Commerce, Texas – A&M-Commerce rallied from a 28-10 deficit early in the third quarter for an NCAA Championship Playoff clinching win, 36-35, over Angelo State after a game-winning 4th-and-1 stuff on a Ram quarterback sneak Saturday in Memorial Stadium.
 
Turning Point
- After Angelo State scored to take a 28-10 lead with 13:11 on the clock in the third quarter, Richard Cooper took the ensuing kickoff back 88 yards for the score to cut the deficit down to 28-17 and put life back into Memorial Stadium and the Lions sideline.
 
Highlights
- Harrison Stewart completed 22 of his 44 pass attempts for 335 yards and three touchdowns.
 
- Gabriel Rodriguez completed all three of his pass attempts including one for a seven-yard touchdown.
 
- Cooper carried the ball 16 times for 120 yards including a game-icing 50-yard run.
 
- Darby Smith hauled in eight passes for 138 yards and a score, while Lance Evans caught seven passes for 126 yards. Both Smith and Evans caught touchdown passes.
 
- Derrick Macon led the Lions with two touchdown receptions. He had seven catches for 62 yards.
 
- Charles Woods recorded a team-high 10 tackles including five solo tackles.  He also recorded a half tackle for a loss.
 
- Devar Brown and Gage Windsor each blocked kicks for the Lions.
 
- Kevin Mederias had nine tackles including a team-high two tackles for loss.  He also recorded a pass break up.
 
- All told, the Lions had seven tackles for loss compared to two tackles for loss for the Rams.
 
- Darian Lindsey had the Lions only interception of the game.
 
Summary
1st Quarter
- Lindsey had the only highlight of the first quarter with an interception of ASU's Kyle Washington.
 
2nd Quarter
- The Lions marched 80 yards in 14 plays as Stewart hit Macon for a seven-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead with 13:47 on the clock in the second.  Facing a 3rd and 22, Stewart hit Evans for 43 yards to keep the scoring drive alive.
 
- ASU answered with a 7-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 43-yard pass from Washington to Donovan Thompson to tie the game at seven.
 
- The Lions took 10-7 lead on a Kristov Martinez 35-yard field goal with 8:15 left before the half.
 
- The Rams took their first lead of the game after a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a two-yard Ryan Byrd touchdown run.  Brown broke through and blocked the Rams' point after attempt.
 
- ASU blocked a Lions' 44-yard field goal attempt and marched 75 yards in five plays for a touchdown when Washington ran 29 yards for the score.  The Rams took a 21-10 lead going into the locker room when Washington ran for the two-point conversion.
 
3rd Quarter
- Coming out of the half, the Rams sucked the momentum out of Memorial Stadium with another 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive to take a 28-10 lead.  This time Washington ran for eight yards for the score.
 
- Cooper immediately answered for the Lions and pumped life back into the stadium with an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to trim the Ram lead down to 28-17.
 
- The Lions chipped away at the deficit, 28-25, with an 8-play, 58-yard scoring drive. Stewart hit Smith for 36 yards and the touchdown to cap off the drive.  ASU blocked the A&M-Commerce point after attempt.
 
- Angelo extended the lead out to 35-23 when Washington hit Brett Rasberry for 10 yards a touchdown with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
 
- The Lions closed out the third quarter with a 6-play, 68-yard scoring drive that resulted a Rodriguez three-yard touchdown pass to Macon to pull the Lions back within single digits, 35-30.
 
4th Quarter
- With the Lions facing a 4th-and-3 on the their own 12 yard line, A&M-Commerce could not convert a first down on a fake punt pitting the defense against the Ram offense on a short. The Lions defense answered the bell and stonewalled the Ram offense. ASU had to settle for a 28 yard field goal that was blocked by Gage Windsor.
 
- The Lions marched 80-yards in seven plays to take their first lead, 36-35, since 2:41 in the second quarter when they lead 10-7.  Evans hauled in a 25-yard pass from Stewart for the score.  The drive was highlighted by a 43-yard hookup from Stewart to Smith on a 3rd-and-5.
 
- A&M-Commerce's defense preserved the one-point lead stopping two Ram drives during the final 7:21 seconds.  The Ram's final drive, a 14-play, 73-yard drive, was stopped at the one and half yard line when ASU attempted a 4th-and-1 from the Lions two yard line.  The Rams went under center to attempt the quarterback sneak, but Tyree Barton collapsed from his end position to stuff the drive. After a measurement the Rams came up a foot short and turned the ball over on downs.
 
- Cooper clinched the win with a 50-yard run the Lions back up on their own 2-yard line.
 
Inside the box score
- Darian Lindsey picked off his first career pass in the first quarter. It was the Lions 17th INT of the season.
 
- Stewart has throw for 300-plus yards in back-to-back games after his 335 yards Saturday and his 432 yards against Sam Houston State on October 31.  Stewart has thrown for 2,644 yards moving just 218 yards within surpassing Buster Faulkner's 2,861 yards in 2004 for second on the Lions single-season passing list.  Stewart has thrown for 4,487 yards moving into seven on the Lions all-time passing list.  He surpassed Royce Slechta and his 4,378 yards from 1985-87.
 
- Cooper eclipsed the 2,000 yard career rushing mark as his 116 yards becoming just the sixth Lion all-time with over 2,000 rushing yards.  His 2,025 career yards moves him into sixth all-time on the career rushing list.
 
- On the season, Cooper has ran for 1,186 yards in 2015 moving into seventh on the Lions single-season rushing mark just ahead of Demetrius Rector and his 1,167 yards in 2001.
 
- Cooper's 88 yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the first kick return for a score in the Carthel-era. The last Lion kickoff return for a touchdown came in 2010 when Kenzee Jackson took a kickoff 87 yards for a score on September 4.
 
- With Smith and Evans hauling in 138 yards and 126 yards respectively through the air, the Lions had a pair of receivers over 100 yards for the first time in 2015.
 
- The Lions have won on goal line stands in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Playoffs for the second straight season after stopping Tarleton State in 2014.
 
- A&M-Commerce and played six straight games decided by five points or less. In the last three meetings, the Rams have scored 35 points and have gone 1-2 in those games.
 
What's Next?
- The Lions will host No. 2 seed Midwestern State Saturday, November 14 at 2:30 p.m. in Memorial Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on the American Sports Network.  The Mustangs had to rally to down No. 3 seed Eastern New Mexico, 26-21. 
 
- The Lions won the first meeting between the two teams, 27-14, on October 24 to clinch the Lone Star Conference regular season championship.

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