STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Football) – Junior running back
Greg Pitre ran for 186 yards on 28 carries, both career-highs, as the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team defeated Tarleton State 43-25 Saturday night in Memorial Stadium. The win snapped the Javelinas' seven-game losing streak.
The Hogs improve to 2-8 on the season while the Texans are now 2-7.
Myles Carr finished 15-for-30 passing for 166 yards and tied his season-high with three touchdown passes. He also added 78 yards on the ground.
Shawn Vasquez totaled 53 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. On his first career of the game,
Joe Te'o also found the end zone.
Hauling in five catches for a game-high 78 yards and a score was
Anthony Autry. Pitre added 41 receiving yards and a touchdown and
Torrey Thomas caught his lone pass for six points.
On the defensive side of the ball,
Braedon Robinson led TAMUK with seven tackles and finished with 1.5 sacks. Pacing the Javelinas with three tackles for losses and two sacks was freshman
Jared Mosley. Adding a half a sack apiece were
Alex, Kuyinu,
Sione Tupouata and
AA Vaaulu.
As a team, the Javelinas outgained TSU 494-281 on offense with a huge 328-106 advantage on the ground.
The Hogs struck first on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Autry on the team's first play from scrimmage. The play was setup when
Joe Crowe picked off a pass and returned it 16 yards.
A low snap on a punt attempt ended with
Peyton Tilley taking the punter down at the TSU 20 to give the Javelina offense a short field to work with. Pitre moved the ball down to the seven on a 12-yard run. TSU's defense held on the next three plays to force a field goal attempt.
Julio De la Garza nailed the kick from 28 yards out to increase TAMUK's lead to 10-0 with 8:47 remaining in the first quarter.
The Texans answered back with a 42-yard field goal from Blake Barnes to complete a 7-play, 52-yard drive.
When it appeared that the Javelinas' next possession was going to stall at midfield, head coach
Daren Wilkinson called a fake punt that resulted in Vasquez gaining 11 yards and a first down. Six plays later, Carr found Thomas from 11 yards out to increase the Hogs' advantage to 14.
The ensuing kickoff was an onside attempt but the ball was recovered by the Texans. A 34-yard run by Jabari Anderson set TSU up inside the 10. The next play saw Zed Woerner hit Le'Nard Meyers on a fade pass to cut the Javelinas' lead to 17-10 with 28 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Texans marched 86 yards down the field on 14 plays capped off by a six-yard run from Joseph Sadler to tie the game 17-17 with 2:40 until halftime.
On the next drive, TAMUK was able to take the ball down to the TSU 21 after a 17-yard pass to Autry. De la Garza's 38-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left had the distance but was pushed a little too far right to send the game to halftime tied.
The Javelinas took the second half kickoff and quickly drove down the field. Te'o finished off the drive with a 19-yard touchdown run to put the Hogs up 24-17 with a 13:16 remaining in the third quarter.
A short TSU punt gave TAMUK great field position at their 40. Pitre carried the ball five times for 29 yards and Carr completed a key 13-yard pass to
Marcus Green during the 12-play drive. De la Garza kicked a 25-yard field goal to complete the drive and increase the Javelinas' advantage to 10.
On a Blue and Gold punt, the ball bounced off the Texan returner and was recovered by
Sean Landez. Pitre took a screen pass 34 yards for his fourth receiving touchdowns of the season three plays later to increase TAMUK's lead to 34-17 with 14:13 left in the contest.
A 40-yard punt from
Tristan Hernandez was down on the one. The first play for the home squad saw Mosley take down Sadler in the end zone for a safety to make the score 36-17 in favor of the Javelinas.
The Hogs then drove 55 yards after the free kick for another touchdown to increase their lead to 43-17. Vasquez punched the ball in from six yards out for his fourth rushing score of the season.
With 2:19 left in the game, TSU scored when Meyers took a pass 39 yards to the house on a slant route. He also hauled in the two-point conversion for the final points in the game.
The Hogs play at West Texas A&M on Nov. 14 in the fifth-place game of the Lone Star Conference Playoffs. The kickoff time for the game is 1 p.m.
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