KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – Despite rainy weather conditions and a soggy field, the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team prevailed over visiting Lone Star Conference North Division rival Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday night at Javelina Stadium, 21-0 in front of 8,000 fans. (box score)

For the third straight week it was the Javelina (3-0, 2-0) defense that starred in the game. They limited the Lions (1-2, 0-2) to a total of 69 yards of offense including 18 yards rushing on 23 carries.

The Hoggie defense came up with the biggest stop of the game when they led 7-0 with under a minute to play and the Lions had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. The defense stood strong drawing an offensive pass interference and then sending the Lions backwards. Ahmed Abo-Mahmood’s 36-yard field goal was blocked by Mike Talamantez (Laredo/United HS) to keep the shutout intact.

The #6 Javelinas put the game out of reach in the third quarter when Nate Poppell (Spring/Spring HS) connected on a pair of touchdown passes to Robert Armstrong (Cuero/Cuero HS) and Delashaun Dean (Fairfield, CA/Fairfield HS).

The Javelinas got on the scoreboard on their first drive of the first quarter. Poppell completed his first pass of the game for 24 yards to Armstrong. Five plays later, Poppell handed the ball off to Armstrong on a jet sweep and he scored from seven yards out with 10:47 left in the quarter.

The rest of the quarter did not see any offense with only one first down gained by either side.

The second quarter was not much better for either offense. The Lions did manage to drive 67 yards to the Kingsville 25-yard line, but a fumbled snap turned the ball over and stopped their momentum.

In the third quarter, the Javelinas were stopped on their first possession, but scored on their second one. Ryan Lincoln (Bastrop/Bastrop HS) started off the drive from their own 21 with a 14-yard line. Fred Winborn (N. Hollywood, CA/Grant HS) followed with an exciting 37-yard run and then Poppell hit Dean for a 20-yard gain to the Commerce 8-yard line. Two plays later, Poppell hit Armstrong on a five-yard score with 10:29 left in the third quarter.

Later in the quarter, Mardrick Johnson (Lafayette, LA/West Orange Stark HS) picked off an Adam Farkes pass and returned it 12 yards to the Lions’ 20-yard line. Five Connell Davis (Portland/Gregory-Portland HS) moved the ball to the 5-yard line where Poppell connected with Dean on his first Javelina touchdown with two seconds left in the period.

The Javelinas emptied the bench in the fourth quarter and a number of players got their first action in a Hoggie uniform.

For the second straight game, the Javelinas held an opponent to zero first downs in the second half. The Lions tallied only five first downs on the game compared to 12 for the Hoggies. The Javelinas entered the game with the #1 overall defense in the nation and improved upon all their season totals. The defense forced four turnovers in the contest and have now gone 165:35 without allowing an offensive score.

Tressor Baptiste (New York, NY/Curtis HS) led the team with five tackles, including three for a loss of nine yards. He also forced a fumble and had a quarterback hurry.

Talamantez picked up his third sack of the season while Lincoln, a wide receiver, was credited with a sack on a special teams play.

The Javelina offense controlled the pace of the game with a 17:30 advantage in time of possession. Winborn went over 100 yards for the second straight week with 149 on 25 carries. Davis added 35 yards on nine carries. Poppell went 6-for-16 passing for 50 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

The Commerce defense was on the field for a long time during the game, but gave up yards grudgingly. They allowed only 243 total yards of offense and limited the Javelinas to 1-for-17 on third down conversions. Danny Mason tallied a game high 13 tackles and two quarterback hurries while Todd Patton had 10 tackles and a force fumble. A.J. Billings had an interception and two other pass breakups.

The Lion offense was led by Marcus Graham who had 45 yards rushing on 10 carries and caught four other balls for nine yards. Taylor Fore added three catches for 28 yards. Farkes finished the game 10-for-32 for 51 yards passing and an interception.

The Javelinas go back on the road next week to Incarnate Word for the inaugural meeting between the two schools in football. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. at Benson Stadium. The Hoggies are now 3-0 for the second straight season.
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