STEPHENVILLE ? The No. 13 Tarleton Texans used two long drives in the fourth quarter to take a 44-32 victory over No. 16 Midwestern State Saturday in Stephenville.
The Texans, who improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division,
played a strong second half of defense, holding the Mustang offense to just 173 yards in the third and fourth quarters after the visitors had gained 346 yards in the first two quarters.
Special teams also played a big part in the win as the average Tarleton field position on kickoffs Saturday was the 50-yard line and overall was the Tarleton 41-yard line.
Tarleton's offense recorded 214 yards in the second half and outscored the Mustangs 17-9 in the last two quarters.
With 7:38 left in the first period, Stephen Arnold hit a 27-yard field goal that capped a 14-play, 66-yard drive that took 4:53 off the clock and put the Texans ahead 3-0 on Tarleton's first drive of the contest.
Midwestern State took the lead on the ensuing possession when Joe Chatman scored on a 27-yard touchdown run with 5:58 on the clock. The drive took six plays over 870 yards in just 100 seconds. The Jose Martinez kick was missed, and MSU led 6-3.
The Texans then scored with 3:33 on the clock when Michael Sampson caught a 23-yard pass from Scott Grantham. Arnold's kick gave the Texans a 10-6 lead, and the drive took five plays, 37 yards and 2:13 off the clock.
The Mustangs took the lead again with the first play of the second quarter when Chatman punched the ball in from two yards away. Martinez connected on the extra point to give MSU a 13-10 advantage. The drive was 77 yards long on 10 plays in 3:32.
Tarleton tied the score at 13 with 12:36 remaining in the first half when Arnold hit a 34-yard field goal. The drive took six plays over 32 yards in 2:10.
The visitors' Daniel Polk ran the ball in from six yards away, and Martinez's kick made it 20-13 MSU with 11:14 on the clock. The Mustangs then scored again on a Martinez 30-yard field goal with 6:25 remaining in the quarter after Tarleton's Marcus Phillips fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff. MSU led 23-13.
With 2:50 left in the half, Shamarr Prentice caught a 20-yard pass form Grantham to cap a six-play, 54-yard drive that took 3:31 off the clock. Arnold's kick pulled the Texans within three, 23-20.
Tarleton's Nathan Robinson then returned a Ben White punt 87 yards to give the Texans the lead with 48 ticks left in the first half. Arnold's kick made it 27-23 Tarleton at the break.
Midwestern State scored with 7:34 left in the third quarter when Martinez hit a 27-yard field goal to cap an eight-play, 16-yard drive that took 3:22. The score pulled the visitors within one as Tarleton led 27-26.
Arnold hit a 24-yard field goal with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter to end an eight-play, 38-yard drive that took just over three minutes. The Texans led 30-26.
With 49 ticks left in the third, Marcus Mathis ran the ball in from seven yards away, but Martinez's kick was blocked by Tarleton's Blake Bueltel, and the Mustangs led 32-30.
The Texans then converted the long fourth quarter drives. With 10:29 remaining in the fourth, Travis Evans punched the ball in from seven yards away to end a 10-play, 80-yard drive that took 5:20. Arnold's kick put the Texans up 37-32.
Tarleton then drove 99 yards after a Midwestern State punt left the Texans at their own one yardline. Evans ran the ball across the goal line from three yards out on the 13th play of the drive that took just over six minutes off the clock and gave the Texans a 44-32 lead with 1:57 remaining in the contest.
The Texan defense then stood firm and forced a turnover on downs with 1:14 remaining in the contest. A rush by Evans, and then the famous victory formation, gave the Texans the victory.
The Texans were led by Evans with 104 yards rushing on 13 carries while Grantham completed 21 of 32 pass attempts for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
Prentice led the teams with six receptions for 73 yards and a score while Devin Guinn had six catches for 49 yards.
The Texans gained 413 yards of total offense, including 225 yards through the air and 188 on the ground while allowing the Mustangs to garble up 479 yards of total offense, including 240 on the ground and 239 through the air. The 240 yards rushing was the highest total since Eastern New Mexico gained 297 yards on the Texans on Oct. 15, 2005.
Tarleton was led on defense by Bueltel and Keaton Daniels who each had five solo and four assisted tackles for nine total stops apiece. Bueltel added one and a half tackles for a loss of minus-14 yards. Jamaal Steamer led the team with two sacks for eight yards and three tackles for a loss of minus-13 yards.
Chatman led the Mustangs with 13 carries for 128 yards and Daniel Polk added 19 carries for 101 yards. MSU became the first team to have two runners rush for over 100 yards in the same game since Northeastern State accomplished the feat on Oct. 26, 2002.
Polk led the team in passing, completing 21 of 29 for 239 yards while Brandon Frazier had five receptions for 54 yards to lead the visitors.
The Mustang defense was led by Patrick Roberts with five solo and two assisted stops and Darius Bortters with three solo and four assisted tackles. Each had seven total tackles for the visitors.
The Texans will return to action Saturday, Oct. 20 at Eastern New Mexico. Kickoff in Blackwater Draw, N.M. is set for 6 p.m. MST.
