Football
For the second time this season the Texas A&M University-Commerce (2-5) football team kept up with a top-ten ranked Division II school for most of the game, only to lose in the last minutes. Texas A&M University-Kingsville (7-0) defeated the Lions 35-34, thanks to two fourth quarter fumbles on consecutive drives that resulted in 14 points for the Javelinas.
The Lions led for almost the entire game, relying on big plays from quaterback Adam Farkes (247 yards, 3 total touchdowns) and receivers Taylor Fore (74 yards) and Blake Patton (88 yards, 1 touchdown). They marched down the field in their first possession for a touchdown, scoring on a play-action pass from the Javelinas’ one yard line. Kicker Ahmed Abo-Mahmood added a field goal before the end of the 1st quarter to give the Lions a 10-0 lead.
The Lions defense couldn’t keep A&M-Kingsville from scoring for long. The Javelinas relied on quarterback Billy Garza’s accurate passing to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Connell Davis (64 total yards, 1 touchdown). The Lions came close to responding when Farkes ran for 41 yards on a scramble, but Abo-Mahmood missed a 36 yard field goal attempt.
The Javelinas were primed to score again but Christian Brom’s 35 yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned 82 yards for a touchdown by Shea Rodriguez.
Garza (308 yards, 3 touchdowns) led the Javelinas to a touchdown again, connecting this time with receiver Fred Winborn for a 17 yard touchdown pass. A&M-Commerce extended their lead to 20-14 with a 26 yard field goal.
A&M-Commerce struck early in the second half. Farkes completed a 69 yard touchdown pass to receiver Blake Patton to push the Lions’ lead to 13. Garza connected with Larod Roberson for his second touchdown of the game to cut the Javelinas’ deficit to 6 points. Farkes retaliated with another long pass, this time a 74 yard bomb to receiver Taylor Fore, to set up a one-yard touchdown run.
The Lions’ defense held firm against the Javelinas, giving their offense the ball back with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. But running back Marcus Graham fumbled the ball, and Fred Winborn (118 total yards, two touchdowns) cut the Lions’ lead to six with a nine yard touchdown run. A&M-Commerce slowly moved the ball down the field, only to watch Graham fumble the ball again, this time on the Javelinas’ 46 yardline. Garza completed all four of his passes on the drive, giving A&M-Kingsville a one point lead with a 26 yard strike to Damian Couthren, who caught ten passes on the day.
The Lions had one more chance to win the game, but Farkes’ pass was intercepted by defensive back Eric John, sealing the Javelinas’ victory.
“You always want to take the positives out of a game,” linebacker Chad Washington said. “We did a lot of things right, but the ball just wasn’t in our court. We have to learn from the loss.”
The loss drops the Lions to 2-5, but they remain undefeated in North Division play and still have a good chance of winning the division.
“It’s a tough loss, but the way we look at everything, you have to take the positives out of it,” Farkes said. “The North is a ton to play for and we all want to win the division title.” Soccer
The A&M-Commerce women’s soccer team lost its second game in a row and fifth of the season Saturday night, losing 3-0 to West Texas A&M at A&M-Commerce Soccer Field. After taking an early lead, West Texas never looked back and had the momentum for most of the match.
The Lady Buffs went a goal up in just the fifth minute. After the ball was lobbed high in the air, A&M-Commerce goalkeeper Taylor Jordan spilled the ball while trying to catch it. Freshman Melissa Carnero collected the ball and shot it into an empty net. From that point on West Texas maintained the attacking momentum, leading to nine shots on goal compared to the Lions’ five.
After halftime, Senior Miriam Dominguez gave the visitors a two goal advantage. Jordan initially made a fantastic save as she rushed in to block a shot from eight yards out. Dominguez collected the rebound, however, and fired on another empty net. The score was 2-0 after 54 minutes gone.
The final goal came off of a great attacking move by West Texas. After receiving the ball on the left wing, sophomore Melanie Shannon sent a curling pass right to LSC Offensive Player of the Week Lindsay McHorse. After bringing the ball down, McHorse applied the lethal finish for her ninth goal of the season.
After a full day of rain on Friday, this game was played in sloppy conditions. Aside from the loose field and mud, there were multiple puddles which slowed the ball down to an almost complete stop. A&M-Commerce’s head coach Neil Piper said he still thought the game should have gone ahead, but junior defender Megan Monroe said the field condition did change how the game was played.
“I think you just had to read and just know what they(West Texas) were going to do,” Monroe said. “You had to know where the water holes were, where it was going to stop. Otherwise, you were just going to be faked out on your own.”
Despite giving up the early goal, A&M-Commerce struggled to get any offense going. They found it difficult to string any passes together, which kept the defense on the back foot for most of the match.
“That first goal changed the whole game,” Piper said. “Again it was another silly goal that we didn’t have to allow. It gives them the momentum. On the whole 90 minutes, it was a fair result. I thought they (West Texas) were better than us today, and if we ever play them again we’ll have to figure out something else to do.”
After initially saying he would play with four defenders at the back, Piper decided to play with the regular three at the back system.
“I just felt with these conditions our team felt more comfortable in our system, and I thought they (West Texas) would play two up-front,” he said. “I don’t think it was all bad tonight, I just think every loose ball seemed to go their way.”
The Lions will play at home again on Monday, Oct. 12, against Eastern New Mexico at noon. They follow that with a two game road trip this coming weekend, playing Angelo State on Friday and Abilene Christian on Sunday.