Three touchdown passes by quarterback Josh Neiswander and seven
quarterback sacks led visiting Angelo State to a 31-10 victory over
Texas A&M University-Commerce on Saturday night in the 2010
Harvey Martin Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
A&M-Commerce (1-1) got on the board first when it marched
down the field on its opening drive of the contest. The Lions
culminated an 11-play, 78-yard drive with a 22-yard field goal by
sophomore Ahmed
Abo-Mahmood for the early 3-0 advantage.
Junior Marcus
Graham had 20 carries and 76 yards and a touchdown in
the loss. Freshman Tevin Godfrey had his first
career 100-yard reception game with a four catch, 103-yard effort
and senior quarterback Adam
Farkes completed 17-for-37 with 201 yards.
Angelo State (2-0) scored the next 24 points, seven of which
came on an 83-yard touchdown strike from Neiswander to Dakari
Pecikonis and another seven on a 55-yard interception return by
Terrance Preston. The two big plays put the visitors ahead 14-3 at
the intermission.
Neiswander finished the day 16-for-30 with an interception and
261 yards to go along with three touchdown passes. On the ground,
the Rams were led by Nevin Gardiner, who ran nine times for 68
yards.
On the Lions' first possession of the second half, the Rams
nearly had its second interception for a touchdown before a
clipping penalty brought the return back. ASU stayed off the
scoreboard for just four plays until Neiswander connected with Nate
Bayless for a 37-yard touchdown strke to take a 24-3
advantage.
A&M-Commerce answered when junior Marcus
Graham ended a six-play, 62-yard drive with a five-yard
touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14, 24-10. In the drive, Graham
picked up 28 of the 62 yards, plus 30 of which came on the first
career reception by freshman Carrington
Brown.
The Rams closed out the scoring as Neiswander completed his
third touchdown pass to start the fourth quarter on a 33-yard pass
to V'Keon Lacy for the final margin.
Next, A&M-Commerce will look to bounce back when they take
to the road to face No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville at 7 p.m on
Saturday, Sept. 18th.
