Box Score STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State dropped its second straight game Saturday night with a 27-23 loss to No. 18 Midwestern State in the 2014 home opener at Memorial Stadium.
 
In a tightly contested battle between Lone Star Conference rivals, Tarleton State took a late lead on a 12-yard touchdown strike from Collin Strahan to Clifton Rhodes III with 6:29 left in the game, but the Mustangs took the ensuing drive back the other way for the game-winning touchdown.
 
Tarleton had 1:06 and all three timeouts to go 85 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and got things started right with an 18-yard pass from Strahan to Meyers, but couldn't go any farther in the right direction. The Texans had a two-yard run and back-to-back sacks to set up a fourth-and-22.
 
Strahan hit Bubba Tandy for 14 yards, who pitched it away in hopes of breaking a big run, but it was to no avail as the Mustangs took over on downs, kneeled on the ball and went on the victory.
 
The game was a defensive battle through the first 28 minutes of the contest, as Tarleton struck first on a 13-yard touchdown strike from Strahan to Dominique Martin with 8:31 left in the first and Midwestern evened it up with a one-yard rush at 8:12 in the second quarter.
 
With 1:56 left before halftime, the teams combined for 13 points in the final minutes of the half after scoring just 14 total points in the opening 28 minutes.
 
Blake Barnes hit a 23-yard field goal with 1:56 left for a 10-7 Tarleton lead before Midwestern struck for a touchdown with 43 seconds left. With no time on the clock, Tarleton's Eric Mathews broke free for a 22-yard run which, along with a defensive penalty at the end of the half, set up a 49-yard Barnes field goal on the final untimed play of the half to make it 14-13 Midwestern at the break.
 
The teams traded field goals in the third quarter and Midwestern added another kick with 11:32 left in the game to make it 20-16 before the Rhodes III touchdown started the final minutes of action.
 
Strahan was 14-18 passing for 188 yards with two scores and no interceptions while Mathews was 2-6 with a pick. Strahan ran for 27 yards on 13 carries while Mathews ran five times for 32 yards.
 
Zach Henshaw led the Texans in rushing with 79 yards on 20 carries while Rhodes III and Tandy were the top receiving targets with six catches for 73 yards and five catches for 76 yards, respectively.
 
Devin Figures led the team with 19 tackles, including 15 solo stops, while Marc Martinez added 15. Figures and Alex Anderson forced fumbles while Martinez and Charles Moore recovered the loose footballs. De'Antrey Loche also had his first career interception to go along with three pass breakups.
 
Tarleton State will head to Texas A&M-Commerce next week for a 7 p.m. meeting with the Lions at Commerce Memorial Stadium.