Ada, Okla. – In the longest game in school history, freshman placekicker Scott Schlebach kicked a 22-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give Texas A&M-Kingsville a 37-34 win over East Central in triple overtime. It marked the third overtime game of the year for the Javelinas and the second time Schlebach kicked the game winning field goal on the last play of the game.
The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Javelinas and improved their record to 3-4. The loss dropped East Central to 1-6.
Junior running back Raymorris Miller gained 109 yards on 24 carries and scored a touchdown, wide receiver Jareko Taylor caught seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Jeremy Heatley completed 18 of 34 passes for 171 yards and a score.
East Central quarterback Josh Phillips completed 17 of 31 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start.
The Javelinas out-gained the Tigers 340 to 331.
In the third overtime, the Javelina defense allowed the Tigers to gain just two yards on three plays and placekicker Max Mauser missed a 40-yard field goal.
The Javelinas ran six consecutive running plays down to the Tiger five-yard line to set up Schlebach’s game winning kick.
East Central quarterback Josh Phillips connected with Charles Huffman on a 15-yard scoring pass to give the Tigers a 27-20 lead in the first overtime. It concluded a run of 24 consecutive points scored by East Central after halftime.
After being unable to score after the first drive of the second half, the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelina offense scored touchdowns on its first two overtime possessions.
Running back Raymorris Miller ran 25 yards for a score on the Javelinas first play in overtime to tie the game at 27.
In the second overtime, Heatley scored on third and goal from the Tiger one-yard line to give the Javelinas a 34-27 lead.
Phillips then connected with Kory Dowell for a six-yard scoring pass on third and goal to tie the score at 34.
Texas A&M-Kingsville opened up a 13 point lead after the first drive of the second half.
Javelina quarterback Jeremy Heatley converted three crucial third downs on the drive including a 38-yard pass to Jareko Taylor on third and 12 from the East Central 48-yard line and a nine-yard scoring strike to Taylor on third and goal.
That gave the Javelinas a 20-7 lead with 7:58 left in the third quarter. It was the fourth time the Javelinas scored on the first drive of the second half and the third time they scored a touchdown.
But East Central got right back into the game on the ensuing kickoff as Mike Glover ran the kick back 90 yards for a touchdown.
The Javelina defense rose up twice to stop two possible big momentum swings for the Tigers.
After Schlebach missed a 45-yard field goal, the Javelina defense stopped the Tiger defense on three plays and forced a punt.
Then after a Heatley interception gave the Tigers a first down on their own 46-yard line, the defense again forced a punt after three plays.
The Javelinas allowed only eight total yards in the third quarter.
But midway through the fourth quarter, on third down from its own 24-yard line, Tiger quarterback Josh Phillips connected with Glover over the middle, a Javelina defender went for the interception, missed it, and Glover ran 70 yards to the Javelina six-yard line.
Junior defensive back Gilbert Almanza made the play of the game, chasing Glover down from behind and tackling him before he could reach the end zone.
The Javelina defense held and East Central had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Max Mauser with 9:17 left in the game to cut the lead to 20-17.
Texas A&M-Kingsville pinned the Tigers back on their own three yard line with five minutes to play, but on the first play from scrimmage Evans Gordan ran 42 yards to the Tiger 45-yard line.
Then on third down from the 47, Phillps kept the ball and ran 25 yards down to the Javelina 28-yard line. Two plays later, Phillips escaped an oncoming Javelina rush to scramble for 12 yards to the 16-yard line.
Again the Javelina defense held, but Mauser kicked a 28-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Javelinas led 13-7 at the half thanks to a solid defensive effort.
East Central took the opening kickoff and drove 51 yards on six plays, capped by a 33-yard touchdown run on a reverse by wideout Michael Glover.
But East Central would be shutout the rest of the half as the Javelina defense allowed only 60 yards on 25 plays the rest of the half.
The Javelina offense put together two drives that resulted in Scott Schlebach field goals. The first came with 1:59 left in the half as Schlebach converted on a 42-yard effort, the second longest of his career. The second was a 31-yard effort with 9:43 left in the half to cut the lead to 7-6.
On the next possession, the Javelina defense then made the biggest play of the first half when senior cornerback Stephen McCoy scooped up a fumble from Tiger wide receiver Kory Dowell and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
Texas A&M-Kingsville dominated the time of possession in the first half, holding on to the ball for just over 18 of a possible 30 minutes.
