No. 8 Abilene Christian topped No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, 44-27, with an impressive comeback after trailing 21-7 early.  ACU snapped a 17-game home winning streak for NWMSU with a 37-6 scoring run to finish the game.
    Action on Thursday included a defensive battle between No. 10 West Texas A&M and No. 23 Mesa State.  The Buffs' defense came up big in the fourth quarter to give WTAMU a 23-20 road victory.  Southwestern Oklahoma and Tarleton State also recorded wins over Northwestern Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma, respectively.  Texas A&M-Kingsville, Northeastern State and East Central all suffered losses as the visiting teams.
    On Saturday, four Lone Star Conference teams - Eastern New Mexico, Central Oklahoma, Texas A&M-Commerce and Angelo State - dropped their season openers.
    The LSC is now 1-1 in the Southwest Region and against the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) after the Wildcat victory and the Bronchos close loss this week.
    This week the league was 4-7 overall including a 1-1 mark at home and 3-6 on the road.  Five of the 11 games were Division II contests, while four were against Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly 1-AA) teams and two were versus NAIA schools.
    Six LSC crossover match-ups are on the slate for next Saturday.

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LSC Players of the Week
North Offensive
Marcus Johnson, East Central, Jr., Quarterback, Abilene, Texas/Abilene    
Despite a 58-14 loss at NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision team Sam Houston State, junior quarterback Marcus Johnson completed 31-of-53 passes (58.5 percent) for 296 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Johnson fired TD passes of 6 yards to tight end Thurman Sims and 53 yards to Tyrone Gibbs. Johnson converted passes to 13 different receivers in the game.

North Defensive
Terry Hardeman, Central Oklahoma, Jr., Linebacker, Spencer, Okla./Star Spencer    
Hardeman led UCO's defensive efforts in a hard-fought 16-12 loss to No. 17-ranked Pittsburg State.  The junior had a game-high 13 tackles (eight solo) while causing two fumbles and recovering two fumbles.

North Special Teams
Spenser Daniel, Southwestern Oklahoma, Jr., K, Sulphur Springs, Texas    
Daniel scored SWOSU's first nine points, connecting on field goals of 40, 26 and 18 yards in a 29-15 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

South Offensive
Billy Malone, Abilene Christian, Sr., Quarterback, Paris, Texas/North Lamar
Malone completed 72 percent of his passes Saturday night as he led the eighth-ranked Wildcats to a 44-27 road win over No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, arguably the Wildcats' biggest regular-season victory in more than 40 years.  Malone completed 18 of 25 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.  The senior from Paris, Texas, rallied the Wildcats from first-quarter deficits of 14-0 and 21-7 to run the Wildcats' all-time record against MIAA opponents to 3-0-1 (2-0 vs. Nebraska-Omaha and 1-0-1 vs. NW Missouri State).  Trailing 21-7, Malone got the Wildcats back into the game with a 61-yard touchdown strike to Jonathan Ferguson.  That was the first score in an amazing 37-6 run the Wildcats put on the Bearcats from the first quarter through the end of the game.  He also connected with Ryan Keeling, Kendrick Holloway and Johnny Knox for touchdown passes.

South Defensive
Curtis Jefferson, West Texas A&M, R-Fr., DB, Houston, Texas/Cy-Ridge    
In his first collegiate outing, Jefferson led the Buffaloes, and tied for game-high tackle honors, with nine tackles (including an assist on a QB sack).  His forced fumble came inside the WT five yard line, preventing a potential Mesa State score.

South Special Teams
Garrett Lindholm, Tarleton State, Jr., Kicker, Pflugerville, Texas/Plfugerville    
Lindholm scored 15 of the Texans' 51 points, going three-for-three in field goals, including a 46-, 30- and 34-yards... Lindholm was also six-for-six in extra points... The kicker also had three touchbacks on 10 kickoffs and averaged 57.0 yards per kick... Lindholm also had two special teams tackles... He led the conference in scoring on the first weekend of the season both in overall and in kicking.