 90 yards, including one that took points off the board when a touchdown pass from Sealey to Fink was erased because of a penalty. The Wildcats ended up punting on the possession.
SCORING DRIVES
1Q (3:22) – Terrance Peters caps a 4-play, 83-yard touchdown drive with a 7-yard touchdown run on third down to give the Huskies an early lead. The Huskies' touchdown was set up by a 69-yard pass from Tony Dawson to Wesley Lewis. PAT by Alec Chadwick.
Houston Baptist 7, ACU 0 (Drive: 4 plays, 83 yards, 1:59)
1Q (1:01) – The Wildcats answered the Huskies with their first touchdown drive of the night, capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from
Dallas Sealey to
D.J. Fuller. The touchdown drive was keyed by a 38-yard pass from Sealey to
Troy Grant. The Wildcats pulled off a 2-point conversion on a pass from
Parker McKenzie to
Dylan Douglass to take an 8-7 lead.
ACU 8, Houston Baptist 7 (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:21)
2Q (0:56) – Tony Dawson scored on a 4-yard run to give the Huskies a 14-8 lead over the Wildcats. The Huskies' touchdown was set up on a 38-yard run by Dawson on third-and-11 from the ACU 42-yard line.
Houston Baptist 14, ACU 8 (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 0:46)
2Q (0:00) –
Nik Grau cut the ACU halftime deficit to just three points with a 42-yard field goal.
Dallas Sealey had a 19-yard run and a 14-yard pass to
Tracy James to set up the field goal.
Houston Baptist 14, ACU 11 (Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 0:50)
3Q (10:01) –
Nik Grau tied the game with a 34-yard field goal. Sealey kept the drive alive on third-and-10 with a 24-yard run into HBU territory.
ACU 14, Houston Baptist 14 (Drive: 11 plays, 54 yards, 3:10)
3Q (1:08) – Terrance Peters capped a touchdown drive with a 2-yad run, his second touchdown run of the night, giving the Huskies the lead going into the fourth quarter. The touchdown drive was keyed by a 43-yard pass from Tony Dawson to Mev Ajdin.
Houston Baptist 21, ACU 14 (Drive: 2 plays, 45 yards, 0:34)
4Q (7:08) –
Dallas Sealey capped a long game-tying scoring drive with a 12-yard scramble for a touchdown to get the game tied. The drive was all Sealey as he completed a huge pass to
Trevor Crain on fourth down on the drive and had another big run in the drive.
ACU 21, Houston Baptist 21 (Drive: 11 plays, 83 yards, 4:10)
OT –
Nik Grau connects on a 38-yard field goal on the Wildcats' only possession of overtime to take a 24-21 lead.
ACU 24, Houston Baptist 21 (Drive: 4 plays, 4 yards)
OT – Tony Dawson throws a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Lewis on the Huskies' first play of overtime to win the game, 27-24.
Houston Baptist 27, ACU 24 (Drive: 1 play, 25 yards)
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
•
Dallas Sealey hit
Troy Grant with a 38-yard pass play to set up the Wildcats' first touchdown.
•
Justin Miller 33-yard punt return to the ACU 47-yard line gave the Wildcats great field position with 9:47 left in the first half.
•
Justin Miller had a 30-yard kickoff return late in the first half to set up
Nik Grau's 42-yard field goal to cut the Houston Baptist lead to 14-11 at halftime.
• The Wildcats had a chance to take a lead in the third quarter, but a touchdown pass to
Josh Fink was called back because of a penalty on ACU. The Wildcats had to settle for Grau's 34-yard field goal.
• After the Wildcats got the game tied 21-21 late in the game, freshman defensive end
Reynel Previlon made his presence felt for the first time as a Wildcat with a sack of quarterback Tony Dawson on second down and a quarterback hurry on third down, forcing a punt that gave the Wildcats the ball back at their own 35-yard line with 4:30 to play.
• Near the end of regulation with the game tied 21-21, HBU's special teams got a hand on a go-ahead field goal attempt by
Nik Grau, which fluttered short and wide right, sending the game to overtime.
WILDCAT PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Offense
Sophomore quarterback
Dallas Sealey set career-highs in virtually every passing category: completions (32), attempts (45) and yards (345), throwing one touchdown and carrying the ball 14 times for 86 yards and one touchdown. Sealey completed passes to nine different receivers, including seven for 87 yards to
Troy Grant and five for 72 yards to
Josh Fink.
Defense
Junior outside linebacker
Sam Denmark had nine total tackles (six solo), including one tackle for loss. He has 31 tackles in three games for the Wildcats.
NOTABLE
• The Wildcats' 2-point pass from
Parker McKenzie to
Dylan Douglass was ACU's first 2-point play of the season and first since a
Herschel Sims run against Northern Colorado on Nov. 21, 2015.
• Prior to Saturday night's game, the Wildcats' last overtime game was Sept. 28, 2013, when they lost to Tarleton State, 41-34, in double-overtime at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
• The Wildcats are now 4-4 all-time in overtime games.
• ACU has lost eight straight road games dating back to the beginning of the 2015 season. The Wildcats' last road win was Nov. 15, 2014, when they beat Stephen F. Austin, 37-35, in Nacogdoches. ACU's next road opponent? Saturday at Stephen F. Austin.
• The Wildcats played the game without junior running back
De'Andre Brown, who has been hobbled all season with a bad ankle.
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats will be back on the road next week when they take on Stephen F. Austin at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and it will be broadcast on ESPN3. The last time the Wildcats visited Nacogdoches was Nov. 15, 2014, when they closed their season with a 37-35 win over the Lumberjacks. ACU, in fact, is 2-0 against SFA since re-joining the Southland Conference in 2014.
