ABILENE, TEXAS – A horrible 20 minute stretch for #9 Texas A&M-Kingsville proved to be too much to overcame at Lone Star Conference South Division rival #15 Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon at Shotwell Stadium. The Wildcats scored 37 consecutive points over the second and third quarters to win the game 47-35. (box score)
The Javelinas (8-2, 6-2) mounted a furious rally in the fourth quarter, but saw their efforts come up a little short when the Wildcats (8-2, 6-2) recovered an onside kick with 1:38 remaining in the game.
The first half favored the Wildcats as they scored four out of the five times they touched the ball. They scored on drives of 78, 70 and 84 yards and took advantage of a Javelina turnover to score on a 16-yard drive. They racked up 259 yards with 140 coming through the air and 119 on the ground.
ACU running back Daryl Richardson scored on the opening drive of the game on a 1-yard plunge that capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took 5:44.
The Wildcat defense forced the Hoggies to punt on their first possession, but then the Hoggie defense and special teams evened up the score. First, the defense forced a punt. Then, Mardrick Johnson (Lafayette, LA/Orange HS) blocked the punt and Corey Robertson (Denison/Denison HS) recovered the ball and ran it in 22 yards for the score with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats tacked on a 23-yard Morgan Lineberry field goal before the end of the first quarter.
The Javelinas took their first lead of the game early in the second quarter. A 58-yard pass from Billy Garza (Brownsville/Porter HS) to Ryan Lincoln (Bastrop/Bastrop HS) took the Hoggies to the Red Zone. Two plays later, Garza found E.J. LeBlanc (Beaumont/Beaumont HS) on a curl route. LeBlanc spun out of a tackle and scored from 15 yards out to give the Javs a 14-10 lead with 12:11 to play in the half.
The Wildcats dominated the remainder of the quarter. They drove 84 yards in 12 plays and 6:01 to reclaim the lead with 6:10 left. Reggie Brown took the ball in from three yards out for the score.
On the Javelinas’ first play on the ensuing possession a miscommunication led to a Craig Harris interception that he returned 15 yards to the Hoggie 16-yard line. Five plays later, Richardson scored his second 1-yard touchdown of the game giving the Wildcats a 24-14 lead heading into the half.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats did everything right. They kicked off to the Hoggies and forced a quick punt. Facing a third-and-6 at their own 28-yard line, Gale completed a pass to Edmund Gates on the side line, he broke one tackle and was off to the races with a 72-yard touchdown.
After the two teams traded punts, the Javelinas were stuck deep in their own territory. On third down from their own 7-yard line, Fred Thompson sacked Garza in the endzone for a safety.
On the next possession, the Wildcats were stopped at the Javelina 46-yard line and were forced to punt. Mitchell Swan (Converse/Judson HS) blocked the Mark Sprague punt, but Arthur Johnson caught the tipped ball and ran it for a first down for the Wildcats. Three plays later, Gale hit Justin Andrews with a 5-yard scoring pass to make it 40-14 ACU with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats were not done though. They forced a turnover on the first play from scrimmage. They proceeded to drive 39 yards in six plays and Brown scored on a 4-yard run with 56 seconds left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, things turned around for the Javelinas. The first time they touched the ball they drove 85 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Garza completed four passes to LeBlanc on the drive and then found Sherman Batiste (Fort Bend/Marshall HS) for a 10-yard scoring strike with 11:05 left in the game.
The Javelinas stopped the Wildcats on the next possession and then blocked their third punt of the game when Connell Davis (Gregory/Gregory-Portland HS) broke through the line. This time the Hoggies recovered the ball.
A 29-yard pass to Batiste and a 21-yard pass to Lincoln moved the ball down the field quickly. Fred Winborn (N. Hollywood, CA/Grant HS) took it the rest of the way on the ground grinding out the final nine yards. He scored from 1-yard out with 4:39 left in the game.
The Javs tried an onside kick, but did not get it. They did however stop the Wildcat offense and forced a punt. The Hogs regained possession at their own 20-yard line and drove 80 yards in 1:56 to pull to within 12 points. The big play of the drive was a Garza 46-yard completion to Batiste on a third-and-33 situation. Garza went back to Batiste for a 1-yard score a few plays later to end the scoring with 1:38 to play.
Garza led the Javelina offense with a 24-for-38 passing performance for 309 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. LeBlanc had a career high nine catches for 109 yards while Lincoln had five catches for 100 yards. It was Lincoln’s third 100-yard receiving game of the season. Batiste added 91 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Winborn led the rushing attack with 47 yards on 17 carries.
Brown led the Wildcat offense with 106 yards rushing on 24 carries and two touchdowns. Richardson added 52 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Gale finished the game 24-for-34 for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Gates had five catches for 111 yards. They had 456 yards of total offense and maintained a 36:33 to 23:27 advantage in time of possession.
Defensively, Robertson was the leader for the Javelinas with eight tackles, one for loss and his punt block return for a touchdown. DeIra Glover (Hempstead/Hempstead HS) led the team with 11 tackles while Arlen Childress (Humble/Humble HS) added nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
Thompson led the ACU defensive effort with nine tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a safety. They had six tackles for a loss of 42 yards in the game.
For the Javelinas, Garza recorded his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season and ninth of his career. He became only the fifth player in school history to eclipse 5,000 yards passing in his career and is now fourth with 5,165 yards. He also tied Karl Douglas for second all-time with 401 completions and needs just 14 next week against Angelo State to set the school record currently held by Abel Gonzalez. Lincoln needs only 28 yards next week to become the fifth players in school history with at least 2,000 career receiving yards.
The Javelinas will need to win next week to have a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division II Playoffs. They host Angelo State at 7 o’clock on November 7 on Community Appreciation Day.
####
pr09302-smm
