Erin Wrinkle
Orlando Flores Jr.
Staff Writers
A miracle, come-from-behind 18-yard touchdown from a fumble recovery by Marqui Christian, allowed the No. 9 Midwestern State Mustangs to walk out of Kimbrough Memorial with a 52-48 victory over West Texas A&M Saturday in Canyon.
The win gives the team its third Lone Star Conference championship in the last four years. According to athletic director Charlie Carr, the win also puts the Mustangs in good position for a post season run at the DII National Championship.
“Everyone’s expectations are really high [for winning],” Carr said. “This town, this team and this campus expects the team to be successful. The team expects to be champions. They’ve been talking about winning since the first day of practice.”
The Mustangs played a strong offensive game, gaining 317 rushing yards off of 43 carries. Keidrick Jackson carried on with his successful season for MSU, chalking up 133 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Brandon Kelsey also had a big game for the Mustangs, carrying for 100 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, as well as completing 14 out of his 22 passing attempts for 248 yards and one touchdown.
Keivin Swanson led receivers with 91 yards on six receptions.
The game was set to be a battle from the start, evidenced by the declaration of war on the Mustangs by the West Texas A&M student government, which was signed and made official earlier in the week.
Both teams battled neck-and-neck in the first half. The Mustangs held the upper hand at the end of the first with a 14-10 lead thanks to a 16-yard touchdown run from Kelsey, and a 4-yard touchdown run from Jackson.
Kelsey and Jackson both found the end zone in the second quarter as well, but it was the 21points the Buffs scored this quarter that gave them a 31-28 lead going into halftime.
The Mustangs were quick to tie the game up in the third off a Greg Saladino kick, but the Buffs’ were able to score off of a 7-yard pass to Trevor Hammargren, followed by a 26-yard field goal from Sergio Castillo to extend their lead to 41-31.
Kelsey found Strange for his one touchdown pass the following drive to keep the Buffs at bay with a 41-38 lead.
With less than three minutes left, it seemed like a playoff berth was far out of reach for the Mustangs. West Texas’ Khiry Robinson had just caught a 6-yard pass from Dustin Vaughan to put the Buffs up 48-38.
Determined not to go down without a fight, the Mustangs charged down the field in 46 seconds for a four play, 75-yard drive led by Kelsey to shorten the gap to 48-45. Kelsey also ran in the 1-yard touchdown to cap off the drive.
With two minutes left, all the Buffs had to do was run the clock out. An aggressive Mustangs’ defense made that job hard for West Texas, though, forcing the Buffs to pass on third down and sacking Vaughn for a 5-yard loss.
“Our greatest strength was the fact that we never gave up,” left guard Ken Van Heule said. “We kept fighting until the clock hit zero and we never lost our composure. West Texas’ weakness was they were getting frustrated towards the end and they lost [their composure].”
Buffs’ punter Kevin Van Voris’ was all set for the fourth-and-long kick, but the snap sailed over his head that allowed for Christian’s touchdown run.
“We just never quit,” Kelsey said. “We won the game because of that. The offensive line also played an important part in winning.”
The Mustangs improve to 8-1 on the season with a 7-1 record in the LSC.
The Mustangs will end the regular season at home on Sunday for Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day when they take on West Georgia Saturday at Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m.