TOPEKA, Kan. -- Abilene Christian sophomore quarterback Mitchell Gale threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night as the sixth-ranked Wildcats marched into Yager Stadium and knocked off No. 9 Washburn, 34-26, in their season-opener.

 

Gale completed 24 of 30 passes and didn't turn the ball over as he led the Wildcats to their third-straight season-opening victory over a team from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.  The Wildcats (1-0) will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Tahlequah, Okla., to take on Northeastern State in a Lone Star Conference crossover game.

 

Gale threw a pair of touchdown passes to Edmund Gates, the first from 51 yards away to make it a 17-6 lead with 1:18 to play in the first half, and the other from 41 yards out with 4:23 to play to give the Wildcats a 34-19 lead, effectively sealing the win.  Gale also threw a 4-yard scoring pass to senior Emery Dudensing, the first touchdown of his career.

 

Washburn was able to cut ACU's lead to 24-19 at the end of the third quarter before he Wildcats responded with an eight-play, 28-yard drive that culminated in a 33-yard field goal from Morgan Lineberry to give ACU a 27-19 lead.  The Wildcats then forced a punt and capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive with the 41-yard touchdown pass from Gale to Gates that sealed it.

 

Daryl Richardson led the Wildcats with 74 yards on 21 carries, while Gates had five catches for 138 yards and the two touchdowns.

 

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Tristan Carter wowed with his first touch and plowed with his last, punching across a nine-yard touchdown pass from Josh Neiswander with 32 seconds left in the game to give Angelo State a 41-38 season-opening win over Eastern New Mexico at San Angelo Stadium Saturday.

Carter, a junior running back playing in his first game as a Ram, logged 59 yards on his first career carry but it was his last touch that proved most important. Carter became the first Angelo State running back to rush for more than 100 yards since 2008, and helped ASU erase a 38-34 deficit with time waning.

Angelo State (1-0) led by as many as 14 points with 3:54 left in the first half (21-7), but the high-powered Greyhound (1-1) offense wouldn’t give up. Wesley Wood hit Chase Kyser from three yards out with 1:43 left in the half to cut the deficit to a single score, and the Greyhounds outscored the Rams 10-6 out of the break to pull within three at 27-24.

Angelo State stretched the lead back to 10 after a 41-yard strike from Neiswander to Pecikones, who made a pair of one-handed grabs in the contest, early in the fourth quarter. Wood answered for ENMU with his fourth touchdown pass of the game and the Greyhounds took their first lead after a three-yard run by Melvis Hawkins with 2:30 left on the game clock.

The Rams turned to their two-minute offense and under Neiswander’s direction, marched 54 yards downfield for the score. Neiswander avoided pressure on the Rams final play to find Carter for the first time, open on the right side.

Eastern New Mexico attempted four passes on its final possession, the last picked off by ASU cornerback Markeith Jones as time expired.

Neiswander finished the game 28-of-48 for 331 yards and hit five different receivers for scores. Carter led Angelo State’s rushing attack with 118 yards on 21 carries. Pecikones had 151 receiving yards on seven catches and senior wide out V’Keon Lacey caught seven balls for 74 yards.

Wood surpassed 300 yards for the second-consecutive contest and found his favorite target, Jesse Poku, eight times for 101 yards.

Angelo State continues Lone Star Conference crossover play next weekend against Texas A&M Commerce in the Cotton Bowl for the third annual Harvey Martin Classic. Eastern New Mexico will host Midwestern State in Portales, N.M., next Saturday.

 

Texas A&M-Commerce scored 33 unanswered second-half points, including an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by freshman Kenzee Jackson to start the final 20 minutes en route to a 33-10 win over Upper Iowa in the season opener on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

 

A&M-Commerce (1-0) found themselves behind by a 10-0 margin after the opening half before the rookie from Arlington streaked down the middle of the field for the touchdown to spark his Lions' teammates.

 

Upper Iowa (0-1) got on the board on their first drive of the game when Ben Curran connected on a 49-yard touchdown reception to John Baldwin to put the visiting Peacocks up by a 7-0 margin. A 42-yard field goal by Tyler Parmenter, late in the second quarter, put the Lions down by 10.

 

The Lions outgained the Peacocks by a 422 to 371 margin, including 289 passing yards from Adam Farkes on 27 of 46 passing. A&M-Commerce recorded 26 first down compared to 17 by Upper Iowa. Sophomore Danny Mason had a game-high 13 tackles, including three for minus yardage in his first collegiate start for A&M-Commerce. The win extends the Lions record to 25-13-2 in season openers played at home.

 

In the first half, two Lions drives were ended when Adam Farkes was intercepted; however, the A&M-Commerce offense and defense rallied behind the senior quarterback.

 

The kickoff return by Jackson energized the Lions to start the second half. Despite a failed point-after attempt, on their second possession of the final 20 minutes, A&M-Commerce went to junior running back Marcus Graham, who picked up 32 yards, including a four-yard jaunt into the end zone for the first lead of the night for the Lions. Also, during the drive, Farkes connected with Jackson on a 30-yard pass and catch on a 3rd and 6 for only the second third-down conversion of the game at that time for the Lions.

 

With a slight 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter, the Lions scored 20 points in the fourth quarter. After forcing the Peacocks to punt, the Lions marched down the field on a seven play, 71-yard drive that ended when Graham found the end zone for the second time from three yards out. A key play on the drive for A&M-Commerce was when Upper Iowa was called for pass interference on a 3rd and 6 when a pass by Farkes intended for Joe Paul Pryor.

 

The defense got into the scoring act, later in the quarter, when A.J. Billings picked off a Curran pass and alertly pitched the ball to teammate Chez Thomas, who found the end zone to put the Lions in front by a 26-10 margin. The final score came when redshirt freshman La'Ryon Witherspoon broke through the right side of the offensive line from 39 yards for his first collegiate touchdown.

 

Next on the schedule for the Lions is Angelo State in the 2010 Harvey Martin Classic at the Cotton Bowl, Saturday September 11th at 5 pm in Dallas.