COMMERCE – The No. 14 Texas A&M University-Commerce football team excelled in all three phases of the game, as the Lions closed out the regular season with a 41-13 victory over visiting Angelo State University on Saturday at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium.

The Lions complete the regular season with a record of 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Rams wrap up the year at 6-5 overall and 4-4 in league play. 

The field for the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs will be announced Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Lions will host a watch party at 3:30 p.m. in The Club in the Rayburn Student Center.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Lion offense averaged over six yards per play, rolling up 451 yards. The attack was balanced with 230 rushing yards and 221 passing yards.
- Defensively, the Lions allowed less than four yards per play and limited Angelo State to eight total first downs.
- Ovie Urevbu (Plano – Legacy Christian Academy) had his third straight game of over 100 yards, carrying the ball 30 times for 184 yards with touchdowns of 35 and 15 yards.
- Kane Wilson (New Orleans, La.) completed 16-of-28 passes for 221 yard with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
- Ryan Stokes (St. Louis, Mo.) had five receptions for 59 yards. Marquis Wimberly (Duarte, Calif.) had four catches for 59 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown reception. Vincent Hobbs (Mesquite – Horn) had three catches for 63 yards and a 3-yard touchdown catch.
- Dominique Ramsey (Converse – Judson) had a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.
- Garrett Blubaugh (Keller) had 13 tackles and a forced fumble to lead the Lions. He teamed up with Deionte Haywood (Costa Mesa, Calif.) for a sack, while Neema Behbahani (Plano) and Jaylon Hodge (Houston – FB Travis) each had sacks. Jalon Edwards-Cooper (Spring – Dekaney) had six tackles with two tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and three pass breakups.
- Kicker Kristov Martinez (Edinburg) was perfect in the kicking game with five PATs and a 2-for-2 night on field goals. He kicked a career-long 52-yarder in the second quarter for his 68th career field goal, tying him for second in Division II history. With 11 kicking points in the game, he now has 424 career points, and needs 14 points to set the LSC scoring record. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions started off on fire, scoring on the game's first drive. A 32-yard pass from Wilson to Hobbs put the Lions in ASU territory, then Urevbu broke off a 35-yard scoring scamper to give the Lions the 7-0 lead with just over a minute off of the clock.

After holding ASU to a three-and-out, A&M-Commerce pushed the lead to 14-0. Urevbu had two first down carries early in the drive, and a clutch pass from Wilson to Stokes put the Lions in the red zone. Wilson's three-yard touchdown pass to Hobbs with 8:29 left in the first quarter put the Lions up by two scores.

Interceptions set up the Rams' only two scores of the night. Donavyn Jackson's pick and return to the A&M-Commerce 40 initiated a three-play touchdown drive, and Gilbert Gildersleeve III had a 55-yard pick six to get the Rams to within 14-13, but Haywood blocked the extra point attempt to keep the Lions on top.

On the next drive, Wilson completed three passes to Stokes in succession, followed by three Urevbu rushes before A&M-Commerce settled for Martinez' 24-yard field goal. That score made it a 17-13 Lion lead with 14:12 left in the half.

Two drives later, Martinez made it a 20-13 lead with the career-long 52-yard field goal with 7:57 left in the half.

The Lions got the ball back on a punt with 26 seconds left in the half and wasted no time recording points. A 21-yard pass to Matt Childers (Henderson) set up Wilson's 39-yard scoring strike to Wimberly. That play gave the Lions a 27-13 lead at the halftime break.

The Lions' second drive of the third quarter resulted in a touchdown thanks to strong work carried by Urevbu. While a 28-yard pass to Hobbs set up the final push, Urevbu had six carries on the drive. His sixth carry was a 15-yard touchdown play to put the Lions ahead 34-13 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

The Rams were able to drive into Lion territory on the next drive and went for it on fourth-and-3 from the A&M-Commerce 18. Payne Sullins' pass to the end zone was picked by Ramsey, who weaved his way for the 99-yard interception return for a touchdown, making it 41-13. Ramsey now has three returns for touchdowns this season – two on interceptions and one on a punt.

The fourth quarter saw no scoring, but the Lions kept the Rams from threatening late in the game, allowing only one first down in regular play in the final 15 minutes. Big plays by the defense wrapped up win number nine on the year for the blue and gold.