Saturday, October 24, 2009

No. 11 Tarleton squares off against No. 9 ACU

Close to kickoff here at Memorial stadium and its perfect football weather here to start the game. Captains are out on the field and it looks like ACU has won the toss and will defer until the second half. Tarleton and its high powered rushing attack, second in the LSC, will take the ball to start the game. It should be a great match up against two of the top teams in the Lone Star Conference. Kickoff is coming soon.

> Good defense so far with both teams going 3 and out. Tarleton started its second drive and was able to get a little bit going through the air with a a first down pass from Grantham to Shaun Ragon, however they were stalled once again on a 3rd and 5. ACU has its second possession coming up.

> ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale had his pass go off the hands of several Tarleton defenders before it finally landed in the hands of linebacker Marcus Phillips. ACU was on the Tarleton 9 yard line and looking ready to score before the huge play was made by the preseason All-LSC linebacker. However, Tarleton was not able to do anything with the ball offensively as they again went three and out before a booming 49 yard punt. ACU has the ball and will try to put up the first points of the night.

>End of the 1st quarter and neither team has been able to get a whole lot going offensively. It has been a defensive standstill as Tarleton has only been able to gain a total of 42 yards of offense while ACU has only put up 93 yards. Big plays defensively have kept the Wildcats out of the end zone. The two teams will look to get jump started here in the 2nd quarter.

> A nice stop by the Texan defense put the Wildcats in a 4th and 23. ACU punter Mark Sprague punted the ball to Texan receiver Devin Guinn but a muffed punt was recovered by the Wildcats at the Tarleton 8 yard line. The Texan defense made a great stop, holding the Wildcats to a 3 and out and causing them to kick a field goal to put up the first points of the night. Wildcats now lead with 8:25 left in the 1st half.

>Wildcats drive 55 yards down to the Tarleton 8 yard line and Lineberry kicks his 2nd 20 yard field goal of the night with 50 seconds left in the half. Tarleton is unable to do anything in the last 50 seconds and they go into the half down 6-0.

HALFTIME: Tarleton has gotten off to a very slow start offensively with only 48 yards of total offense in the 1st half. The highly touted rushing attack for the Texans has a total of -16 yards rushing. The Texans have been able to get absolutely nothing going on the offensive side of the ball. The Texan defense however has repeatedly answered the call after being backed up in their own territory on several occasions. To allow ACU only 6 points at the end of the first half is nothing short of remarkable. However, they have had trouble containing the ACU offense on 3rd down as the Wildcats have converted on 5 of 11 3rd downs, several of which happened to be 3rd and longer than 10. The entire Texan team will look to come out of halftime blazing as they try to upset the Wildcats. Be sure to stay tuned for this defensive battle.

> The 3rd quarter seemed to be a mirror image of the entire 1st half as the defenses have owned this game. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively yet again. The Texan offense has not been able to move the ball all game as ACU is winning the time of possession battle 30:35 to 14:25. 4th quarter is soon to come.

> After muffing two punts on the night Devin Guinn finally gets his hands on one and makes a couple of nice moves to take the ball back 57 yards all the way to the end zone. After a 15 yard penalty the Texans were forced to attempt a long extra point. The Wildcats were able to get to it and force the kick off its intended path. The score is now tied at 6-6 with 14:14 left in the game. The Wildcats brought the ball all the way out to midfield on the kick return but the offense was unable to get anything going. On 4th down ACU was forced to punt and the ball sails out of bounds at the Tarleton 19 yard line. The Texans will now try to get something going offensively.

> With one play quarterback Scott Grantham hooks up with wide receiver Jahmeel Hobson for a 75 yard bomb that Hobson takes all the way to house. It was easily the longest play of the night and a huge factor thus far in the game. The score puts the Texans up 13-6 with 4:32 left to play in the game. Texan defense will come out to try and do their thing.

