STEPHENVILLE – When Lone Star Conference play rolls around, all Todd Whitten knows how to do is win.
 
The trend continued for Whitten and Tarleton as the Texans throttled Angelo State 35-5 in its LSC opener on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Whitten improves to 7-0 in LSC openers at Tarleton.
 
The Texan defense was dominant from start to finish, limiting the Rams offense to only 222 yards, forcing five turnovers and recorded five sacks. It's the first time since 2009 that Tarleton has held an LSC opponent under 10 points (Abilene Christian in a 13-6 win).
 
With both teams only managing a field goal through the first two and a half quarters, the Texan offense gained momentum thanks to a huge defensive play by Taylor Massey. Massey blocked an Angelo State punt that gave Tarleton the ball at the Rams 48 with 41 seconds left in the half. On 2^nd-and-10 from the 38, Zed Woerner launched a ball towards the middle of the end zone and hit Bubba Tandy in stride for the touchdown. Angelo State blocked one of three point after attempts, giving Tarleton the 9-3 lead at the break.
 
Tarleton's second drive of the third quarter came on an Angelo State fumble that was forced by Birdel Hodge and was recovered by Cody Burtscher. The Texans took over at the ASU 41 and a 20-yard run by Joseph Sadler set up Woerner to find Tandy once again on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Angelo State blocked the extra point and returned it for two points, but Tarleton led 15-5 with 10:46 left in the third quarter. Tandy has led Tarleton in receiving all three games to start the year after finishing with 76 yards on four catches tonight.
 
On the ensuing possession, it was the defense once again setting up the offense. John Bellfield intercepted Rams quarterback Jake Faber at midfield and returned it 36 yards to the Angelo State 12. Once inside the red zone, Tarleton handed the ball off to Curtis McGregor who pounded his way in for a three-yard touchdown run, his first as a Texan, that put Tarleton up 22-5.
 
Joseph Sadler has been Tarleton's go-to running back through the first three games and he showed why with his big-play ability. Still in the third quarter, Sadler raced by the Angelo State defense for a 73-yard touchdown run. Sadler finished with 163 yards, giving him back-to-back games of 100 yards rushing and his fifth in his last nine games dating back to last year.
 
Not to be out done, McGregor made a case for the best play of the night. McGregor, a 5-9 225-pound running back, rumbled his way down the left side of the field, breaking five tackles for a 53-yard touchdown run. McGregor finished with 76 yards on the ground.
 
Defensively, Burtscher recorded a team-high 11 tackles, had 0.5 sacks and the fumble recovery in the first half. EJ Speed, Dariet McDuff, Azizullah Fifita Chase Varnado, Chris Raford and Dominique Martin all reached the quarterback for a sack. Martin also had an interception for the Texans. The Tarleton defense has had five sacks in each of the last two game and now has 14 on the year after only coming up with 18 sacks last season.
 
Tarleton will travel to Canyon to take on West Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.