LSC Roundup 10-4

JAVS HOLD ON
KINGSVILLE — Called upon all season, Texas A&M-Kingsville’s defense came through for the Javelinas Saturday night.

A&M-Kingsville’s Marcus Sanders forced a fumble to set up the go-ahead score and Jeff Edwards’ interception sealed matters as the ninth-ranked Javelinas outlasted No. 11 Tarleton State 34-20 in Lone Star Conference South Division action at Javelina Stadium.

The victory moves the Javelinas to 6-0 on the year, their best start since 2004 and puts them in prime spot when the regional rankings are released on Monday. The Texans fell to 5-1.

Mike Talamantez’s recovery of Sanders’ force on TSU quarterback Scott Grantham and Edwards’ second interception of the game were part of six turnovers by the Texans. Talamantez’s recovery set up Billy Garza’s 7-yard TD pass to E.J. LeBlanc, giving the Javs a 27-20 lead with 4 minutes, 11 seconds remaining.

Turnovers Lead to TAMUK victory
In a game featuring two of the top teams in the nation, turnovers that proved to be the difference.

Texas A&M-Kingsville forced six turnovers during a 34-20 win over visiting Lone Star Conference South Division rival Tarleton State on Saturday night at Javelina Stadium in front of 13,211 fans.

The No. 9 Javelinas (6-0, 4-0, 2-0) used two late turnovers to take charge of a game that appeared to be leaning toward the No. 11 Texans (5-1, 3-1, 0-1). With the score tied at 20 and the Texans nearing field goal range with less than six minutes to play, Marcus Sanders shot through the line and sacked Scott Grantham, forcing a fumble that the Javelinas recovered.

ACU rips punchless East Central
ADA, Okla. — Abilene Christian has looked for answers at the quarterback spot all season.

They might have found their answer Saturday afternoon.

Redshirt freshman Mitchell Gale threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the first start of his career as the second-ranked Wildcats improved to 6-0 with a 43-6 victory over winless East Central in a Lone Star Conference crossover game at Norris Field.

After juggling three quarterbacks through the first five games of the season and playing all three in last week’s win over Eastern New Mexico, Gale got the first start of his career against the Tigers and made the most of it.

Gale led the Wildcats to their 16th straight regular-season victory.

ACU will hit the meat of its schedule beginning Saturday, when it travels to San Angelo to take on Angelo State in an LSC South Division game. ASU outscored ENMU 47-23 on Saturday in Portales, N.M.

Rams cruise past ENMU
BLACKWATER DRAW, N.M. — Angelo State University quarterback Josh Neiswander passed for a career-high 403 yards and the ASU defense slowed the nation’s best offense just enough as the Rams defeated Eastern New Mexico 47-23 Saturday at Greyhound Stadium.

Neiswander added three touchdown passes to his career-best yardage total and the ASU defense came up with two scores of its own as the Rams improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division heading into next week’s homecoming showdown with No. 2 Abilene Christian at San Angelo Stadium.

Eastern New Mexico fell to 2-4 on the season and 0-2 in the LSC South. ASU improved to 2-0 in division play for the first time since 2001 and won their fourth straight game in the process, extending their longest winning streak since 2005 when they opened the season with five straight wins.

ENMU rallied from a 19-2 deficit at halftime to make it 19-16 early in the fourth quarter before the Rams closed out the game by outscoring the Greyhounds 28-6.

“The first half was great,” ASU head coach Dale Carr said. “We saw everything we wanted to. Our offense controlled the ball. Defensively, we didn’t let them score so that went according to plan.”

Eskridge, Tanner help lead Mustangs past Buffaloes
Eventually someone is going to figure out that Midwestern State quarterback Zack Eskridge likes to throw to former high school teammate Andy Tanner.

But until they do, the Mustangs will continue to work that connection.

Tanner caught 11 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns as MSU ended a four-game slide against the West Texas A&M Buffaloes with a 31-19 win Saturday night in front of 5,217 fans at Memorial Stadium.

The 23rd-ranked Mustangs are now 5-1 for the season and 1-1 in the Lone Star Conference South. The Buffs fall to 1-5 and 0-2. MSU will travel to Stephenville next Saturday for a 7 p.m. game against the Tarleton State Texans.

A&M-Commerce defeats Northeastern State, 27-12
Two late interception returns for touchdowns, the first two field goals of the season and a touchdown run by Marcus Graham led host Texas A&M University-Commerce to a 27-12 win over Northeastern State on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Commerce, Texas.

A&M-Commerce (2-4, 2-0 LSC North) outgained the RiverHawks by a 220 to 183 margin in the game that featured 18 punts and six turnovers between the two teams. The Lions are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 1991.

Northeastern State (1-5, 1-1 LSC North) quarterback Kenny Davis was 9-for-38 for 123 yards and two interceptions in the loss. Josh Lewis led all rushers with 43 yards on 12 carries. Donald Dangerfield led all tacklers with 13 tackles.

UCO loses 4th straight, dips to 1-5
Central Oklahoma had a first half of football to forget Saturday, and it was enough to ruin UCO’s homecoming game at Wantland Stadium.

The Bronchos were beaten 31-23 by a Southwest (Mo.) Baptist team that lost its first four games by a combined score of 196-90 before whipping winless Kentucky Wesleyan last week.

UCO played well enough to win in the second half Saturday, but a subpar first half was too much to overcome.

In a battle between no-huddle offenses, Southwest scored touchdowns on four straight possessions to take a 28-14 halftime lead.

The Bearcats rolled to a whopping 400 yards in the first half. UCO’s defense played much better in the second half, allowing just 141 yards. But Southwest won with a 77-yard march to a field goal with 1:42 left in the game.

"Right now we have a beat-up team,” UCO coach Tracy Holland said. "In the first half we came out a little unsure of ourselves, with a lot of new kids playing. We were a little tentative. I was proud of the way our kids fought back. They showed a lot of heart in the second half and the kind of team I’d like to see. It was just a little too late. You can’t allow yourself to get down like we did.”

Football Falls Short
WEATHERFORD, Okla. - Southwestern Oklahoma State University made a few costly missteps and were unable to overcome a pair of big plays by Southeastern Oklahoma State University and lost 33-10 in a football game Saturday in Weatherford.

SWOSU, now 0-6 on the year, continues its search for its first win of the season next week at Northeastern State University, a team it has beaten three straight times. Southeastern, which won for the eighth time in a row in the series, improved to 4-2 and moved atop the Lone Star Conference North Division standings with a 1-0 record.

The Bulldogs played well defensively against Southeastern, making the Savages scrape and scramble for each yard. The Bulldogs allowed Southeastern 254 yards of total offense, which bettered their season's average yield by nearly 300 yards.