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STEPHENVILLE – No. 7 Texas A&M-Kingsville's Christian Brom hit a 41-yard field goal with 21 seconds left to give his team a 13-10 win over Tarleton on Saturday in Stephenville to ruin the Texans' Homecoming.
Tarleton's Blake Wiest had a chance to hit a 44-yard field goal with 9:00 left, but he missed the kick wide right. However, a Javelina penalty moved the ball five yards closer, but Wiest missed the 39-yard attempt to keep the game at 10.
The missed field goal was just one of several opportunities the Texans had to score. A dropped pass in the endzone by the Texans as well as several missed interceptions that went off the hands of the Texans hurt the purple and white cause. So did taking away two turnovers and not putting points on the board afterwards.
Tarleton fell to 2-6 on the season and 1-3 in the Lone Star Conference South Division while TAMUK improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in division play.
Brom started the scoring off with a 32-yard field goal with 14:28 left in the second quarter to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. The kick ended a 16-play, 64-yard drive that took 6:12 off the clock.
Tarleton took the lead on the next possession when Jamal Mays caught a 39-yard pass from Nick Stephens. A 50-yard kickoff return by Brandon Lowery put the Texans at the TAMUK 44-yardline to start the drive. Wiest's extra point made it 7-3 Tarleton with 13:31 remaining in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Tarleton used an onside kick to surprise the Javelinas, and Wiest recovered the ball at the Tarleton 43-yardline. The Texan kicker then added to the Tarleton total with a 30-yard field goal at 9:57 to cap an eight-play, 44-yard drive for the Texans. Tarleton led 10-3.
On the Javelinas' next possession, the visitors drove 85 yards on 12 plays to score a touchdown when Ryan Lincoln punched the ball in from two yards out. Brom's kick tied the score at 10 with 3:19 left in the first half.
Neither team scored in the second half until the winning kick by Brom.
Tarleton had 239 yards of total offense, including 109 yards on the ground and 130 yards through the air. The Javelinas tallied 357 yards of total offense, including 222 yards passing and 135 yards rushing.
Evan Robertson had 17 carries for 78 yards to lead the Texans while Stephens was 16-of-30 for 130 yards. He threw both a touchdown and an interception. Lower had three receptions for 26 yards to lead the home team.
Jacob Rowe and Damian Perkins led the team with 14 total tackles while Brandon Johnson had 13. Rowe had nine solo and five assisted tackles with a forced fumble, a recovery, a pass break-up and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Perkins had two solo and 12 assisted tackles for 14 total with a quarterback hurry while Johnson had 11 solo stops and two assisted tackles. He also had a tackle for loss.
The Texan defense forced and recovered two fumbles and had six break-ups on the night. Tarleton had seven tackles for a loss of minus-26 yards, including a sack for minus-six yards. Despite the forced turnovers, the Texans could not capitalize on the Javelinas' misfortunes.
Johnathon Woodson had 17 carries for 78 yards to lead the Javelinas while Nate Poppell was 23-of-39 for 222 yards. Lincoln led the team with 10 catches for 72 yards.
Marcus Sanders had eight tackles to lead the Javelinas on defense as the Top 10 team recorded three pass break-ups and a fumble recovery. TAMUK had six tackles for a loss minus-20 yards with one sack for minus-seven yards.
Tarleton will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Midwestern State at 7 p.m. TAMUK will play at Southwestern Oklahoma at 2 p.m.
