ABILENE, Texas – Quarterback John David Baker threw for 322 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns as Abilene Christian University opened its inaugural season as a member of NCAA Division I with an 84-6 romp over Concordia College (Selma, Alabama) Saturday night in Shotwell Stadium.
Baker, a senior seeing the first significant action of his career after watching Mitchell Gale throw for more 12,000 yards the last four seasons, completed nine of 11 passes for three TDs in the first quarter as ACU built a 27-0 lead, then added three others in the second quarter. He completed 16 of 19 passes before half as the Wildcats rolled to a 61-0 advantage.
Baker's seven TDs broke the ACU single-game record of seven held by Clint Longley (1973) and Billy Malone (2006 and 2008, both against West Texas A&M). For the night, Baker completed 17 of 20 passes and was not intercepted.
The 84 points were the second most in ACU history, behind a 93-68 win over West Texas A&M in the 2008 Division II playoffs, and in front of an 81-0 shutout of Daniel Baker College in 1920. The game was the Wildcats' first as a Division I FCS independent. ACU begins football play in the Southland Conference in 2014.
Darian Hogg caught 10 passes for 208 yards and two TDs, Charcandrick West ran for 125 yards and a score, and Darrell Cantu-Harkless ran for 99 yards and two TDs. The Wildcats scored 12 consecutive TDs and intercepted Concordia quarterbacks five times.
After senior wide receiver DeMarcus Thompson returned the opening kickoff 35 yards to the Hornets' 40-yard line, ACU's first drive was all West – three straight runs capped by his 21-yard scoring sprint. Freshman placekicker Nik Grau's PAT put the Wildcats up 7-0 at the 13:41 mark.
Baker hit sophomore tight end Jamie Walker for a 15-yard TD pass on the second possession to give ACU a 14-0 lead with 6:53 left in the quarter.
He struck again on the next drive, turning a bad snap and busted play into a 30-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Drew Peters, who eluded a tackle and slipped into the end zone to pad ACU's lead to 21-0.
Baker's third TD of the first quarter was a 6-yarder to a sliding Thompson in the right corner of the end zone. The PAT was not successful, but the Wildcats moved out to a 27-0 advantage as time expired in the opening quarter.
Corcordia's first sustained drive of the game ended with an interception by senior linebacker Thor Woerner at the Wildcat 23-yard line. Baker was sacked on the first play following the turnover, but bounced back on the next play to hit wide receiver Darian Hogg in stride on an 88-yard TD pass-run. Grau's PAT gave ACU a 34-0 lead with less than three minutes gone in the second quarter.
Baker's fifth TD pass of the game was a 7-yard toss to Walker with 8:09 remaining, upping the ACU score to 41-0. He connected with Thompson again on a 34-yard scoring pass at the 4:29 mark to pad the Wildcat lead to 48-0.
Abilene Christian's sixth TD of the game was supplied by senior running back Darrel Cantu-Harkless, who ran three yards with 1:26 remaining to set a school record for most points scored in a first half. The old mark was 51 points scored Oct. 6, 2007, in a 58-7 rout of Northeastern State.
Cantu-Harkless added a 54-yard scoring run with 44 seconds left, and Grau's seventh PAT of the game pushed ACU's lead to 61-0.
The ACU defense stifled the Hornets to complete the first-half dominance, holding Concordia to 88 yards and five first downs. Meanwhile, the Wildcats rolled up 518 yards of offense and 21 first downs in scoring on all of its drives.
Sophomore ACU cornerback Tyler Chapa intercepted quarterback Matthew Rowser's first pass of the second half and returned it 31 yards for a TD with 43 seconds gone in the third quarter. Grau's PAT made the score 68-0.
ACU's advantage grew to 75-0 with three-and-a-half minutes gone in the third quarter when Baker threw his seventh TD pass of the game to Hogg, a 17-yarder. The Wildcat lead became 82-0 when Jeremiah Williams, a running back enrolled in the ACU Graduate School, ran 4 yards for another TD.
Concordia scored its first TD of the night when Cameron Mayfield hit David Hampton on a 21-yard play with 5:43 left in the third quarter. The PAT, however, was blocked and returned by Wildcat senior linebacker Jesse Harper for another two points that extended ACU's lead to 84-6.
DeMarcus Thompson caught three passes for 51 yards and two TDs. Grau was good on 10 of his 12 PAT kicks.
ACU returns to Shotwell Stadium next Saturday to play crosstown rival McMurry University at 6 p.m. CST.
COURTESY ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
Note: For MEAC/SWAC fans, the Wildcats will closeout the 2013 season at Prairie View A&M University on November 16, 2013, in Prairie View, Texas. But, who's looking ahead, Panthers?
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