The 2012 Lone Star Football Festival presented by Firestone had 33,180 fans at the three-day, six-game event at Cowboys Stadium. On Thursday, a crowd of 3,426 saw Midwestern State top Texas A&M-Commerce, 65-14, in the Harvey Martin Classic, which was televised live on the CBS Sports Network as the NCAA Division II Football Game of the Week. Eastern New Mexico escaped Incarnate Word 34-24 and Southlake Carroll blanked Temple 34-0 in Friday’s action in front of 10,620 fans. The event wrapped up Saturday with a tripleheader of games attended by 19,134, which included Valdosta State over Angelo State 43-10, Abilene Christian edging Tarleton State 34-31 and West Texas A&M defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville 40-10.
Vaughan's 3 TD passes leads Buffaloes to 40-10 win over Kingsville
By Lance Fleming
ARLINGTON – West Texas A&M quarterback Dustin Vaughan threw for 250 yards and three scores Saturday night as the unranked Buffaloes topped 14th-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville, 40-10, in the final game of the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium.
Vaughan completed 19 of 29 passes and threw scoring passes of 13 yards to Trevor Hammargren and 32 yards and four yards to Lance Ratliff. The win pushes the Buffs to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference, while the Javelinas failed to follow up on a big 16-13 road win at Abilene Christian last week, falling to 2-1 and 1-1.
WTAMU head coach Don Carthel won his 69th game at the helm of the Buffaloes as he surpassed Joe Kerbel (1960-1970) for the all-time wins in school history. Carthel now stands at 69-20 in his eighth-year and is 115-66-1 all-time in his 17th season. Kerbel was 68-41-1 during his tenure at WT.
West Texas A&M never trailed, taking a 7-0 lead on the Vaughan-to-Hammargren pass, and then eventually pushed the lead to 24-3 late in the third quarter. Ratliff had a pair of acrobatic catches in the quarter as he finished the game with three catches for 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Kingsville appeared to have gotten back into the game momentarily early in the fourth quarter when Sherman Batiste capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive with a 6-yard scoring catch from Nate Poppell to cut the WT lead to 24-10.
But the Buffs answered with a six-play, 83-yard drive that was capped by Khriy Robinson's 7-yard scoring run, pushing the WT lead to 31-10 with 6:36 to play. Less than 45 seconds later, Chris Metcalf picked up a fumble and returned it 25 yards for a score to push the lead to 38-10, and Shane Sobnosky dropped Kingsville backup quarterback Bryan Ehrlich in the end zone for a safety with 1:24 to play to put an end to the scoring.
Poppell finished the game 19 for 32 with one interception, 188 yards and touchdown. Batiste caught six passes for 86 yards and one score, while Randall Toney carried the ball 10 times for 42 yards.
WTAMU vs. TAMUK Gallery
ACU storms back to top Tarleton, 34-31
By Ron Hadfield
Mitchell Gale’s two second-half touchdown passes to Taylor Gabriel powered No. 20 Abilene Christian University to a 34-31 comeback win over rival Tarleton State in the second annual Lone Star Football Festival in Cowboys Stadium.
ACU (2-1 overall and 1-1 in the Lone Star Conference) recovered from a lethargic first half to overtake the Texans, who last week shocked LSC favorite Midwestern State, 20-17, in their season opener.
Gale completed 27 of 42 passes for 279 yards and directed his team to 24 second-half points to erase a 20-10 TSU lead after two quarters. Gabriel caught five passes for 50 yards after the Texans neutralized the speedy wide receiver and most of ACU’s offense in the first half.
Aaron Doyle threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tarleton (1-1 overall and in the LSC), which ran up 556 yards of offense but was flagged for 11 penalties. TSU’s Jerome Regal led all rushers with 103 yards and had five catches for 62 yards and a TD. Clifton Rhodes caught 9 passes for 106 yards, and Jeken Frye snagged 10 for 92 yards.
ACU went on top first when junior Charcandrick West scored on a 1-yard run at the 8:38 mark of the first quarter, the result of great field position when Tarleton couldn’t advance past its 14-yard line, and a punt gave the Wildcats the ball at midfield.
