DAVIS, Calif. – Despite 22 points in the second half on Saturday night at UC Davis Health Stadium, the Texas A&M University-Commerce football team came up just short in a 36-22 loss at the hands of No. 18/18 ranked UC Davis.
The Lions trailed for the entire game, but had a chance to tie the game, driving in Aggie territory with less than a minute left in the game. UC Davis picked off a pass and returned it back for a 60-yard touchdown and secured the win.
UC Davis had four offensive drives in the red zone in the second quarter, they kicked in three field goals to lead 9-0 at the half, all from the legs of Hunter Ridley. The first kick was from 28 yards out with 7:23 left in the half, another from 32 yards out, and a third from 29 yards out.
Devante Keys (Cy Ranch) stalled an Aggie drive in the red zone with an interception.
Jaden Rios (Frisco – Lone Star) came in with the blitz to pressure the UC Davis quarterback.
DEVANTE KEYS INTERCEPTION HIGHLIGHT
On the first drive of the second half, the Aggies drove down 75 yards in less than three minutes, with Miles Hastings throwing a four-yard touchdown to Chaz Davis. Following a Lion three-and-out, the Aggies wasted no time as Samuel Gbatu Jr. caught a 54-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the drive from Hastings.
The first points of the night for the Lions came with 4:51 left in the third, as
Ron Peace (Malakoff) found a wide-open
Sean Sallis (Carrollton – Creekview) for a 32-yard touchdown.
SEAN SALLIS TOUCHDOWN HIGHLIGHT
The Aggies answered with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hastings to Winston Williams with 9:02 left in the game. On the ensuing drive,
EJ Oakmon (Pflugerville) sailed to the end zone on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Peace.
EJ OAKMON TOUCHDOWN HIGHLIGHT
The Lions inched closer and made it a one-possession game with 5:03 left in the game as
Brooks Rigney (McKinney – Boyd) hauled in a 17-yard touchdown catch and
Sean Sallis came up with the reception on the two-point conversion.
BROOKS RIGNEY TOUCHDOWN HIGHLIGHT
Following a UC Davis punt, the Lions got the ball at their own 24, being down seven, and with 1:54 left in the game. After converting for a first down on a fourth-and-two, A&M-Commerce took advantage of a UC Davis penalty to march into Aggie territory.
David Meyer picked off a pass from Peace and ran it back to put the Aggies back up by 14 with 46 seconds left, essentially ending the game.
Peace made his first start as a Lion and threw for an impressive 457 yards along with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He is the first Lion quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in a game since Luis Perez, who did it twice in 2017 and it is also the fourth most in a game in program history.
Both Rigney and
Tyler Daniels (Hattiesburg, Miss.) led the team with 88 receiving yards each. Defensively,
Kendall Paul (Dallas – Bishop Dunne) led the way with 11 tackles, while
Brandon Tucker (DeSoto) had eight tackles, both had two tackles for loss.
POST GAME INTERVIEW
UP NEXT
After back-to-back trips to California to start the season, the Lions welcome Grambling next Saturday at 6 p.m. for the home opener inside Ernest Hawkins Field. Tickets can be purchased at
LionAthletics.com/tickets.
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