KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville offense awoke for 21 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 28-point outburst in the second quarter by No. 15 Midwestern State as the Mustangs won 45-28 at Javelina Stadium.

Keidrick Jackson scored on three, 1-yard runs in the second quarter including one with no time on the clock as the Mustangs (2-1, 2-1) staked a 35-7 lead at the intermission.

After A&M-Kingsville (2-2, 1-2) scored with 63 seconds left in the first half on a 29-yard pass from Bryan Ehrlich to Sherman Baptiste to pull within 21-7, the Mustangs scored twice in the final 53 seconds of the half. Jimmy Pipkin raced 89 yards to make the score 28-7 with 53 seconds left.

Following a Javelina punt that gave Midwestern the ball at midfield, Brandon Kelsey hit Ricky Collins for a 49-yard strike to the one. Jackson scored on the next play.

In his first start with the Javelinas, Ehrlich tried to rally his team in the second half. He finished with 415 yards passing on 28-of-55 passing and one interception. It was the first 400-yard passing performance by the Javelinas since Abel Gonzalez threw for 457 yards in 2001 against Cal-Davis.

He pulled the Javelinas to within 35-14 on a 52-yard bomb to Batiste before Joseph Vela hit Robert Armstrong on a pass off an end around six seconds into the final quarter.

Jackson’s fourth score of the game iced for the Mustangs as he broke free for a 73-yard TD run to make the score 42-21. He finished with 18 carries for 156 yards. The Mustangs had 615 yards of offense with 421 on the ground.

Vela made it a 14-point contest, 42-28, with 12:16 remaining as he hauled in Ehrlich’s third TD pass of the game for a 35-yard strike.

After the Mustangs kept the ball on what appeared to be a lost fumble deep in their own territory, the visitors put the final points on the board with 5:34 remaining as Greg Saladino converted a 27-yard field goal.

The Javelinas finished with 482 yards of offense with 424 through the air. Batiste finished with 166 yards on eight receptions and a pair of touchdowns. It was the first time since 2008 that a Javelina receiver had over 150 yards receiving. Jeremy Aguilar and Marquis Singleton had 14 and 11 tackles, respectively.

Kingsville returns to action next weekend with a trip to Texas A&M-Commerce. The kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.