Tarleton’s defense dug in and the Texans answered back with four straight scoring drives, the first two ending with TD passes from Doyle: Regal on a 16-yarder and Vaughn Smith on a 10-yarder to hand the Texans a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blade Barnes added 28-yard and 41-yard field goals in the second quarter, giving his team a 20-7 lead.
Morgan Lineberry’s 27-yard field goal closed the gap to 20-10 just before halftime, and Thor Woerner’s interception of Doyle’s pass at the TSU 4-yard line stopped what looked like another sure Texan score in the final minute of the half.
Travis Tarver’s 7-yard scoring run pulled ACU to within 20-17, and then Gabriel returned a third-quarter punt 51 yards to set up another Wildcat TD – his own – when he dove to catch a 6-yard pass from Gale with 4:03 left.
Lineberry (a 30-yarder) and Barnes (a 25-yarder) traded field goals to open the fourth quarter before the acrobatic Gabriel caught a 16-yard pass from Gale and dove into the end zone to cap ACU’s big comeback.
Tarver had 29 of ACU’s 55 rushing yards, and four Wildcat receivers had more than 50 yards each: Darian Hogg (67), Gabriel, Demarcus Thompson (57) and Tarver (56). Abilene Christian’s defense was led by L.B. Suggs (11 tackles) and 10 tackles each from Angel Lopez, Woerner and Justin Stephens.
The Wildcats travel to San Angelo next Saturday to face longtime LSC rival Angelo State at 6 p.m. Tarleton State hosts Eastern New Mexico at 7 p.m.
ACU vs. Tarleton Gallery
Valdosta State 43, Angelo State 10
By Lance Fleming
Valdosta State (Ga.) scored 26 unanswered points to end the game Saturday as the 18th-ranked Blazers pulled away from Angelo State for a 43-10 win in the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium.
The Blazers racked up 520 yards – 292 on the ground – as they ground out the win over the Rams, who are now 1-2 on the season with back-to-back losses. ASU will take on Abilene Christian next Saturday in San Angelo in the Rams' Lone Star Conference opener.
Valdosta State scored the final 17 points of the first half to take a 17-3 lead at halftime. But after forcing a punt on Valdosta's opening possession of the second half, the Rams responded with a six-play, 47-yard drive that culminated with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Blake Hamblin to C.J. Akins to cut the Blazer lead to 17-10 with 10:44 left in the third quarter.
But that's when the game turned in the Blazers' favor for good.
On fourth-and-2 from their own 38, the Blazers pulled out a fake punt and it worked as punter Daniel Andersen completed a pass for 39 yards to the Angelo State 23-yard line. Four plays later Andersen knocked home a 33-yard field goal to make it a 20-10 game with 6:10 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, ASU return man Dakarai Pecikonis mistakenly fielded the ball on the run and couldn't stop his momentum as he ran out of bounds at the 2-yard line. After a penalty knocked the Rams back to the 1-yard line, Valdosta State's Lawrence Virgil dropped Donavan Roberts for a safety to push the Blazers' lead to 22-10.
After the free kick, Valdosta took over on its own 47-yard line and proceeded to move 47 yards on eight plays to another touchdown, this time a Cayden Cochran 26-yard pass to Gerald Ford to push the lead to 29-10 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Cedric O'Neal scored on a 1-yard run with 10:34 left in the game to make it 36-10, and then Chris Anderson put a lid on the scoring as he caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Graham Craig to make it 43-10 with 5:27 to play.
Austin Scott ran for 126 yards and one score – a 62-yard jaunt in the second quarter – on 17 carries to lead the way for the Valdosta ground game. Cochran completed 16 of 28 passes for 173 yards and two scores.
Angelo State managed just 262 yards of total offense, including a meager 40 yards on the ground. Hamblin completed 18 of 29 passes for 193 yards and one touchdown.
ASU vs. Valdosta State Gallery
Carroll QB Runs, Passes By Temple In 34-0 Win
By Nick Eatman
Southlake Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill rushed for 105 yards on just four carries with one touchdown and that was just the first quarter.
