A&M-Commerce dropped to 0-4 on the season in a 39-21 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville, in a game marred by missed opportunities and mishaps on both sides.
Both teams lost their starting quarterbacks in the game; the Javelinas’ Nate Poppell, who has already dealt with concussion problems this season, exited the game late in the second quarter, while A&M-Commerce lost Yogi Gallegos right at halftime.
“What they told me at half time was it was a shoulder sprain, and that they thought he could possibly come back, I guess ‘numb it up’ for lack of a better word, and he could play if he could tolerate the pain,” Head Coach Guy Morriss said about Gallegos’s injury. “Evidently, he couldn’t, so we’ll assess it this week and see how he is for next week’s game.”
Poppell was in the game long enough to lead the Javelinas in rushing with 43 yards and go 9-11 in passing with one touchdown and one interception. On the first play of A&M-Kingsville’s second drive, he combined with receiver Sherman Baptiste on an 80 yard catch and run for the game’s first touchdown. The Lions blocked the point after attempt, keeping the deficit at 6-0.
A&M-Commerce still struggled to get their offense going, but the defense made up for that on the Javelinas’ next drive. After getting all the way down into the red zone, Poppell’s pass went right into the stomach of senior linebacker Cory Whitfield, who took the interception the entire 100 yards to give the Lions a 7-6 lead.
In line with the game’s theme of unusual occurrences, the Javelinas answered when a botched field goal attempt turned into an unexpected seven points. Kicker Matt Stoll had lined up for a 37 yard field goal, but the holder Joseph Vela had trouble setting the ball, picked it up, and dodged a few tackles before running down the right side for a touchdown. The point after attempt made the score 13-7 early in the second quarter.
Stoll did get his field goal with about 31 seconds left in the first half to put A&M-Kingsville up by nine going into halftime, but there was enough time for more bad luck to strike for the Lions. On an attempted lateral play with seconds remaining, Gallegos was tossed the ball and hit hard while trying to run down the left-side of the field. He required immediate medical attention and did not return for the rest of the game.
Vela then caught a 29 yard pass for a touchdown on the Javelinas’ first drive of the second half. Stoll then added another field goal to put the home team up 25-7 midway through the third quarter. Lusby, who replaced Gallegos after former backup quarterback J.J. Harp quit the team last week, looked confident in his first action for the Lions as quarterback, and despite one interception, managed to keep the Lions in the game.
A&M-Commerce caught a break when sophomore defensive lineman Lawson Schwertner fell on a fumble inside the Javelinas’ end zone to take the deficit down to 11 points. Then, it was Lusby’s moment to make a permanent mark on the game. After throwing an interception caught by Rockeem Collins and returned for another A&M-Kingsville touchdown, the freshman marched his team back down the field and capped a 6 play, 61-yard drive with a four-yard pass to Adam Jones to give the Lions hope.
Once again, it was not to be for the Lions. With just over a minute left, A&M-Kingsville backup quarterback Daniel Ramirez connected with sophomore Robert Armstrong on a 42-yard touchdown pass to assure the win. Armstrong was one of the offensive leaders on the night, racking up 175 yards on 10 catches for the Javelinas.
Morriss said the loss came down to A&M-Commerce’s inability to come back stronger from mistakes and take the chances given to them.
“We’ve just got to stop beating ourselves,” Morriss said. “We just don’t understand that concept yet. We just make mistake after mistake, we miss out on opportunities, and we’ve just got to find a way to reach them.”