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NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Tarleton Texans put up a strong fight and looked better than they have all season from beginning to end, but the visitors fell just short of pulling off an upset over NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Northwestern State (La.) Saturday in Natchitoches, La., 17-14.

The Texans (0-3) pulled within three in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, and the defense had the home team set up for a third down in their own territory, but a 34-yard pass sealed the win for the Demons. 

Tarleton falls to 0-3 on the season for the first time since 2006, though the Texans finished that season as co-champions of the Lone Star Conference South Division. 

"Our guys grew up tonight, and we definitely had our chances to win this game," said Tarleton head coach Cary Fowler.  "We made big strides tonight.  We will put this one behind us and get ready to play at No. 5 Abilene Christian next Saturday as we open up [LSC] South Division play.  If we grow up next week as much as we did this week, we will be ready."

The Texans should have tied the game at 14 in the third quarter, but a “holding” penalty pushed the ball back, and the drive eventually stalled.  Penalties again hurt the Texans as Tarleton was flagged 14 times for 119 yards.  NSU was also called for 14 penalties for 140 yards, and five of those came in the fourth quarter.

The Demons took their first drive and went 88 yards on seven plays to score the game's first touchdown in just 2:44.  T.C. Henry caught an eight-yard pass from Paul Harris, and John Shaughnessy's kick made 7-0 with 12:16 on the clock.

Tarleton's Saleem Hakim took the ensuing kickoff return to the Tarleton 42-yardline, but a block in the back pushed the Texans back to their own 32-yardline.  Tarleton then took the ball 68 yards on 12 plays to score.  Jeken Frye caught a three-yard pass from Aaron Doyle to close a drive that took 6:26, and Blake Wiest's kick tied the score at seven with 5:40 on the clock.

With 14:10 on the clock the Demons' Sterling Endsley punched the ball in from one yard out to close an eight-play, 59-yard drive.  The extra point was good, and the home team led 14-7. 

The Texans then drove the ball 34 yards on 10 plays and converted a fourth-and-one to keep the drive alive, but a bad spot on a rush by Jerome Regal at the NSU 14 on a third-and-one.  Regal was then stopped on fourth down, and Tarleton turned the ball over on downs with 3:14 left in the half. 

Tarleton's Blair Johnson intercepted a pass at the Texan 42-yardline, but the Demons' defense forced a three-and-out by the Texans.  With five seconds on the clock, NSU took a knee, heading into the locker room with a 14-7 lead.

A complete pass and a fumble by a Demon in the second quarter was recovered by Perkins, but the officials said the ball was fumbled out-of-bounds.

At the break, NSU was outgaining the visitors 178 to 127 in total offense.  The Demons had 61 yards rushing and 117 yards passing to 68 yards rushing by the Texans and 59 yards passing.

Tarleton got the ball to open the second half, and five plays later, Doyle kept the ball for a 65-yard touchdown that was then called back for a holding penalty by Shawn Wyatt who was on the opposite side of the action.

With 9:05 left in the third quarter, the Demons tried a fake field goal, but Tarleton's Devin Figures was not fooled, and he stopped the trick play behind the line of scrimmage.  A pass interference call moved the Texans to their own 43-yardline, but the offense stalled and was forced to punt the ball.

The two teams traded possessions, including back-to-back fumbles before Shaughnessy hit a 44-yard field goal at 8:37 to close a seven-play, 31-yard drive that took 3:15 off the clock. 

The Texan defense forced a punt and took over at 4:06, and the offense drove 74 yards on 10 plays in 2:37. A pass interception gave the Texans the ball at the NSU 14-yardline, and three plays later, Doyle punched it in from five yards out.  Wiest hit the extra point to make it 17-14 with 1:29 on the clock.

Jerry Owens kicked off 54 yards to the NSU 16 and a return of three yards was stopped by Brandon Johnson for the Texans.  Tarleton forced a third and four at the NSU 25, but Harris connected with Brant Legendre for a 35-yard pass to seal the victory for the Demons.

The win ended the Demons' 15-game losing streak as NSU improved to 1-2 and handed head coach Bradley Dale Peveto his first victory at the helm of the Demons.

 Tarleton finished with 246 total yards of offense, including 143 yards in the air and 103 yards on the ground.  The Demons rushed for 129 yards and passed for 225 for a total of 354 yards of offense Saturday.

Tarleton had the ball for 32:41 while NSU controlled the ball for 26:19.custompages/FBStats/FB2010/fb091810.htm

Evan Roberston led the team with 24 carries for 94 yards while Frye had four receptions for 51 yards.  Clarke Renfro had four catches for 31 yards.

Doyle passed for 143 yards and a touchdown while going 16-for-35.

Lonnie Buchanan led the team with 11 tackles, including six solo and five assisted tackles with a fumble recovery.  Tarleton had seven tackles for a loss of minus-23 yards, including two sacks for minus-12 yards.

NSU was led by Paul Harris with 208 yards passing and a score.  He was 15-of-23 with an interception.

Endsley had 12 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown while Bradley Brown led the team in receptions with three for 41 yards.  Jake Bryan also had three catches, his for 31 yards. 

Derek Rose led the home team with nine total tackles, including four solo and five assisted stops.  The Demons did not have any sacks against the Texans, but they did get four tackles for a loss of minus-four yards.

Tarleton will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. at Abilene Christian as the Texans open LSC South Division play in Abilene.