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Javs Tame the Tigers

John Reeves jumps high to stop the Tigers  KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The #11 Texas A&M-Kingsville football team overpowered visiting Lone Star Conference North Division rival East Central University on Saturday night by a 39-7 margin at Javelina Stadium.  (box score)

The game began slowly as both offenses struggled against some tough defenses.  The Javelinas (2-0) finally broke through late in the quarter when Billy Garza (Brownsville/Porter HS) hit Damian Couthren (Bastrop/Bastrop HS) in stride for a 45-yard touchdown with 1:15 to play in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Javelinas stepped up their play scoring touchdowns on three of four drives to effectively put the game away.  The first score of the quarter was helped by a bad snap from the Tigers (0-2) in a punting situation.  A loss of 28 yards gave the Hoggies the ball at the ECU 11-yard line.  Three plays later, Garza connected with Connell Davis (Portland/Gregory-Portland HS) on an 8-yard scoring pass with 13:14 left in the half.

After the teams traded punts, the Hogs got the ball back and found a new weapon in running back Fred Winborn (North Hollywood, CA/College of the Canyons).  He carried the ball three straight times for a total of 43 yards and scored on an 8-yard run with 7:17 left in the second quarter.  Logan Morris (Corpus Christi/Kilgore College) scored on the two-point conversion to make it 22-0.

The Hogs were not done scoring in the quarter.  The team got the ball back with 2:39 to play and their own 21-yard line.  On the first play, the Javelinas ran a reverse that saw freshman wide receiver Joseph Vela (Harlingen/Rio Hondo HS) throw a 45-yard bomb to Ryan Lincoln (Bastrop/Bastrop HS).  The drive ended when Garza found Lincoln in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score with nine seconds left in the half.

In the second half, the Javelinas received the ball first and they methodically drove down the field on a 15-play, 74-yard scoring drive that encompassed nearly eight minutes.  The scoring play was a Garza 9-yard pass to Darryl Malone (Mesquite/North Mesquite HS).  Christian Brom (McAllen/McAllen HS) converted his third extra point of the game to make it 36-0.

The rest of the game provided the Javelinas a chance to play a number of young players as the first string offense did not see any more action after the initial drive of the half.  Garza finished the game going 15-for-23 for 202 yards and he tied a career high with four touchdown passes.  In relief duty, Nate Poppell (Spring/Klein Forest HS) completed 5-of-6 passes for 37 yards.  The Javs passed for 313 yards as a team.

Lincoln went over the 100-yard receiving mark for the second time this season and fifth time this year as he finished the game with six catches for 120 yards and a score.  He became just the eighth player in school history to go over 100 career receptions and the 10th player with over 1,500 career receiving yards.

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers finally found pay dirt as Josh Phillips connected with Alvin Barnett on a 21-yard pass with 11:32 left in the game.  The touchdown capped an 8-play, 55-yard drive.
The Hoggies would tack on three more points with 5:45 remaining when Brom was good from 32 yards on a field goal.

Once again, the Javelina defense played exceptionally well by limiting the Tigers to 44 yards rushing and 100 yards passing.  Thermon Biggers (Houston/Bush HS) and Mike Talamentez (Laredo/United HS) each had three tackles for loss to lead the way.  Biggers had seven solo tackles while, Talamantez had seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.  Matt Romig (Bells/Bells HS) added the team’s other sack and five tackles from his defensive end position.  Mardrick Johnson (Lafayette, LA/ETBU) intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop a potential scoring drive of the Tigers.

The Javelinas scored all five times they reached the red zone.  Winborn led the rushing game with 61 yards on seven carries and also chipped in with two catches for 20 yards receiving.  Couthren finished the game with four catches for 69 yards.  The only apparent weakness of the team was that they committed 12 penalties for 118 yards.

East Central was led by running back Josh Maldanado who had 59 yards on 23 carries.  Phillips went 8-for-13 passing for 79 yards and a touchdown.  Barnett led the receiving corp with four receptions for 43 yards.  The Javs held two-time LSC North Offensive Player of the Year Marcus Johnson to just 2-of-8 passing for 21 yards and an interception.

The Javelinas have a big game next week against Central Oklahoma who just knocked off #13 West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.

The win for the Javelinas was the 250th all-time in Javelina Stadium.
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