TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA – For the third straight weekend, the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team traveled to the state of Oklahoma and left with an impressive Lone Star Conference victory.  On Saturday night, the Javelinas downed Northeastern State 42-14 at Doc Wadley Stadium.  Boxscore
The Javelina (3-1, 2-0) was not fluid in the first half, but accounted for a number of big plays that led to them taking a 24-0 half time lead.  Senior tailback Billy Martin (Pittsburg/Pittsburg HS) got the Hogs on the board with a career long 64-yard touchdown reception that came on a little swing pass in which he out raced the defense down the sideline.  The score capped a 6-play, 82-yard drive.
Sophomore kicker Christian Brom (McAllen/McAllen HS) was the next Javelina to get in the action as he booted a career long 45-yard field goal with 1:11 left in the first quarter.  On their next drive, Hog quarterback Billy Garza (Brownsville/Porter HS) connected with senior Jareko Taylor (Detroit, MI/Ford HS) on a 44-yard gain which set up sophomore Ryan Lincoln’s 20-yard touchdown reception with 10:40 to play in the half.
The Hogs’ final touchdown of the half was aided by crucial Riverhawk penalty that changed a safety into a 15-yard facemask penalty that gave Kingsville new life on the drive.  Six plays later Garza connected with Taylor on an 18-yard scoring strike with 5:50 left in the half.
Garza passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, while Taylor eclipsed 1,000 career receiving yards and also caught a touchdown pass for the seventh straight game.
The defense shut down the Riverhawk offense limiting the home team to just 60 total yards in the first half.  Senior Jabir Perkins (Irving/Nimitz HS) made seven tackles, recorded a sack and intercepted his second pass of the season.  The defensive front six held NSU to two yards rushing on 15 carries.
In the second half, play got a little sloppy as both teams were penalized excessively.  NSU got on the board with a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by Curtis Mayfield 1:26 into the second half.  The Javelinas came right back as Garza connected with Taylor on an 80-yard scoring strike just 1:03 later.  Brom added his second field of the game later on in the period, a 32-yard try.
Garza was pulled after the third quarter and finished the night 14-of-32 for a career high 368 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.  It was the second straight week that Garza passed for at least 350 yards continues his string of passing for more yardage each game of the season.
The Riverhawks scored on the first play of the fourth quarter as Matt Silcox connected with Jarrett Byars on a 79-yard pass play.  The touchdown gave Byars a new NSU record with 22 career receiving touchdowns.
The Hogs came right back with sophomore quarterback Daniel Ramirez (Sitton/Sitton HS) directing the offense.  After a failed on-side kick attempt, the Javs started the drive at the NSU 36-yard line.  Senior Ray Hudson (Wharton/Wharton HS) ran the ball twice for 13 yards and was on the receiving end of a 6-yard scoring strike from Ramirez with 13:15 to play in the game.
The Javelinas scored over 40 points for the third straight week.  The offense gained 495 yards, giving them three straight games with at least 400 total yards.   Taylor finished the game with five catches for a career high 171 yards and two touchdowns.  Martin had two catches for a career high 80 yards and a touchdown. 
The Javelina defense held NSU to eight first downs and negative eight rushing yards.  The Riverhawks gained just 201 total yards in the game.  Perkins led the defense with two interceptions and a team seven tackles plus a sack.  DeIra Glover (Hempstead/Hempstead HS) added seven tackles, including one for loss.  Overall, the team had 12 tackles for loss with Jimmy Lugo (Alice/Alice HS) leading the way with two.  In addition to Perkins, Chester Swanson (Houston/Worthing HS) and Tyrrell Herndon (Copperas Cove/Copperas Cove HS) each had a sack.
The two teams combined for 29 penalties.  The Hogs had 17 for 112 yards while NSU was tagged with 12 for 95 yards.
The Javelinas host #6 West Texas A&M next Saturday in the home opener starting at 7:05 at Javelina Stadium.  The game can be listened to online at http://www.teamline.cc/teampage?teamcode=7836 and watched via webcast at support.tamuk.edu/athletics/football.asx.  The game is also available on ESPN 1230 AM, KOPY-FM (92.1), KTAI-FM (91.1) and KNAL (1410).
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