Box Score  COPPERAS COVE, Texas – Sophomore kicker Jacob Carpenter's (Winona, Miss.) 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Corey Hall with 17 seconds remaining in the game to preserve a 36-35 win for McMurry over Southern Arkansas in the inaugural NCAA Division II Heart of Texas Bowl Saturday at Bulldawg Stadium.
 
The loss spoiled a brilliant performance by Mulerider junior running back Mark Johnson (Longview, Texas) who rushed for a school record 264 yards and had three touchdowns.
 
SAU (8-3) piled up 618 yards of offense to the War Hawks' 470, but McMurry (8-3) scored 29 second half points in pulling out the win.
 
Southern Arkansas finished with 306 yards rushing, without a lost yard, and 312 passing, all by junior quarterback Tyler Sykora (Hot Springs Village).
 
McMurry quarterback Jake Mullin passed for 448 yards and three touchdowns en route to being named the game's MVP, completing 46 of 66 passes.  The War Hawks had only 22 yards rushing.
 
The War Hawks rallied from an early third quarter 21-7 deficit and claimed their first lead of the game on the deciding touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion with 1:02 left in the contest.  Trailing 35-28, Mullin hit Clinton McCoy with a 10-yard touchdown pass and then connected with Joshua Chatman on the two-point conversion to erase what would have been the Muleriders first bowl win since a 41-31 victory over the Mexican All-Stars in the 1990 Aztec Bowl in Mexico City.
 
SAU led 14-0 in the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from senior running back Carlos Brown (Pittsburg, Texas) at 7:36, and a two-yard scamper by Johnson.
 
Mullins gave McMurry its first points at 14:33 in the second quarter, scoring on a five-yard run to make it a 14-7 game that stood at the half.
 
Johnson gave Southern Arkansas its 21-7 lead with a 19-yard touchdown run at 11:36 in the third, but the War Hawks bounced back with a 22-yard scoring strike from Mullin to Jeret Smith at 7:21, and then Cory Pippen picked off Sykora and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown at 4:07 to knot it at 21-21.
 
The Muleriders responded with Sykora finding junior receiver Jack Brown (West Mesquite, Texas) for a 45-yard touchdown at 1:49 for a 28-21 game at the end of three quarters.
 
McMurry started the final quarter with Greg Livingston hauling in a nine-yard touchdown from Mullin at 14:30 to even it at 28-28.
 
Johnson scored his third touchdown of the game and what looked to be the game-winner from 10 yards out with 3:12 left, but the War Hawks went 75 yards in seven plays in just 2:03 for the touchdown and go-ahead two-point conversion.
 
Jack Brown gave SAU a 39-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to the McMurry 37-yard line, and then caught a 20-yard pass from Sykora on the first play to the 17.  It looked like Southern Arkansas would rally, but Sykora's next two passes fell incomplete, before a short pass to Carlos Brown went for a five-yard loss back to the 22.  On fourth and 15 the Muleriders elected for the 39-yard field goal attempt for the win, but the blocked kick and then a kneel-down from Mullin ended it.
 
The War Hawks had three receivers finish with 100-plus yards, McCoy catching 12 for 162, Smith getting 10 for 117, and Livingston catching 18 for 137.
 
Sykora was 24 of 42 passing, with Jack Brown collecting seven for 128 yards.
 
Johnson got his school record 264 yards rushing on 30 carries, averaging 8.8 yards per tote.
 
Along with the 57-yard interception return for a touchdown, Pippen had a game-high 13 tackles, including 10 solo.
 
Junior linebacker Tate Mustin (Fayetteville, Tenn.) led SAU with nine tackles, six solo, including one for minus two yards.