ABILENE, Texas -- An injury-plagued Southwestern University Pirates football team did what it could against a quality Hardin-Simmons University team playing for its playoff life but surrendered 28 points in the fourth quarter to lose 49-6.
Coleman Kerr directed a Southwestern offense that generated 207 yards on the ground, rushing for 62 yards on nine carries, and several Pirates receiving rare playing opportunities stepped up to hang tight for much of the game.
Brady French led the Pirates with 82 yards on 19 carries with the lone Southwestern touchdown of the game and receiver-turned-defensive back J.J. Slack led the defense with nine tackles and a pass broken up.
"They gained experience. It was a tough year at a lot of positions [with injuries]," Head Coach Joe Austin said. "We were able to keep it tight for a while but we ran out of juice. They're a talented team. We made mistakes but we came back every time and fought."
Southwestern opened the game with consecutive three-and-outs with Hardin-Simmons' first drive stalled by back-to-back sacks on second and third down by senior defensive ends Garrett Womack and Nicholas Smith to push Hardin-Simmons back to the Southwestern 28-yard line.
It was a strong final performance for the duo in their final collegiate game. Womack entered the game tied for the ASC lead in sacks and added another one amongst his four tackles, including two for a loss of five yards. Smith had three tackles with the sack.
"The seniors had great careers, three straight winning seasons, a conference championship," Austin said. "Some guys are going to be very tough to replace but that's the way college football is."
After three consecutive three-and-out possessions, the field position battle finally cost the Pirates, giving Hardin-Simmons a short field at the Southwestern 45, setting up a Jalen Crawford 38-yard touchdown on a pass from Kyle Jones for a 7-0 lead after the extra point at the end of the first quarter.
On the Pirates' next possession, Southwestern was able to flip the field with a 66-yard Victor Windfeld punt downed at the Hardin-Simmons' 1-yard line but Jones orchestrated a 14-play, 99-yard drive capped off by a Jaxson Money 8-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead at the half.
Hardin-Simmons blew the game open on its first offensive play of the second half, getting an 83-yard touchdown by Crawford from Jones for the 21-0 lead.
Southwestern showed its resiliency with a 15-play, 68-yard drive with two big third-down conversions from French, who scored his touchdown from four yards out.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Hardin-Simmons' Jaquan Hemphill scored on a 13-yard touchdown run for a 28-6 lead. After the Pirates turned it over on downs after a 10-play, 75-yard drive, Jones found Isaiah Poston for a 65-yard touchdown.
A Hardin-Simmons punt return touchdown and Jones 23-yard pass to Kavan Johnson accounted for the final two scored of the day.
With the loss, the Pirates ended the season on a three-game losing streak, falling to 4-6 for its first losing season since 2015.