The Mustangs’ football season did not get off to the start it expected Saturday night in Stephenville, losing to Tarleton State 20-17. Two special teams miscues from the Mustangs led to the Texans upset over the No. 4 ranked team in Div. II college football.
The first miscue came in the third quarter after a 37-yard field goal from Greg Saladino allowed the Mustangs to retake the lead 10-7. The Mustangs went on to force the Texans to a three-and-out the following drive, but a fumble from Kendall Wrenn on the punt return allowed the Texans to take control of the ball on the Mustangs’ four-yard line. Nearly 30 seconds later, the Texans’ Jerome Regal charged into the end zone to allow Tarleton State to retake the lead at 14-10.
The Mustangs’ luck worsened on their next drive when the Texans’ Jamal Mays blocked and recovered Garrett Rhodes’ punt on MSU’s 19-yard line. This led to a 25-yard field goal by Brandon Barnes to lengthen the Texans’ lead to 17-10. The Mustangs struggled to get any sort of offense going the following drive, except for a 17-yard pass from Brandon Kelsey to Wrenn, forcing them to again punt it off to Tarleton.
The tandem of Regal and Vaughn Smith charged the Texans down the field to another Barnes 25-yard field goal to give the Texans a 20-10 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
With nine minutes left in the game, Kelsey led the Mustangs down the field from their own 25-yard line. After reaching the middle of the field off a series of rushes and an eight-yard completion to Ricky Collins, Kelsey threw a 45-yard bomb to Jared Freeman that set up a six-yard run from Kelsey for a Mustangs touchdown. A Saladino extra point kick brought the Mustangs back within three points.
The Texans attempted to run the clock down behind the legs of Regal, but the Mustangs were able to shut down Tarleton’s offense, leaving them one more chance to complete their comeback with 90 seconds left on the clock.
Despite leading the Mustangs to the 50-yard line, Kelsey threw an interception picked off by Tarleton’s Marquis Wadley at their 40-yard line that shut down the Mustangs comeback. The Texans ran out the final 47 seconds of play to pick up their victory.
Kelsey led the Mustangs’ rushing attack with 13 carries for 72 yards and one touchdown, aided by Keldrick Jackson’s 13 carries for 37 yards and one touchdown. Kelsey also completed 16-out-of-32 passes for 173 yards and two interceptions. Leading receivers for the Mustangs were Freeman (four receptions, 83 yards) and Wrenn (four receptions, 53 yards). Defensive standouts for the Mustangs were Gadrian Muse (six solo tackles, six assisted tackles), Antoine Morris (four solo tackles, five assisted tackles) and Dayvyon Henry (four solo tackles, four assisted tackles).
The Mustangs (0-1) next game will be against Texas A&M-Commerce tomorrow at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.