Keidrick Jackson scored four of Midwestern State’s eight rushing touchdowns and the Mustangs rolled to a 63-17 Harvey Martin Classic win on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium.

      MSU (2-0, 1-0 Lone Star Conference), which also got TDs from Lester Bush (two), Peter Smith and Jimmy Pipkin, rolled up 592 yards of offense. A&M-C (0-2, 0-1 LSC) led 10-7 early in the second quarter before the Mustangs exploded for 42 straight points to build a 49-10 lead with 13:31 to play.

      All of Jackson’s scoring runs (from 6-, 1-, 1- and 20-yards out) came in the first half to help the Mustangs to a 28-10 lead at the break. Pipkin was the only rusher to eclipse 100-yards, totaling 106 on just six carries. MSU’s only non-rushing score came on a 37-yard TD pass from Joe Sanders to Matt Tanner in the fourth quarter.

      Tyler Maner made eight tackles, Nick Bourgeois had an interception and Ty Duncan made six stops and recorded a sack to fuel MSU’s defense, which forced four fumbles.

      Yogi Gallegos and J.J. Harp each threw a TD pass – to Adorian Arthur and Taylor Fore, respectively – for A&M-C. Cory Whitfield had a game-high 10 tackles for the Lions, who also got seven stops from Matt Claggett.

      It was MSU’s first win over A&M-C since 2004, but the Lions still hold the all-time series lead, 11-5.

·         Saturday’s game was the 16th meeting between A&M-Commerce and Midwestern State and the first since 2005. The Lions still hold an 11-5 all-time series edge following today’s 63-17 loss. The Mustangs have won five of the last six meetings with the Lions

·         MSU’s victory was its first on a neutral field since resuming football in 1988 (1-4).

·         MSU improved to 36-7 (.821) in games played before Oct. 1 during the Bill Maskill Era.

·         RB Keidrick Jackson became the third Mustang in team history to score a fourth rushing touchdown, and did so with 11:25 left in the 3rd quarter on a 20-yard run. The last Mustang to score four rushing touchdowns in a game was Ross Harrison vs. SW Oklahoma on Sept. 3, 2005. Dominic Rhodes recorded a pair of four-touchdown games in 2000 (vs. OPSU on Oct. 14 and Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 16). The Mustangs’ single-game record of five was set by Stephon Brockington vs. Tarleton State on Sept. 9, 1995.

·         The Mustangs scored four rushing touchdowns in the first half, including three by Jackson. Jackson’s previous single-game high of two touchdowns came on Oct. 30, 2010 in a 31-26 win over Tarleton State and again last Saturday at Missouri S&T.

·         RB Lester Bush scored the Mustang’s fourth and sixth rushing touchdowns of the game. The first coming with :42 seconds remaining before halftime, and his second with 7:41 left in the third quarter. He finished the game with 63 rushing yards and needs just 54 more to become MSU’s 13th member of the 1,000-yard Rushing Club.

·         MSU’s combined eight rushing touchdowns matched the team record of eight originally set vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 20, 2007. RBs Peter Smith and Jimmy Pipkin scored touchdowns No. 7 and 8. Pipkin’s program-record tying score went for 87 yards.

·         MSU finished the game with 592 total yards, 369 of which were gained on the ground. The last time the Mustangs produced 500 yards of offense in a game was Sept. 11, 2010 at Eastern New Mexico, and their previous 300-yard rushing game took place vs. Northeastern state on Nov. 13, 2010.

·         WR David Little caught two passes for 22 yards to tie Andy Tanner for second on the all-time reception list with 120. Little needs 36 more receptions to pass Bryan Gilmore to become MSU’s all-time leader.

·         The Midwestern State defense allowed A&M-Commerce to complete just 4-of-16 3rd down attempts, scored six points off turnovers – an interception by Nick Bourgeois, which immediately led to a 37-yard touchdown pass from Joe Sanders to Matt Tanner –and stopped the Lions of two of three field goal attempts.

·         Adorian Arthur scored the first touchdown of the Lone Star Football Festival on a 1-yard pass from Yogi Gallegos with 10:00 left in the first quarter.

·         Jacob O’Neil kicked the first field goal of the Lone Star Football Festival from 19 yards out with 12:46 left in the second quarter.

·         Wide Receiver Adam Jones’ 38-yard pass to Tyler Rawlings is the Lions longest pass play of the season.

·         The Lions own an 11-5 all-time record against the Mustangs, but Midwestern State has now won five of the last six meetings.

·         Linebacker Cory Whitfield recorded double-digit tackles for the first time this season and eighth time in his career. He finished the game with

·         Former Eastern New Mexico star quarterback JJ Harp made his first appearance in a Lions uniform and went 12-of-20 for 127 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

·         The Lions had four different players complete a pass in the game and 10 different receivers had at least one reception.

·         Taylor Fore caught a career high seven passes. His previous career high was six receptions at Central Oklahoma on Oct. 30, 2010.