> The Texans defense has done its thing all night long and they have their biggest stand right at the end. With 4:32 left on the clock and the Wildcats on their own 33 yard line ACU started their march downfield. After two first downs, including one on a big 4th and 9, the Wildcats sat on the Tarleton 35 yard line. Gale was sacked on 1st down and the next two passes went incomplete. On 4th and 17 on the Tarleton 42 yard line Gale dropped backed and threw over the middle. The Texan defenders sandwiched the receiver and the ball went over on downs. Texans have the ball and need a first down to run out the clock.

> Thats the end of this one. The Texans get an outstanding effort from its defense allowing ACU to score just 6 points all night. It was two huge plays, one a 57 yard punt return by Devin Guinn and a 75 yard bomb from Scott Grantham to Jahmeel Hobson, that lifted the Texans over the Wildcats. As the Texan offense was stalled for a majority of the night, the defense continually made huge stops allowing the Texans to remain in the game. The Tarleton Texans move to an 8-1 record overall and 3-1 in conference. The Texans will look to continue their winning streak against the Angelo State Rams in San Angelo, Texas next Saturday at 6 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Texan defense held the Wildcats to 255 yards of total offense... the Texans came into tonights matchup with the 2nd best rushing offense in the LSC averaging 180 yards per game on the ground. In tonights matchup they were held to -11 yards rushing... Jahmeel Hobson led the Texan receivers with 8 catches for 144 yards... Marcus Phillips came to play tonight as he finished with 12 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 interception.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Tarleton Texans vs. Midwestern State Mustangs

Cold night here at Memorial Stadium as the #15 Tarleton Texans take on the #18 Midwestern State Mustangs. Both teams come into tonight's contest with a 5-1 record and looking to improve on that. Kickoff is coming up next.

> The Texans have started out slow here so far. The pass defense has looked suspect so far as the Mustang quarterback was able to go 3 for 3 on the opening drive including a 36 yard strike to a wide open reciver streakin down the middle of the field. Tarleton did hit a bit of luck however when Midwestern kicker Jose Martinez slipped during his extra point attempt causing it to bounce off the right upright. Mustangs jump out to an early lead at 6-0.

> Texans are still not on track allowing Midwestern to methodically drive down the field and into the endzone with a 16 yard strike from quarterback Zack Eskridge to wide reciever Sheldon Galloway. The Tarleton defense is getting very little pressure on Eskridge and allowing the receivers to get open in the soft spots in coverage. The Texan offense will look to turn things around as they come back out on the field with the Mustangs 13-0.

> Tarleton was finally able to get a little bit going offensively as they were led down the field by runningbck Evan Robertson and quarterback Scott Grantham. They drove 61 yards downfield until they were finally stalled at the Mustang 27 yard line. Garrett Lindholm came on and made his first attempt of the night from 44 yards out to put the Texans on the board for the first time tonight. Mustangs still lead 13-3.

> After the first points of the night the Texans allow the Mustangs to drive down the field to score on another connection from Eskridge to Galloway, this time on a 27 yard scoring strike. Mustangs go out and convert the 2 point conversion making the score 21-3.

HALFTIME: The Texans started out very slow tonight as they allowed Midwestern State to jump out to a 21-3 lead early. The Texan defense was very lacking at first giving up 119 yards through the air along with 3 touchdowns. They finally started to pick things up in the back end of the 2nd quarter. The offense also had a hard time getting things going as Grantham was repeatedly hurried and the runningbacks had very slim choosing when picking their running lanes. Luckily the Texans were able to escape the 1st half down by only 11 points as the 2 minute offense got things going. Mustangs are still leading 21-10 as they get ready to start the 2nd half.

> The Texans are alive. Come out of halftime and force a Midwestern 3 and out. They put the ball in the hands of Scott Grantham and Roderick Smith as they drive 66 yards to the endzone, capped off by a 13 yard Roderick Smith touchdown. Texans close the gap with the score now standing at 21-17.

