No. 4 Abilene Christian raced out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 45-14 win over Texas A&M University-Commerce in a matchup of the pre-season favorites of the Lone Star Conference.
Abilene Christian (2-0) senior Bernard Scott was involved in three touchdowns and 253 yards of total offense for the host Wildcats. Scott, the 2007 runner up to the Harlon Hill Award, ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns and another 131 yards and a touchdown receiving. The Wildcats outgained the Lions, 560 to 230 yards in the win.
Lions (1-2) quarterback Trent Miller came off the bench in the second half to lead A&M-Commerce to its two touchdowns. Miller completed 11 of 15 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown as well as a touchdown on the ground.
ACU converted on a pair of third downs for its first two touchdowns. On the Wildcats initial possession, facing a 3rd and 6, Malone completed a 34-yard screen pass to Scott for the early touchdown and 7-0 advantage. On their next possession, ACU capitalized on a 3rd and 1 as Scott eluded potential Lions tacklers for a 45-yard touchdown run and 14-0 lead for the host Wildcats. The lead grew to 21-0 when Mike Kern picked up an A&M-Commerce fumble on an option play with 3:53 left in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats extended its lead to 28-0 midway through the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown pass by Malone to Chris Morris. The defense for ACU scored its second touchdown of the game when the Wildcats’ Bryson Lewis hit Mayo and Aston Whiteside picked it up and raced 29 yards for the touchdown with 15 seconds remaining in the opening half.
Scott scored his third touchdown of the afternoon in the third quarter on a 14-yard run for a Wildcats’ 42-0 advantage. On ACU’s next possession, senior Ricky Hope forced a fumble and senior Carl Crawford recovered it. The Lions capitalized, four plays later, when Miller sneaked in from five yards to cut the deficit to 42-7. Abilene Christian added a 29-yard field goal to extend the lead to 45-7.
Miller engineered a nine play, 61-yard drive for the final touchdown. In the drive, he was seven-for-seven including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Willie Thornton with 5:20 left in the contest.
The Lions will return home for its next game when they host Eastern New Mexico at 7:00 pm at Memorial Stadium.