STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton survived a shootout against Western New Mexico to win 44-41 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
 
The win gave Tarleton its second in a row for the first time since 2014 and moved the Texans to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton is in a two-way tie for third in the LSC standings.
 
The game started out exactly as Tarleton would have hoped with a 100-yard kickoff return by Bubba Tandy and a 68-yard touchdown pass from Zed Woerner to Jeff Thomas for a 14-0 lead with just 2:38 into the game. Thomas had a team-high 116 yards receiving on five catches, giving him two 100-yard games this season.
 
After holding the Mustangs scoreless through the first quarter, Tarleton struck first in the second quarter with Woerner capping off an 11-play, 80-yard drive on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Del'Michael High for a what seemed like a commanding 21-0 lead in the first half.
 
Western New Mexico, however, cost themselves on several scoring opportunities in the first half. The Mustangs missed a pair of 33-yard field goals and was also intercepted in the end zone by Cody Burtscher. WNMU went on a 13-0 run to close out the first half on a 13-yard touchdown run by DeAndre Williams and a 13-yard touchdown pass from Javia Hall to Raeshawn Lee. The Texans, despite three first-half turnovers of their own, led 21-13 at the break.
 
WNMU opened the third quarter by scoring on three plays that resulted in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Lee again to tie the score at 21-21 after a successful two-point conversion. The Texans showed their resiliency throughout the second half and responded with another long touchdown drive of 10 plays for 75 yards that ended with Woerner connecting with High in the end zone for the second time on the night on a 10-yard pass. High finished with a game-high nine receptions for 69 yards and the two touchdowns. High now has back-to-back games with two touchdowns and has five in the last three games.
 
With the Texans leading 27-21, the defense forced WNMU to punt for the first time in the game and was able to turn the stop into a scoring drive when Woerner found Brant Bailey wide open down the middle for a 17-yard touchdown pass and a 34-21 advantage. Woerner threw for 284 yard on 27-of-36 passing and four touchdowns.
 
The Mustangs stayed on the Texans' heals throughout the final quarter and a half, though. WNMU faced a third-and-goal at the 1-yard line when they gave the ball to the fullback, Oly Ta'ase, for the touchdown to make it a 34-28 Texan lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
After a pair of punts by Tarleton and one by WNMU to open the final quarter, Sergio Sroka drilled a 35-yard field goal to make the Texan lead a two-score game at 37-28 with 7:49 to play.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, the Mustangs scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Treydonte Hill and once again put the ball in Tarleton's hands to keep the lead at 37-34 with 6:29 to go.
 
Joseph Sadler gave Tarleton the insurance points and time management it needed late in the fourth quarter by running the ball seven times on a 10-play drive for 49 yards including a 14-yard touchdown run that gave the Texans a 44-34 lead with 2:30 left on the clock. Sadler rushed for a game-high 123 yards on 16 carries. It's Sadler's third 100-yard effort of the season.
 
The Mustangs showed all game that they can score fast and often from anywhere on the field and they did just that needing a quick touchdown to stay in the game. Hall, who threw for 447 yards on 32-of-45 passing, tossed his fourth touchdown of the game when he found DeAndre Williams on a 37-yard pass to cut the Tarleton lead to 44-41 with 1:40 remaining.
 
Tarleton was forced to punt on the following drive and the Mustangs took over with 30 seconds left and no timeouts, trailing by three. With 965 yards of total offense combined between the two teams, it was a defensive play, of all things, that gave the Texans the win when Dariet McDuff sacked Hall for an 11-yard loss.
 
Tarleton has scored 48 and 44 points on back-to-back weeks, moving head coach Todd Whitten to a perfect 26-0 when he scores 40 or more points in his career.
 
The Texans will travel to Portales, N.M. to take on Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 4 p.m.