KINGSVILLE, Texas – With four second remaining and the ball just outside the goal line, a bad snap ended the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team's (1-5, 0-3 LSC) chance for a late comeback victory. The Javelinas fell 38-34 to Tarleton State (1-4, 1-3 LSC) Saturday night at Javelina Stadium.
"I am proud of how hard out guys played tonight," said head coach
Daren Wilkinson. "With 1:10 left in the game we got down to the one yard line. That is credit to the way the guys battled and I am never going to question the effort my team gives."
Junior quarterback
Myles Carr was 17-for-30 throwing the ball for 243 yards and two touchdowns. Hauling in 114 of those yards was
Jordan Thomas and
Anthony Autry added 88. The outside receiver duo both had touchdowns receptions going for 65 and 48 yards, respectively.
"We finally did a tremendous job of running the football," Wilkinson said. "Although it isn't often when you run the ball like we did and lose the game."
On the ground,
Greg Pitre finished led the Hogs with 85 yards on 16 carries.
Shawn Vasquez ended the night with 72 yards and a touchdown. Also finding the end zone was
Joe Te'o on his lone carry of the game.
For the Texans, Alex Craig completed 22-of-34 passes for 223 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Both Le'Nard Meyers (93) and Bubba Tandy (94) had over 90 receiving yards. Recording a game-high 132 yards and two scores on 18 carries was Joseph Sandler.
After the Hogs defense forced the Texans to go 3-and-out on the first drive of the game, TAMUK drove down to TSU' 10 thanks to 40 rushing yard by Pitre including a 26 yard gain on third down.
Julio De la Garza nailed a 27-yard field goal to give the Javelinas an early 3-0 lead just five and a half minutes into the contest.
Brandon Jones then forced a fumble on the Texans' next play that was recovered by
DeMarcus Spurlock on the 24 yard line. Carr caught a screen pass on the second play of the drive and rumbled down to the four yard line. Two plays later, Vasquez plunged into the end zone from the three to increase TAMUK's advantage to 10.
TSU drove down the field and scored on a two yard rush from Sadler to make it a 10-7 game. The Texans were helped out by two Blue and Gold penalties, including one on fourth down.
Lamont Hills read a screen pass perfectly to pick off his second pass of the season, returning it to the 10 yard line. Te'o followed with a rushing touchdown on the very next play to increase TAMUK's advantage back to 10 with 12:34 to play in the half.
The Texans answered with a 12-play, 82-yard drive that last 4:53. It ended with Tandy tipping the ball to himself in the end zone and cutting the Hogs' lead to three. TSU would kick a 26-yard field goal with 52 second remaining to tie the game.
After the kickoff went out-of-bounds to put the ball on TAMUK's 35, Carr unleashed a 65-yard bomb to Thomas to give the Hogs a 24-17 lead at halftime.
However, TSU's Sadler returned the kickoff 66 yards to the Javelinas' 31.
Mando Celedon came up big with a sack on the first play of the drive. Craig then scrambled for 20 yards and spiked the ball to stop the clock.
The Texans decided to attempt a throw to the end zone that was picked off but called back for defensive pass interference. Immediately after the umpire announced the penalty, the lights went out at Javelina Stadium to delay the game 54 minutes. TSU came out of the extended halftime and threw an incomplete pass to officially end the first half.
An interception was turned into seven points by the Texans to tie the game early in the third quarter. Craig found Meyers for a 10-yard reception in the back of the end zone.
The next Javelina drive seemed to stall near midfield but a fake punt pass by
Stevie Joe Dorman found Thomas for just enough yards for a first down. Autry then caught a 22 yard pass to put the team within striking distance. De la Garza finished the drive with a 37 yard field goal to put TAMUK back in front 27-24 with 6:49 left in the third quarter.
On the next possession, TSU started to gash the Hogs on the ground. However, a deep pass to try and catch the Blue and Gold off guard failed.
Devonte Williams picked off the throw in the end zone to end the threat.
The ensuing drive saw
Torrey Thomas catch a screen pass and get into TSU territory. Carr immediately went deep to Autry for 48-yard touchdown to push the lead to 10.
A Texan interception off a tipped pass led to a 32 yard touchdown run by Sadler on fourth down to make it 34-31 with 10:41 left in the contest.
Facing a third and seven at their own 10, Tandy caught a quick slant and ran all the way down to the Blue and Gold 13. Two plays later, Craig found Meyers to give the Texans their first lead of the game 38-34 with 1:10 remaining in the game.
J. Thomas broke two tackles on a slant from Carr and was tackled at the Texans' 47. A face mask penalty added 15 yards to place the ball on the 33. Thomas made a diving catch on a fourth and five to place the ball at the 14 with 20 seconds left.
A defensive holding moved the ball to the seven on a fade attempt to Autry. Carr was forced to scramble and was tackled at the one. A bad snap led to Carr being tackled at the three to seal the game for the visitors.
Next Saturday TAMUK travels to take on 16th-ranked Angelo State at 7 p.m. in LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.
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