EARLY DEFICIT TOO GREAT AS LIONS FALL TO 19TH-RANKED WILDCATS, 40-28
No. 19 Abilene Christian 40, A&M-Commerce 28
Location: Shotwell Stadium * Abilene, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (0-8, 0-6 LSC); Abilene Christian (6-2, 5-1 LSC)
Up Next: vs. Eastern New Mexico * Saturday, Nov. 5 * 6 p.m. * Memorial Stadium
ABILENE, Texas -- A&M-Commerce spotted 19th-ranked Abilene Christian an early 30-point lead, and the deficit proved to be too great to overcome as the Lions drop a 40-28 decision to the Wildcats at Shotwell Stadium. A&M-Commerce remains winless on the year, dropping to 0-8 overall and 0-6 in Lone Star Conference play.
J.J. Harp set an A&M-Commerce single-game record, completing 36 of his 59 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 36 completions surpasses Adam Farkes' previous record of 35 against Central Oklahoma in 2009. His favorite target on the day was Kevin Bevans, who set personal-bests in both receptions (10) and yards (100).
Tyler Rawlings had another solid performance for the Lions, hauling in six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. Taylor Fore also had six catches on the afternoon for 56 yards, setting a pair of milestones for the senior. Fore now has 118 career receptions, moving him into, fittingly, fourth all-time in program history for catches. He also upped his season total to 51 receptions, making him just the 10th player in program history to notch at least 50 catches in a season. He is just seven shy of Victor Bennett's single-season record of 58 receptions.
The Lion running game was able to establish itself a little bit against the Wildcats, picking up 90 yards on 32 carries. Marcus Graham led the way with 50 yards on 11 carries, upping his career total to 1,833 yards and leaving him 105 yards shy of 10th-place all-time. Darryll Crummie added 38 yards on six carries while Jamar Mosley tallied 31 yards on six carries as well.
It looked promising early for A&M-Commerce as after going three and out on its first possession, the Lions' Marcus Fore intercepted a Mitchell Gale pass at their own 45 yard line, giving A&M-Commerce signs of life. But the Lions were unable to take advantage, punting the ball back to Abilene Christian and on the Wildcats' first play of the ensuing drive, Daryl Richardson rattled off a 76-yard touchdown run, giving the Wildcats the early 7-0 lead.
A&M-Commerce tried to respond, but Harp fumbled the ball on a sack, giving possession back to the Wildcats. Richardson then struck again, this time busting out a 46-yard touchdown run for the 14-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
It would stay that way until the second when Abilene Christian added a 21-yard field goal early in the second, giving somewhat of a moral victory to the Lions after keeping the Wildcats out of the endzone. But that victory was short-lived as Mike Williams would intercept a pass from Harp and return it 46 yards to the endzone, giving the Wildcats the 24-0 advantage.
Abilene Christian would extend the lead to 30-0 when Mitchell Gale connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Darian Hogg with just under five minutes remaining in the opening half. A&M-Commerce would finally get on the board in the waning minutes of the opening half as Harp found Rawlings for a 20-yard touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 30-7 at halftime.
The Wildcats would strike first in the second half, connecting on a 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 33-7, but from that point on, it was actually A&M-Commerce that was more efficient in the second half. The Lions rattled off a pair of rushing touchdowns, the first coming from Crummie from eight yards out and the second a seven-yard scamper from Marcus Graham, cutting the Wildcat advantage to just 12 at 33-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Abilene Christian would extend the lead back to 19 early in the fourth quarter as Gale connected with Ben Gibbs from 13-yards out, putting the Wildcats on top 40-21. A&M-Commerce responded by driving the length of the field with Jarrett Golightly making his first career reception count, hauling in a two-yard touchdown pass from Harp to cut the deficit to 12 once again at 40-28.
With momentum on its side, A&M-Commerce attempted and recovered an onside kick, giving them the ball with just under seven minutes remaining. The Lions were able to move the ball a bit, but turned it over on downs. The Lions got one last chance with just under three minutes to go, but once again couldn't convert on a fourth down, giving the ball back to Abilene Christian who ran out the clock.
Abilene Christian finished with 448 yards of total offense, compared to 387 for A&M-Commerce. The Lions held the advantage in passing yard (297 to 254) but the Wildcats' generated over 100 more yards of offense on the ground, outrushing A&M-Commerce 194 to 90. Both teams had issues holding onto the ball, committing five turnovers apiece.
Defensively, Cory Whitfield paced the Lions with eight tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss. Joel Wren and Bryn Roy both had six solo tackles for A&M-Commerce with Roy adding a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. Tevin Moore added five tackles for the Lions, including two for loss and a fumble recovery.
Abilene Christian was led by Gale's 19-of-31 passing for 254 yards and the pair of touchdowns. Richardson finished with 170 yards rushing on 18 carries for the Wildcats while Justin Andrews had five catches for 52 yards. Defensively, Thor Woerner finished with nine stops for Abilene Christian.
A&M-Commerce now has two games remaining on the year, beginning with its final home game of the year on Saturday, November 5. The Lions host Eastern New Mexico at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. The game against the Greyhounds also marks the Lions' Senior Day as the graduating A&M-Commerce players will be recognized prior to the start of the game.
