The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions used a balanced effort to dominate the Northeastern State (Okla.) RiverHawks, 30-3, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The Lions, now 3-5 for the season, won back-to-back games for the first time this season. They also outscored Southwestern Oklahoma State 41-39 in triple overtime last week in Durant. A&M-Commerce is now 2-1 in the Lone Star Conference North Division.
The RiverHawks dropped to 1-6 for the season and 1-1 in the LSC North.
“We played our game,” said Lions’ quarterback Terry Mayo. “It started with the offensive line first. They really gave a lot of push and they really worked their tails off today.”??A&M-Commerce drove 65 yards on the opening possession of the game and capped off a 14-play drive that ended with a 32-yard field goal from placekicker Chris Quiroga.?Northeastern placekicker Jared Homer answered Quiroga’s kick with a 39-yard field goal, tying the game at 3-3 with 10:53 remaining in the half.?On the ensuing Lions’ drive, running back Nabil El-Amin broke off a season-long 38-yard run, setting the offense up at first and goal at the Northeastern nine. A holding penalty and a sack moved the Lions back to the 30 before Mayo floated a 30-yard pass over a RiverHawk defender to wide receiver JaMichael Palmer in the front right corner of the end zone. Quiroga nailed the PAT, giving A&M-Commerce the 10-3 lead.
After a couple of punts, the Lions were set up with good field position at their own 44, but a false start and a holding penalty pushed the offense back to its own 42, having to go 25 yards for the first.
Mayo found an opening and scrambled 20 yards before running back Amin powered a 9-yard run for the long conversion.??Six plays later, Quiroga connected on his second field goal of the game from 32 yards, extending the Lions lead to 13-3.??The RiverHawks tried to trim the lead with 42 seconds left in the half, but Lions defensive back Alex Contreras picked off a Joe Hogan pass to end the threat and the first half.?Both sides of the ball came out roaring in the second half for the Lions.??Hogan went for a pitch to the running back, but the Lions defense forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive back Mark Fisher on the Northeastern 38.??Three plays later, Mayo tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Miller in the back of the end zone before Quiroga hit the PAT to give the Lions a 20-3 lead at the 12:52 mark in the third. A 21-yard connection between Mayo and wide receiver Meldrick Grice set up the score.
Mayo went 17-of-36 passing for 192 yards and two touchdowns. He added 18 yards on the ground.Northeastern tried making it a ballgame again on its next possession, but Homer’s kick sailed wide right of the goal posts on the 30-yard field goal attempt.??Quiroga capitalized on the RiverHawk missed attempt and made his bid for consecutive Lone Star Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors when he booted his third field goal of the game from 31 yards with 9:42 remaining.??El-Amin anchored the Lions’ drive rushing five times for 17 yards, topping the 100-yard plateau for the second time this season, and caught a 23-yard pass from Mayo to set up the field goal. He finished the game with 120 yards on 27 carries.??With the game out of hand, backup quarterback Trent Miller and running back Eddie Moss stepped into the game.??Moss scored his first touchdown of the season on a 15-yard scamper around the right side and Quiroga’s PAT was good for the Lions final tally.??The Lions defense may have been the toughest side of the ball, holding the RiverHawks offense to only 113 yards of total offense, forcing three turnovers and recording one sack.?”The defense is our anchor right now,” said Mayo.??Defensive lineman Marcus Smith led the Lions with eight tackles. Andree Smith contributed six tackles, 2 1/2 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one sack for a loss of 18 yards.
The Lions’ next game will be a homecoming battle with Angelo State at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.