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.
