STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State had its three-game winning streak snapped on a last minute touchdown by Angelo State in a 34-31 heartbreaker at Memorial Stadium Saturday night.
The Texans, who entered the fourth quarter with a 24-13 lead, were outscored 21-7 in the final frame with the game-winning strike coming from four yards out with 00:31 seconds left to give Angelo State the No. 2 seed in the LSC playoffs and Tarleton State the No. 4 seed. The Texans will play No. 1 seed Texas A&M-Commerce next Saturday at 4 p.m. in Commerce.
After Angelo State took the 34-31 lead, Tarleton State came out on offense and had its chance to retake the lead.
Zed Woerner completed his first three passes of the final Tarleton drive to
Bubba Tandy,
Dominique Martin and
Le'Nard Meyers, respectively, to set the Texans up with a first-and-10 from the Angelo 26-yard line. Tarleton then had two incompletions and a false start before a tipped interception sealed the game for the Rams.
Angelo got the scoring started in the second quarter with a 37-yard field goal after both defense pitched a shutout in the opening frame.
The three points was all Angelo would muster off a stingy Tarleton defense in the first half as the Woerner-led Texan offense tacked on 17 points in the second quarter. The first Tarleton score came on a three-yard pass from the sophomore QB to
Clifton Rhodes III and then added a Woerner run from one-yard out and a 25-yard field goal from
Blake Barnes to take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, Angelo tacked on another three points – this time from 40 yards out – before the Texans added another touchdown from
Zach Henshaw to take a 24-6 lead.
Angelo State struck for its first touchdown at 6:10 in the third quarter when a Tarleton defender tipped the pass right into the waiting arms of the Ram receiver, who scampered into the end zone to complete the 55-yard touchdown toss.
That touchdown was the first of four touchdowns the Rams would score over the rest of the game while keeping the Texans to just one more score - on a 62-yard run by
Jabari Anderson – en route to the 34-31 final score.
Woerner, who entered the game after starter
Collin Strahan was forced to exit with an injury following the first two offensive play, was 31-44 with a touchdown and an interception for 302 yards. He also added 36 yards rushing on nine carries.
Meyers led the team in yards and receptions with 127 yards on 10 catches for his second 10-reception game of the season. Anderson led the team in rushing with 78 yards on five carries.
The Texan defense, which held the Angelo offense in check for most of the game, was led by
Marc Martinez with 19 tackles and
Alex Anderson with 16. Anderson also had three tackles for a loss and a sack.
Tarleton forced three turnovers on the night, two of which came from Martinez. The senior from Waco recorded a pick and scooped up a fumble, which he ran back 68 yards.
Jonathan Blair also recovered a fumble.
Despite the loss, Tarleton State is still in the championship bracket of the new Lone Star Conference playoffs, which begin next week. The Texans earned the No. 4-seed and will visit top-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce next Saturday for a 4 p.m. kickoff.
