ABILENE, Texas — Southwestern football suffered its biggest defeat of the season in a 69-7 loss to the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys. 

Hardin-Simmons set the tone early, holding Southwestern to a three-and-out possession on the game's opening drive, followed by an eight-play, 51-yard drive punctuated by a Jonathan Castaneda touchdown. 

Southwestern quarterback Landry Gilpin was picked off on the ensuing drive's second play, setting up Hardin-Simmons on the Southwestern nine-yard line after the return and giving the Cowboys a two-play touchdown drive capped off by a Myles Featherston three-yard rush. 

After Southwestern turned the ball over on downs, fumbling on fourth-and-five from the Hardin-Simmons' 40-yard line and recovering it at the Southwestern 32, Kyle Jones threw a touchdown pass to Kevin Evans on the next play for the 21-0 lead in the first quarter. 

Harden-Simmons scored another 20 points in the second to take a 41-0 lead into the break and scored another touchdown on the second-half's opening drive. 

Southwestern finally broke through on a six-play, 70-yard drive on their first possession of the second half. Backup quarterback Damian Gomez completed all four passes on the drive for gains of 15, 14, 18, and 14 yards to set up his own nine-yard touchdown run. Hardin-Simmons responded with three more touchdowns. 

The Pirate defense surrendered 458 yards of total offense while Southwestern gained 266 yards. Southwestern threw two interceptions and fumbled twice, losing one. Southwestern also surrendered a touchdown on a 90-yard punt return. 

Southwestern will return home to host Austin College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.