Midwestern State's Jimmy Pipkin rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown to lead the 18th-ranked Mustangs to a 44-13 win over Tarleton State in the driving rain Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

 

The Mustangs rolled up 450 yards of offense including 308 on the ground to improve to 5-0 on the season and 4-0 in Lone Star Conference play while the Texans dropped to 1-5 and 1-3.

 

Tarleton took advantage of a pair of Mustangs' miscues to claim a 13-7 first quarter lead.

 

Texans quarterback Nick Stephens scored on a 2-yard run after MSU mishandled a punt snap to give Tarleton possession at the Midwestern 8-yard line early in the first quarter.

 

After Keidrick Jackson, who rushed for 53 yards on 15 carries, burst in for the first of his two rushing scores, Tarleton's Cordell Valentine muffed the ensuing kickoff the burst 74 yards for a touchdown to give the Texans their final lead of the game.

 

Jackson carried the ball over from 2 yards on the next possession, then Tarleton was flagged for holding in the end zone resulting in a safety to give MSU a 16-13 lead.

 

MSU quarterback Brandon Kelsey burst 33 yards for another score to give the Mustangs a 23-13 halftime lead.

 

Then the Mustangs and the rain poured it on the Texans in the second half.

 

Kelsey connected with David Little for a 27-yard scoring connection on a 4th-and-9 play early in the third quarter before Lester Bush plowed in from 1 yard out after the Texans failed to convert on a 4th-and-1 from its own 36 to give the Mustangs a commanding 37-13 bulge.

 

Pipkin closed out the scoring with an 83-yard romp to pay dirt with an 11:02 to play.

 

Kelsey threw for 142 yards on 14-of-19 passing and touchdown while rushing for 56 yards on eight carries.

 

Tarleton's Courtney Vaughn ran for 90 yards on 26 carries to lead the Texans.

 

Midwestern State hits the road to battle Angelo State on Saturday, while Tarleton plays host to Texas A&M-Commerce. 

 

The No. 20-ranked West Texas A&M Buffaloes picked up a 19-7 Lone Star Conference win over the visiting Angelo State Rams in WT’s Homecoming game in front of a crowd of 14,577 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon on Saturday.

 

The Buffs tallied just 252 total yards on offense and allowed the Rams to pick-up 327 yards of offense, but the game was a different story as WT did not allow ASU to score until eight seconds remained in the game. 

 

Neither team put up points in the first quarter, but WT finally broke the threshold with a 36-yard touchdown reception from Dustin Vaughan to Tommy Hampton with 2:21 left in the second quarter to put the Buffs up 7-0. ASU would drive the ball down the field in its final possession of the half, but WT’s John McScheffery picked off the Rams’ Jake Strickler in the end zone as time expired.

 

WT took a 10-point lead on a field goal from Sergio Castillo that was good from 32-yards out with 11:37 left in the third quarter, but WT would not score again until the 12:16 mark of the fourth quarter.

 

WT wide receiver Brittan Golden looked to have scored his second punt return for a touchdown with 12:23 left to play in the game, but both punt returns were called back for an illegal advancement of the ball and an illegal block in the back calls. Golden’s second punt return that was called back put the Buffs with a first-and-10 situation at the ASU 23-yard line and after an incomplete pass, Khiry Robinson hit pay-dirt on the very next play with his 23-yard rushing touchdown to put the Buffs up by 16. Castillo’s extra point was good and WT led 17-0 with 13:11 left to play.

 

ASU’s very next possession was stalled at its own 12-yard line and on the ensuing put, WT’s Torrence Allen came flying in to block the punt that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety and a 19-0 lead for the Buffs. ASU later avoided the shutout when Strickler and C.J. Atkins hooked up for a 26-yard touchdown with 8 seconds left to play, and WT came away with the 19-7 win instead.

 

The Buffs improved to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the LSC, while ASU falls to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the LSC. It was the sixth straight win over the Rams and seventh straight homecoming win for the Buffs. WT improved to 10-14 overall in the all-time series with ASU as well.

Faced with a potential trap game at Greyhound Stadium on Saturday, the 10th-ranked ACU Wildcats put together a workman-like performance in a 36-7 win over Eastern New Mexico.

The Wildcats scored the final 36 points of the game to overcome an early deficit and win their sixth straight over ENMU.  The win pushes the Wildcats to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Lone Star Conference, while the Greyhounds fall to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the LSC.

The win sets up ACU for next Saturday's showdown with LSC rival West Texas A&M at 2 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium as ACU celebrates Homecoming.  

ACU spotted the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead, but then answered with five straight touchdowns and one field goal to turn that deficit into a dominating victory.  

Junior quarterback Mitchell Gale threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns and Reggie Brown ran the ball 10 times for 78 yards and one score, but it was the ACU defense that put this one in the win column for the Wildcats.

ENMU entered the game as the fourth-ranked passing offense in NCAA Division II football, while the Wildcats ranked 148th out of 150 NCAA Division II teams in pass defense.  But the Wildcats put together their most complete game of the season, holding Wesley Wood – eighth in the nation in total offense – to just 192 yards and one touchdown.  

Redshirt freshman Justin Stephens picked off a pass early in the third quarter that set up an ACU touchdown and the ACU defense held the Greyhounds to their lowest passing yardage total of the season.  

The Greyhounds had 200 yards of offense in the first half, but the Wildcats limited the Greyhounds to just 88 yards in the second half, including a mere 13 yards in the third quarter.  The Wildcats had constant pressure on Wood and finished the game with four sacks and six quarterback hurries.

Thor Woerner and Darian Williams had six tackles apiece, and backup linebacker Chris Jones – playing defensive tackle to get more speed on the field against ENMU's wide-open passing offense – had five tackles and one sack of Wood.

After ENMU got on the board first, the Wildcats went on a five-play, 57-yard drive that ended when Gale hit Taylor Gabriel from nine yards out to tie the game, 7-7, with 5:54 left in the first quarter.  The Wildcats took the lead for good on their next drive when they went 87 yards on 12 plays, ending the drive on a 2-yard scoring pass from Gale to Ben Gibbs.

ENMU responded with a crisp drive that moved deep into ACU territory, but ended when Taylor Cannon missed a 26-yard field goal.  ACU responded with a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that made it 21-7 with 4:47 left in the first half.

Stephens created the only turnover of the game when he stepped in front of a Wood pass on ENMU's first play of the third quarter and returned it to the ENMU 14-yard line.  It only took ACU three plays to get into the end zone from there as Gale hit Darrell Cantu-Harkless from 13 yards out.  Morgan Lineberry's PAT was no good and ACU's lead was 27-7 with 12:19 left in the third quarter.  Lineberry hit a 24-yard field goal with 1:34 left in the third quarter and ACU took a 30-7 lead to the game's final 15 minutes.

The game's final points came on a Reggie Brown 9-yard touchdown run, and after Lineberry missed his second PAT of the game, ACU's lead was 36-7 with 11:04 left in the game.  The ACU defense would respond one last time as Caleb Withrow knocked down a potential touchdown pass on fourth down on ENMU's last possession, and ACU was able to run out the final four minutes of the game.