The ACU football team dominated the Houston Baptist Huskies from start to finish in their third consecutive win Saturday, 59-14.
ACU improved to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in conference while the Huskies dropped to 1-3 and 0-1.
The Wildcats put together a complete offensive game as the team compiled 659 total yards of offense with zero turnovers.
“I feel good about our offense,” said Ken Collums, head coach. “You know, statistically, we are the best in the country when it comes to fumble. You can’t have less than zero fumbles. We value the football.”
Sophomore quarterback Parker McKenzie had his second consecutive turnover-free game. McKenzie went 21-for-31 for 385 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed three times for 24 yards and completed a pass to himself for 14 yards.
Junior wide receiver Cade Stone led all receivers in catches (7) and yards (121) and tied for the team lead in touchdowns with two. Junior Cedric Gilbert extended his streak of games to five in which he has scored a touchdown. Gilbert had four catches for 40 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“Our receiving corps has really stepped up,” Collums said. “I don’t know how clean they played tonight, but there were a couple of individual performances that were good tonight. Cade Stone ran really good routes, and when the ball is in the air, Cedric Gilbert can snag it.”
The running game had its best game of the season tonight as junior Herschel Sims, who has just returned from an injury, carried 15 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Sims also added four receptions and 94 yards through the air. Freshman Randy Gober also put in significant work in cleanup duty, carrying 16 times for 80 yards and a touchdown.
“I feel like we all had a pretty good game,” Sims said. “It was really important to have a game like that. We just have to continue to work hard.”
ACU’s defense forced two more turnovers this week as both freshman Sam Denmark and sophomore Quinton Baker recovered a fumble. The Huskies fumbled five times on the night.
Senior Nick Richardson picked up another sack moving his season total to 3.5 total on the season and Denmark led the defense in total tackles with seven. The defense recorded nine tackles for loss on the night for a total loss of 22 yards.
“Sam Denmark is getting better and better,” Collums said. “He is very instinctive and the good thing is we have a lot of big guys up front that we are rolling in and out, and our D-line is going to get better and better.”