But it gave a great indication how the night would go for Hill and the Dragons, who had few problems handling Temple Friday night in the second game of day two in the LSC Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium.
Hill, a Texas A&M recruit, rushed for 237 yards, passed for 132 yards and the Class 5A defending champions cruised past the Wildcats 34-0 in the same venue in which they claimed the state title in 2011.
The shutout win improves the Dragons to 2-1, while Temple drops to 2-1 as well.
Not only did Hill rack up 369 total yards of offense, including 205 first-half yards, but he rushed for three of the Dragons’ four touchdowns.
It was one-sided from start to finish as Southlake Carroll scored in every quarter, including 14 points in the first. Hill’s 49-yard scamper got the Dragons on the board. A.J. Ezzard, who had 72 rushing yards, scored on a 5-yard run for a 14-0 lead.
Hill’s 1-yard TD run pushed the lead to 21-0, but it appeared Temple had a shot just before the half to close the gap. But after a first down at the Carroll 16, Temple had a 2-yard loss and then three straight incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs with just 49 seconds to play. That was enough time for the Dragons to drive to the Temple 3 and set up Drew Brown’s 20-yard field goal to make it 24-0 at the half.
Another 20-yard chip shot by Brown gave Carroll a 27-0 advantage. Hill capped the scoring early in the fourth with a 6-yard touchdown run.
While Hill did most of his damage on the ground, he did spread the ball around to receivers Ryan Weigel, Mike Gardiner and Luke Timian, who each caught three passes.
Southlake’s defense was just as impressive with three players recording double-digits in tackles.
Defensive back Aaron Hoagland had 11 tackles with a half-sack and three pass breakups. Defensive back Tanner Jacobson had 10 tackles, as did linebacker Steven Bergmark, who also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
While the Dragons certainly dominated the scoreboard, it didn’t exactly reflect as such on the stat sheet. Southlake only outgained the Wildcats 466-395 and owned just a 29-27 edge in first down. Temple held the ball for 31:32 to just 16:28 for the Dragons.
And the turnover margin was even at one each. But where Temple struggled was on fourth down, where they were just 2 of 5 and in the red zone, failing to score on each of their three opportunities.
Quarterback Zach Allen, who is committed to Syracuse, passed for 372 yards on 35 of 58 passing and led the Wildcats with 40 rushing yards as well.
Receiver Keith Buhl had 10 catches for 84 yards and sophomore Chad President had seven grabs for 85 yards. Temple linebacker Dominick Thompson had 13 tackles to lead the Wildcats.
Greyhounds Pick Off Late UIW Rally, Escape With 34-24 Win
By Nick Eatman
This game started with a length-of-the-field touchdown for Incarnate Word. But it ended with Eastern New Mexico returning the favor in the final minute to sneak away from Cowboys Stadium with a dramatic 34-24 win.
It was the first game of day two in the LSC Football Festival, and the first trip for both schools to play in Cowboys Stadium, not to mention the conference opener for both teams.
With UIW driving for the go-ahead touchdown, ENMU safety Jayson Serda sealed the game for the Greyhounds when he picked off Cardinal quarterback Zach Rhodes at the 19-yard line and raced 81 yards for the touchdown with just 17 seconds remaining on the clock.
That play capped off an excited back-and-forth affair that began with UIW’s Marcus Wright returning the opening kickoff 87 yards for the touchdown. It’s the first kickoff return for a touchdown in school history for the Cardinals, who just opened the football program in 2009.
But ENMU would answer right back as quarterback Wesley Wood connected with Jacob Johnson for a 54-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Three minutes into the contest and it looked like a track meet was in the works.
The scoring calmed down to some degree, but the back-and-forth nature did not. The Cardinals regained the lead late in the first quarter on Rhodes’ 17-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Taylor, putting UIW up 14-7.
The Greyhounds would tie and then take the lead back in the second quarter, thanks to a pair of touchdown runs by Wood, who scored from 1 and 3 yards out, giving ENMU a 21-14 lead at halftime.
