ODESSA, Texas —
Texas A&M-Kingsville's football team suffered its first loss of the 2023 campaign on Saturday night, falling on the road to UT Permian Basin, 29-17.
The loss drops TAMUK to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference play while UTPB moves to 4-1 on the year, and 2-0 in the conference.
In a game where every possession mattered, the Javelinas came up short despite holding the highly touted Falcon passing game to just 120 yards while keeping their turnover streak alive with an interception.
How it Happened
The Javelinas started fast as on the first possession, the defensive line tipped a Falcon pass that fell into the waiting hands of Demarcus Hendricks for the interception setting TAMUK up on the UTPB-27.
Four Christian Anderson rushes later, the senior running back found the endzone on an 11-yard rush to put TAMUK up, 7-0 with 12:51 on the clock.
The Falcons responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown by way of a three-yard rush up the middle to even the score at seven with 5:21 remaining in the first quarter.
After a Javelina punt, UTPB took its first lead of the game with a 36-yard field goal to go up, 10-7 after another long drive that went for 12 plays and 58 yards.
TAMUK suffered a major blow in the second quarter when quarterback Jacob Cavazos was hit between two UTPB defenders and was forced to leave the game with an injury.
Later in the quarter, the Falcons capitalized on a fumble recovery following a 12-yard TAMUK run that was granted after review and extended their lead with another field goal to go up, 13-7 with 3:51 left in the first half.
At the end of the half, the Javelinas drove from their own 24-yard line into the UTPB redzone but were unable to find the endzone following three plays inside the Falcon-10, settling for a Gilbert Garza, 20-yard field goal cutting the deficit to 13-10.
The Falcons jumped on the Hogs early in the second half, intercepting Kannon Williams on the second play from scrimmage, but TAMUK's defense held strong to keep UTPB off the board.
On the next UTPB possession, the Falcons put together another methodical drive going 59-yards on seven plays scoring on an eight-yard touchdown running play to go up, 20-10.
Late in the third, the Javelinas were given a gift by the Falcons who muffed a Luke Shaffer punt that was recovered by E'Jee Moten at the UTPB five yard line.
TAMUK was unable to capitalize however, being pushed back by the Falcon defense forcing a 32-yard field goal that was missed.
In the fourth quarter, the Falcons capitalized on a mishandled snap on a TAMUK punt that set them up in the red zone scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run to go up by 17 with 11:17 remaining.
The Javelinas answered with a touchdown of their own thanks to a physical seven-yard by running back Roger Hagan, cutting the deficit to 10 with just under half the quarter to play.
The ensuing UTPB possession resulted in a punt that was downed on the TAMUK one, and the Falcon defense capitalized forcing a saftey to go up 29-17 with 2:01 remaining sealing the game.