Kingsville, Texas - The Texas A&M Kingsville football team fell, 16-13, to the Colorado-Mesa Mavericks courtesy of a late touchdown in the opening game of its season in a rare Thursday night bout on Pepsi Field.

The Javelina defense held CMU to just 80 total rushing yards and forced a pair of turnovers but the offense struggled to come away with points in the red zone, highlighted by three missed field goals.

"Ultimately, we just have to play cleaner in the red zone," Javelinas Head Coach Michael Salinas said. "I think our guys responded in the right manner, we just did not execute at crucial times in the ballgame."

The game started off with a bang for TAMUK, as the team's first drive of the game finished in the endzone. On third down and five from CMU's nine yard-line, redshirt-Junior QB Kannon Williams dodged past defenders, scrambled out of the pocket, and found RB Roger Hagan, who lowered his shoulder and found paydirt to put the Javelinas on top 7-0, following a Gilberto Garza extra point.

Though the Mavericks would take the lead with a touchdown and successful two point conversion attempt on the next drive, it didn't take long for the defense to respond. Junior DB Keion Thomas came up with a goal line INT to stifle a CMU scoring opportunity. The offense quickly flipped it into points of their own as Garza capped a 10-play drive with a 32 yard field goal that gave TAMUK the lead back midway through the second quarter.

Late in the half, it was again the defense's turn to step up, as Javelina junior DB Rayden Campbell stepped in front of a Leslie Richardson pass on fourth down and 11 to again turn away the Mavericks from a potential score. Campbell avoided would-be tacklers and returned the INT all the way to Colorado Mesa's 21 yard-line in the waning minutes of the half.

The second half turned into a dogfight, as the teams traded defensive stops, with the third quarter's only score coming on a 40-yard Garza field goal with 6:45 left in the frame.

"I feel like we did a good job," redshirt junior DE Demarcus Hendricks said of the team's play in the trenches. "We had some minor mistakes that we could fix, and some of them resulted in bigger plays, but I believe we played good as a team."

CMU's defense, which led their conference in percentage of field goals forced on red zone drives, stood tall late in the game, allowing just two Javelina first downs in the final frame.

Ultimately, a fourth-quarter, 30-yard connection between CMU QB Lui Aumavae and WR Jake Burke gave the Mavericks the lead and the win.

The Javelinas have an early bye next week before going on the road to face Mississippi College on September 14, kickoff will be at 6 p.m.