The score would remain that way until late in the third quarter when Rhodes connected with Dominic Hamilton for a 35-yard touchdown, knotting the game back up at 21-21. The Cardinals would then take the lead with 10:06 to play in the game on a 25-yard field goal by Jake Wilcox, but wouldn’t score again.
The Greyhounds drove 75 yards in eight plays, thanks to a 30-yard run by De’Coreyon Thomas to put them in position. Thomas would then score on a 5-yard run to put Eastern up 28-24 with 5:56 to play.
With one last attempt to win the game, Rhodes and the Cardinals went to work, mounting a lengthy drive that included two third-down pickups and a fourth-down conversion. And it appeared the Cardinals would be in great shape after a 20-yard completion to Andrew Mocio down to the 2-yard line. But an illegal shift penalty wiped out the play and pushed the offense back to the 28. Two plays later, Rhodes was picked off by Serda in the right flat with nothing but green turf in front of him.
Incarnate Word controlled the stat sheet, outgaining the Greyhounds 449-373 in total offense and had the ball for 33:02 in time of possession.
But turnovers were a key as the Cardinals threw three interceptions, including two by Rhodes, who was 17 of 30 passes for 179 yards and two scores.
UIW running back Trent Rios rushed for 121 yards on 20 attempts. The Cardinals’ all-time leading rusher became the first player in school history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards. Rios, who is also the school leader with 27 career touchdowns, now has 2,102 rushing yards.
Cardinals safety Chaz Pavliska had nine tackles, including one for loss and a pass deflection.
For ENMU, Wood was 7 of 12 passing for 129 yards and one touchdown, along with 90 rushing yards and two scores. Thomas led the attack for the Greyhounds with 115 rushing yards on 16 attempts.
Safety Linvel Mosby led the Greyhounds’ defense with 10 tackles, one for loss and a pass breakup. While Serda’s pick won the game, cornerback Willie Grant had two interceptions.
ENMU improves to 2-1 on the season with a 1-0 LSC record, while UIW drops to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
ENMU vs. UIW Gallery
No. 16 Midwestern State 65, Texas A&M-Commerce 14
By Greg Weghorst
ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 16-ranked Midwestern State racked up 555 yards of total offense and forced seven turnovers en route to a 65-14 league win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday night in the first game of the Lone Star Conference Football Festival presented by Firestone at Cowboys Stadium.
MSU (1-1, 1-1 LSC) built up a 23-0 lead at halftime before exploding for a 35-point third quarter to seal the Harvey Martin Classic victory. The Mustangs’ final point total was a single-game record at the second annual event. Texas A&M-Commerce (0-3, 0-1 LSC), which didn’t record a first down until 10:24 left in the second quarter, also scored both its touchdowns in the third quarter.
MSU got 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just four carries by Chauncey Harris, while Peter Smith (11 rushes for 90 yards), Keidrick Smith (10 rushed for 60 yards) and Jimmy Pipkin (six rushes for 43 yards) also scored on the ground. MSU quarterback Brandon Kelsey went 13 of 19 for 154 yards and one TD – to Brad Dittmar – in just over three quarters of action. Greg Saladino hit all three of his first-half field goal tries from 29, 25 and 37-yards, respectively.
Neiko Conway had one interception – returned 32 yards for a score – and two fumble recoveries to fuel the Mustangs’ defense that yielded only 271 yards (89 rushing) and totaled four sacks. Ricardo Riascos, Coryan Briggs and Pat Gardner also nabbed an interception – with Riascos also finding the end zone.
A&M-Commerce quarterback Deric Davis was involved in both of the Lions’ scores. He had a highlight-reel 60-yard run and also tossed an 11-yard pass to Blake Ohm. Davis finished with 81 yards rushing on 10 carries and 129 yards on 14 of 21 passing. Shaquelle Massey forced the Mustangs’ lone turnover, an interception in the first quarter. Danny mason had a team-high seven tackles.
MSU travels to Kingsville, Texas, next Saturday to face fellow nationally-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville, while Texas A&M-Commerce is idle before hosting the same Javelinas squad on Sept. 29.
MSU vs. A&M-C Gallery