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STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton Texans 27 second half points Saturday to defeat the Incarnate Word Cardinals in Lone Star Conference South Division action in Stephenville, 41-27.
The Texans trailed 17-14 at halftime, but Tarleton held the Cardinals to 10 points in the second half, all of them in the fourth quarter, including a touchdown with two seconds left in the contest.
Tarleton improved to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the South Division while the Cardinals fell to 2-8 and 0-6.
The Texans scored on the first drive of the game when Evan Robertson ran the ball in from 14 yards out to cap a six-play, 67-yard drive. Blake Wiest added the extra point to make it 7-0.
The ensuing kickoff went off of an Incarnate Word player and was recovered by Tarleton's Jerome Regal. Tarleton moved the ball to the Cardinals' four-yard line, and on fourth down, Nick Stephen's pass to Will McLane was incomplete.
The visitors then took the ball 96 yards on 11 plays to score when Paden Lynch took the ball in on a quarterback keeper. Thomas Rebold added the extra point to make it 7-7 with 2:59 on the clock in the first quarter.
With 11:16 remaining in the second quarter, the Texans drove 50 yards on nine plays to score on a Stephens' keeper. The touchdown was set up by a 30-yard pass from Stephens to Devon Gray three plays earlier. Wiest added the kick to make it 14-7 Texans.
UIW took the ensuing drive 73 yards on 15 plays and punched the ball in from five yards out when Dominic Hamilton scored with 3:27 remaining in the first half. Rebold added the point after attempt to tie the game at 14.
On the kickoff, Tarleton's receiver fell down on the way to the ball, and UIW's Brenan Furtado recovered the ball on the 23-yard line. Six plays later, the Rebold kicked a 24-yard field goal to put the visitors on top with just 47 seconds left in the half, 17-14.
Damian Perkins intercepted a Lynch pass at the UIW 48-yard line to give the Texans their first possession of the half. Tarleton took the ball 48 yards and scored when Stephens found Jamal Mays for a 17-yard touchdown. Wiest's kick was off the mark, and Tarleton led 20-17 with 9:05 remaining in the third quarter.
The two teams traded possessions without scoring before Regal rushed the ball in from 19 yards away to cap a nine-play, 82-yard drive by the purple and white. The Wiest PAT was good, and Tarleton led 27-17 with 14:04 remaining in the contest.
The Texans' next kickoff was to the UIW four, and was returned just six yards to the 10, but a penalty put the ball half-the-distance to the goal for the visitors. From the five, the Cardinals gained no yards, and Aaron Willis was forced to punt from his own endzone. The ball went off the side of his foot and took a Tarleton bounce before being downed at the UIW eight-yard line for a three-yard punt.
Two plays later, Robertson punched it in from eight yards out with 12:13 left in the game. The kick was good, and Tarleton led, 34-17.
On the next UIW drive, the Cardinals drove 54 yards on 11 plays in 6:14 to score when Rebold hit a 27-yard field goal. With 6:00 remaining in the game, Tarleton held a 34-20 advantage.
Kenyin Thompson took the kickoff and returned it 41 yards to the UIW 47 before a face mask penalty added 15 yards to set the Texans up at the Cardinal 32. After a 14-yard rush by Robertson, Regal put the ball in the endzone from 18 yards out with 5:14 left in the game. Wiest added the kick to make it 41-20 Texans.
The Cardinals got the ball back with 1:15 remaining in the contest and got down to the Tarleton one before calling a timeout with seven seconds on the clock. Trent Rios then punched the ball in from one yard away with two seconds left. Rebold's kick gave the game its final score of 41-27.
Robertson and Regal each had two rushing touchdowns for the Texans as Tarleton pushed five scores across the goal line on the ground. Robertson ran 17 times for 110 yards while Regal had nine carries for 47 yards.
Stephens was 15-of-21 for 174 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
Gray had four catches for 66 yards to lead the purple and white.
Perkins led the team with 10 tackles, including three solo and seven assisted stops while Blair Johnson was second with nine, including four solo and five assisted tackles. The Texans recorded three sacks for minus-15 yards with a total of four tackles for a loss of minus-16 yards.
Rios had 18 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown while Lynch was 16-of-32 for 175 yards. He threw one interception.
Hamilton had seven catches for 77 yards to lead the receivers at UIW.
James Perez led the visiting defense with nine tackles as the Cardinals had one sack for minus-11 yards as part of four tackles for a loss of minus-18 yards.
The Texans gained 357 yards in the victory, including 201 yards rushing and 174 yards passing. The Cardinals recorded 317 yards of offense, including 175 yards through the air and 142 yards on the ground.
The Texans will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 13 at home against Eastern New Mexico at noon while the Cardinals will host Texas A&M-Commerce at 2 p.m.
