Angelo State 45, A&M-Commerce 7
Location: Memorial Stadium * Commerce, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (0-7, 0-5 LSC); Angelo State (4-4, 1-4 LSC)
Up Next: at No. 9 Abilene Christian * Saturday, Oct. 29 * 2 p.m.

COMMERCE, Texas – An energetic and spirited Homecoming crowd could do little to spur on A&M-Commerce as the Lions dig themselves an early 35-0 hole and could never recover, falling to Angelo State 45-14 at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Lions drop to 0-7 on the season and 0-5 in Lone Star Conference play and suffer their eighth consecutive loss dating back to the 2010 season.

J.J. Harp completed 29-of-40 passes for 238 yards with one interception for A&M-Commerce, connecting with eight different receivers on the afternoon. Freshman Seth Smith had a career day for the Lions, catching seven passes for 37 yards. Taylor Fore continued to move up the A&M-Commerce career receptions list, hauling in six passes for 44 yards. Fore now has 112 catches in a Lion uniform, moving up to fifth on the all-time list. He is now just five shy of surpassing Dudley Slice (1971-74) for fourth all-time.

Adam Jones finished with five catches for 73 yards for the Lions with Tyler Rawlings adding three receptions for 64 yards, including a 48-yard catch and run in the third quarter, setting up A&M-Commerce's first touchdown. Marcus Graham also had four catches for the Lions for 16 yards.

But as has been the story all season, A&M-Commerce's inability to run the ball proved to be one of its Achilles heels. The Lions entered the fourth quarter with -16 rushing yards, the second-straight week they had been in the red heading into the final 15 minutes. They ended up with five total rushing yards on the afternoon, led by 10 from Graham and nine from Jamar Mosely.

On the flip side, Angelo State rushed for 191 yards on the day, led by Tristan Carter's 124 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. Quarterback Blake Strickler completed 17 of his 22 passes for 209 yards and four Ram touchdowns.

Angelo State opened up the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run by Carter, capping a six-play, 72-yard drive to take the 7-0 lead after the first quarter. Early in the second, Strickler found Joey Knight for a five-yard strike, putting the Rams up 14-0. Strickler then hit Quinn Reels from four yards out in the waning seconds of the opening half, breaking the game open and giving Angelo State a 21-0 lead at the intermission.

The Rams picked up right where they left off in the second, taking the opening drive the field by stringing together a seven play, 76-yard drive with Strickler connecting with Carter for a four-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 28-0 early in the third quarter.

But whatever wind was left in the Lions' sails was flushed out, as after failing to generate any type of momentum on its ensuing drive, Angelo State returned the ensuing punt 70-yards to the endzone, giving the Rams a commanding 35-0 lead with 8:10 remaining in the third quarter.

A&M-Commerce finally got on the board as the Lions were able to generate a sustained drive, going 70 yards in seven plays, capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Graham with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Strickler finished his afternoon of work early in the fourth, connecting on a nine-yard touchdown pass to James Hurd, putting the Rams on top 42-7. Jarred Martin added a 34-yard field goal later in the fourth with the Lions closing out the scoring as Jamar Mosely rumbled five yards for a touchdown with six seconds remaining on the clock, cutting the final deficit to 45-14.

Defensively for A&M-Commerce, Cory Whitfield notched his fourth-straight double-digit tackle performance, finishing with 12 tackles, including one for loss. Joel Wren and Matt Claggett each had nine tackles for the Lions with Bryn Roy adding six, including A&M-Commerce's lone sack of the day. Roy also led the team with two tackles for loss.

With the loss, the Lions are now 44-31-1 on Homecoming and are still looking to snap an eight-game losing skid dating back to the 2010 season. The road doesn't get any easier, however, as A&M-Commerce now has to travel to Abilene Christian to take on the ninth-ranked Wildcats on Saturday, October 29. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.