Box Score A big first half was too much for the UW-Stevens Point football team to overcome on Saturday as the Pointers dropped their season opener to Hardin-Simmons for the second straight year with a 49-17 setback in Abilene, Texas.

The Cowboys scored the game's first 28 points and outgained the Pointers 335-74 in the first half to take the commanding lead. UW-Stevens Point came out strong in the second half, but Hardin-Simmons added a pair of touchdowns to put the game away.

Surprisingly, the game was played in cool, breezy conditions with temperatures dipping into the low 70's in the second half.

Cody Childs (Poynette/) (pictured, left) had a big night for the Pointers with 123 yards rushing on 26 carries for his first career 100-yard game.

“I expected us to play a little bit better football than we did,” Pointers' coach John Miech said. “A loss is a loss. The thing is we came to life in the second half and that gave us something to build on.”

Hardin-Simmons scored on its first three possessions as Quinton Jones finished off a game-opening 12-play, 78-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run. After the Pointers were forced to punt, the Cowboys went on a six-play, 94-yard drive that was capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Neal to Justin Greene.

The Cowboys had another lengthy drive late in the first quarter and scored on the first play of the second quarter when Will Galusha took a screen pass and sprinted 48 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

“They got things rolling and we sputtered offensively in the first quarter,” Pointers' coach John Miech said. “There were lots of missed tackles tonight, but sometimes that's what speed does to you. You know these Texas teams are fast and they showed it tonight.”

The Pointers were stopped on a fourth down later in the second quarter and Hardin-Simmons converted with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Neal to Matt Fields with 1:35 left in the first half.

UW-Stevens Point finally got on the board on the final play of the first half when Jacob Dickert (Kohler/) made a sprawling catch in the corner of the endzone on a fourth down play to cut the halftime deficit to 28-7.

Hardin-Simmons went ahead 35-7 on Neal's fourth touchdown pass – a 17-yarder to Mychal Carrillo with 8:16 left in the third quarter. The Pointers then showed signs of a comeback, getting a 26-yard run by Childs and a 28-yard field goal by John Ryan (Madison/Verona) to cut the lead to 35-17 early in the fourth quarter. However, the Cowboys got a long touchdown run from Jones, who broke several more tackles and sprinted 42 yards for a score. Justin Feaster added a 20-yard touchdown pass to Henry Woodard for the final scoring.

Neal finished the night 19-for-27 passing for 291 yards and Jones rushed 13 times for 98 yards for the Cowboys. Hardin-Simmons outgained the Pointers 482-300 for the game. The physical contest featured a total of 22 penalties for 247 yards, including nine personal foul penalties. Brandon Czys (Mauston/) (pictured #46, right) made a team-high 12 tackles for UW-Stevens Point.

“The thing we need to remember is that this was a non-conference game,” Miech said. “Our goals are to win the conference. We've got a big game coming up at home with La Crosse and we as a coaching staff and a team need to be ready to play.”