UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Texas A&M-Kingsville football program officially reigned in the 2021 campaign on Saturday with a non-conference matchup against Saginaw Valley State on the road.

The Javelinas (0-1) took the early lead over the Cardinals (1-0) but saw two fourth-and-goal opportunities fall short of the mark en route to the loss at 13-9.

Neither side made any headway in the first quarter as the Hogs gave up a turnover deep in their own territory as the hosts recovered the fumble from redshirt sophomore Christian Anderson (Cypress, Texas) on the TAMUK eight-yard line.

The Javelina defense turned in the first critical stop of the night as they stuffed the fourth-and-goal attempt from Derrick Hinton Jr. at the one-yard line.

It seemed fitting enough that the ensuing TAMUK possession kept the momentum rolling on a 99-yard, 16-play drive that ended in the SVSU end zone. An 11-yard rush from senior Amonte Bowen (Donna, Texas), a 17-yard completion from graduate student Shane Johnson (Houston, Texas) to senior Darrian Hambrick (Nashville, Tenn.) and a 31-yard reverse from sophomore Craig Clemons (Corpus Christi, Texas) set the visitors up in the Cardinal red zone.

The decisive play came from the legs of senior Josh McGowen (McAllen, Texas) who punched it in from one yard out for the 6-0 lead favoring the Blue and Gold with 10:01 remaining in the second quarter.

TAMUK padded the lead with a 40-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Gilbert Garza (Weslaco, Texas) at the 4:02 mark, but the Cardinals finally found purchase with 1:56 remaining in the half courtesy of a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Tommy Scott for a 9-7 score heading into the locker rooms.

Much like the opening stanza, the start of the second half was mired by defensive stops on both sides of the ball as the Javelinas took advantage of an SVSU miscue on a punt and recovered the ball on the Cardinal 36-yard line for a short field.

Mirroring what the hosts had to go through in back in the first, the Hogs had their fourth-and-goal attempt stuffed at the five-yard line and SVSU ended up marching down the field for a 31-yard field goal from Connor Luksic to put the visitors on the back end of a 10-9 score as the game clock rolled over to the fourth quarter and showed 12:32 remaining.

The ensuing Javelina drive stalled out yet again, giving the Cardinals another opportunity to pad the lead as Luksic converted a 22-yard attempt at the 7:43 mark for a 13-9 SVSU lead.

TAMUK had one final opportunity to take the lead back and moved within a hair's breadth of the goal line on its final drive of the game. The fourth-and-goal opportunity fell by the wayside as the pass attempt from Johnson fell short of the mark and the Javelinas returned to Kingsville empty-handed.

The second contest of the year sees the Hogs host Western Oregon on Saturday, September 11, at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium

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