LSC FOOTBALL
Midwestern State improved to 6-0 overall for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in school history to stay atop the Lone Star Conference standings. Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State also posted wins to remain a game behind MSU in league play.
Six games are scheduled for this week with four LSC games and a pair of non-conference contests.
LSC football teams are 35-33 overall this season. The squads are 3-3 combined versus the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams, which are also in NCAA Super Regional Four.
LSC FOOTBALL ON ESPN3
A pair of Lone Star Conference football games are part of the 2016 Division II Football Showcase schedule and were broadcast on ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
For a second straight season, A&M-Commerce hosted a national broadcast on October 8 as the Lions hosted Midwestern State.
UT Permian Basin welcomed West Texas A&M in the Falcon’s first LSC football game in the program’s initial season. Due to inclement weather the game was postponed and was not broadcast as scheduled.
NCAA Division II announced 18 of the 22 regular-season football games that will be carried on ESPN3, WatchESPN and American Sports Network, after the division entered a three-year agreement in 2015 to deliver Division II athletics events. By comparison, only seven games were televised in each of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Ben Arbuckle, West Texas A&M University, SO, QB, Canadian, Texas, Canadian HS
Arbuckle had a career day in a 42-14 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State as he threw a career-best six touchdown passes accounting for all of the points by the Buffs. The six TD strikes were the most by a Buff in a game since Dustin Vaughan threw six against West Georgia (2013) and matched the second-most passing TDs in Division II this season. Arbuckle, in his first collegiate start, missed just 12 passes on the day (30-for-42) with no interceptions.
DEFENSIVE
Treston Ridge, Tarleton State University, SR, S, Waco, Texas, La Vega HS
Ridge sealed Tarleton’s 26-16 victory against Eastern New Mexico in Portales last Saturday with two interceptions on the final four drives of the game for the Greyhounds. With Tarleton leading 26-10 with just over nine minutes left in the game, ENMU went to the air looking for an answer. The Greyhounds turned to a flea-flicker but Ridge had other ideas as the senior safety made a diving interception to stop that drive. Two drives later with ENMU looking to pull within one possession, Ridge put the win on ice by stepping in front of the Greyhounds receiver with 2:02 left in the game for his second interception of the afternoon. He became the first Texan with multiple interceptions in a game since Charles Moore against McMurry on October 25, 2014. Ridge added nine tackles for the Texans.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Hector Dominguez, Texas A&M University - Commerce, SR, P, Monterey Park, Calif., Monterey Park HS
Dominguez had four punts for an average of 60.2 yards in the No. 9 Lions’ win at Western New Mexico, which is the highest in Division II this season. He is also the only punter in all four NCAA football divisions to average over 60 yards per punt with more than two punts in a game this season. Dominguez had punts of 70, 54, 57, and 60 yards.