> Tarleton's defensive woes rear its ugly head as they allow the Mustangs to drive 84 yards on 9 plays. Mustang quarterback Zack Eskridge passed for 85 yards on the drive highlighted by the 21 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andy Tanner. Wide receiver David Little was also able to get behind the Texan coverage and caught a 47 yard bomb down the middle of the field. We will see if the Texan offense can continue its hot streak into the endzone again.

> Tarleton takes the ball at their own 9 yard line and drives the ball 91 yards to score again. Grantham capped off the drive with a 1 yard plunge into the end zone. The play was highlighted by a 40 yard scamper up the middle and then a nice lateral shift to the left sideline by Roderick Smith. Texan defense will look to get a huge stop here and give the offense a chance to take the lead.

> WHAT A BALLGAME!!! The Texan special teams comes through huge in the last minute of this one. Tarleton takes the ball from their own 2 yd line and drive it all the way to the Midwestern 19 yard line where Garrett Lindholm kicked his 2nd field goal of the night, this time from 36 yards out. That tied the game at 28 each. On the ensuing kickoff, Midwestern fumbles and allows Tarleton to recover on the Midwestern 38 yard line with 7 seconds left. After a quick incompletion Lindholm trotted on the field with 3 seconds left and booted a school record 55 yard field goal as time expires to give the Texans a victory by the score of 31-28.

GAME NOTES: Grantham finished 27-47 for 353 yards and 1 touchdown...Roderick Smith and Evan Robertson did their job on the ground finishing with 159 yards...The Texan defense stepped up when it mattered most with a HUGE interception by Brandon Johnson in his own endzone...Texans next home matchup is homecoming weekend against #2 Abilene Christian University, be sure to come out and support your Tarleton Texans!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tough weekend

Overall, it was a rough weekend for the majority of Tarleton sports. Football, with the help of six turnovers, dropped a road-game to then No. 9 Texas A&M-Kingsville, 34-20. Volleyball took three of it's four matches into a decisive fifth set, only to win just one of them.

Both teams should bounce back nicely though over the next few weeks. The Texans come back home to hosts Midwestern State this Saturday during Hall of Fame weekend. The TexAnns hosts two home games as well, with MSU coming in on Thursday and Cameron on Saturday. Nothing like the friendly confines of your home stadium or gym to help you get out of a rut.

On a good note, both cross country teams fared well last Friday. The men's team took first-place at the UNT Invitational for the second straight season. Jared McNeil came in first place overall with Gerzain Valenzuela right behind him in second place. If not for a Northwood runner, the Texans would have handed in a perfect score as Westyn Rosilies (4th), Ryan Quezada (5th) and Chris Haerell (6th) were all right behind McNeil and Valenzuela. The women's team placed fifth overall, but according to head coach Pat Ponder, "that was exactly where they thought they would be" for their first event of the season. Vanessa Elizondo (9th) finished in the top-ten following her first-ever NCAA XC event.

Can't wait to see what's in store for the Texans and TexAnns along the way the rest of the semester.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The No. 11 Texans turned the ball over six times leading to 21 points for the No. 9 Javelinas as Tarleton falls 34-20 in the 4th Q. More on TarletonSports.com.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

No. 11 at No. 9 - Need anymore hype?

Kingsville - The No. 11 Tarleton Texans will play at No. 9 Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 7 p.m., and if two nationally-ranked teams doesn't have enough ring to it, how about the Texans earning a ring?

Well, at least Tarleton will put itself in a good position with a win over the Javelinas. However, it won't be easy. The Texans have won just once in Javelina Stadium in 11 tries, and the last time was on the last trip down to the South 'Ville in 2007.

Wanna know more about the game? Go to the preview story.

Wanna find links to rosters, stats, schedules, live stats and live video? Go to Game Day.

Give us your thoughts on tonight's game in the comment section. Most of the people on the message boards don't give your Texans a chance. Do you? We do.

Go Texas!