It was not the prettiest of wins, but for the seventh-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville football team it was enough to keep moving forward on the season. Christian Brom’s 41-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the game provided the margin of victory in a 13-10 win at Lone Star Conference South Division rival Tarleton State on Saturday night. (box score)
The field goal capped an 11-play, 36-yard drive that included a key third down conversion when Nate Poppell (Spring/Spring HS) hit Sherman Batiste for an 11-yard game when the team needed 10 yards. This was the third straight fourth quarter game-winning drive that Poppell has orchestrated.
The Javelinas (7-1, 4-1) opened the game playing well on defense forcing two turnovers in the first three Texan (2-6, 1-3) possessions, but were only able to convert it into three points. Brom (McAllen/McAllen HS) capped a 16-play, 64-yard drive with a 32-yard field goal with 14:28 left in the second quarter. He missed a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter.
The Texans got on the board 57 seconds after the Hoggies scored. A 50-yard kick return by Brandon Lowery gave TSU great field position and two plays later Nick Stephens hit Jamal Mays on a 39-yard scoring strike to take a 7-3 lead.
The Texans had a few tricks up their sleeves on Homecoming and pulled one off when they recovered an onside kick following their touchdown. On the ensuing drive, they took advantage of a pair of Javelina personal fouls and settled for a 30-yard Blake Wiest field goal with 9:57 left in the first half.
Trailing 10-3, the Hoggies responded with a 12-play, 85-yard drive the ended with a Ryan Lincoln (Bastrop/Bastrop HS) 2-yard run with 3:19 left in the half. The offense converted a pair of third downs and a fourth down to keep the drive alive and tie the game.
The Hog defense forced a punt with 1:46 left in the second quarter and it looked like the Javelinas were going to take the lead. Unfortunately, Sherman Batiste (Fort Bend/Marshall HS) fumbled the ball after a 15-yard gain inside the red zone and the Texans recovered.
The second half was marred by penalties on both teams as neither was able to sustain much of an offensive drive. The Texans came the closest to scoring when Wiest missed a 39-yard field goal with 8:22 left in regulation.
The Javelina offense picked up 357 yards on the evening. Poppell passed for 222 yards without an interception while going 23-for-39. Lincoln finished the night with a career high 10 catches for 72 yards. Woodson added 78 yards rushing and 56 yards on five receptions.
The Javelinas were tagged with 12 penalties for 131 yards. They had two touchdowns called back due to penalties and gave Wiest an extra chance to kick a potential go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter.
The Javelina defense limited the Texans to just 239 total yards. Marcus Sanders (Houston/Westfield HS) led the team with eight tackles and two tackles for loss. The biggest defensive play of the night came when Matt Romig (Bells/Bells HS) and Dondi Cooks (Mesquite/North Mesquite HS) combined to sack Stephens for a 7-yard loss on third-and-3 with under five minutes to play to force a punt that led to the game-winning field goal. Corey Robertson (Denison/Denison HS) had six tackles and picked up his first interception of the year.
The Texans were led by running back Evan Robertson. He gained 78 yards on 17 carries and was responsible for a number of first downs. Stephens finished the night 16-for-30 for 130 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Four different players had three receptions.
The Texans had a trio of players finish with at least 13 tackles; Jacob Rowe, Damian Perkins and Brandon Johnson. Rowe had 14 tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Perkins added 14 tackles while Johnson had 13 tackles and a tackle for loss.
The Javelinas held possession for 34:39 and were 8-for-19 on third down conversions. They lost two fumbles.
The Texans committed 11 penalties for 107 yards and were only 3-for-15 on third down conversions. They fumbled three times, but only lost one.
The Javelinas are back in action on Saturday at Southwestern Oklahoma for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
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