COMMERCE, Texas – Hoping to serve as spoiler in the 2018 Division-II Showcase Opener, the Texas A&M-Kingsville football program fell just short of the goal as top-ranked A&M-Commerce held on for the win at 37-36 in double overtime at Memorial Stadium on Thursday.
"We took the number-one ranked team in the country to overtime," said head coach
Daren Wilkinson, "and I'm really proud of the way our guys played. They took the challenge of not fearing the opportunity that was in front of them and they did a nice job of playing well.
"What disappoints me is that we had a lot of plays we had to make that we left out there and we couldn't put this team away. It's disappointing in that fact but I like the heart of our team and I think we have a chance to be a very good football team."
The Javelinas (0-1, 0-1 LSC) blanked the Lions (1-0, 1-0 LSC) in the opening half, but couldn't hold on for the decisive victory at the end.
The Hogs broke the scoreless tie in the second quarter when junior
Koy Detmer Jr. (Somerset, Texas) found senior
Torrey Thomas (Katy, Texas) for 17 yards early in the frame. Thomas snuck under the Lions' secondary to convert the opening score for the visitors.
Detmer Jr. tacked on another with a 16-yard pass to senior
Ty Chisum (Eagle Pass, Texas) at the end of the half to give the Javelinas a 13-0 lead heading into the break.
Senior kicker
Julio De La Garza (Brownsville, Texas) extended the lead with a 45-yard field goal following a sudden turnover to start the second half. Redshirt-senior
Devonte Williams (Houston, Texas) forced the fumble from Carandal Hale on the first play from scrimmage and the loose ball was scooped up by junior
Jordan Semanat (San Antonio, Texas) to spearhead the score.
It was Semanat's second turnover of the game as he picked off Preston Wheeler midway through the second stanza.
A&M-Commerce found the endzone with 8:13 left in the third after Wheeler connected with Matt Childers from 17 yards out, but the Hogs were quick to respond after Detmer Jr. found Chisum once again for nine yards later in the quarter to put the cushion back to 23-7.
The Lions quickly closed the gap from there, first after Kane Wilson converted a 3rd-and-goal from the one yardline near the end of the third, while Vincent Hobbs took a 12-yard pass from Wheeler to cut the Javelinas' lead to 23-20.
The score held firm until late in the fourth when, after a handful of back-and-forth drives, the Lions capitalized on a 33-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds remaining in the game to send the contest into overtime at 23-23.
Both squads traded touchdowns in the first overtime as Detmer Jr. rushed TAMUK's score in, while the Lions opened the extra frame with a six-yard rushing score.
Detmer Jr. found redshirt-junior
Aaron Dilworth (Corpus Christi, Texas) for eight yards in the second overtime to ramp up the pressure, but a failed PAT try would spell doom for the Hogs.
A&M-Commerce tied the game on a seven-yard pass to Marquis Wimberly while Kristov Martinez sent the deciding score through the uprights to spoil the Javelinas' upset bid.
Detmer Jr. ended his Hogs' debut with 320 yards on 33 completions with four touchdowns through the air and another on the ground. Chisum caught six passes for 82 yards and a score and was matched by Dilworth's six catches for 82 yards and one touchdown.
The Hogs return to action on Saturday, September 8, for the first of seven home contests at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium when Texas Wesleyan pays a visit to Kingsville for the Hall of Fame & Champions Weekend sponsored by Pepsi. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
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