BOX SCORE

San Angelo – In possibly the final meeting at San Angelo Stadium between Abilene Christian (2-2, 1-1) and Angelo State (2-2, 1-0), the Rams upset the #19 Wildcats 28-23 in Lone Star Conference play.

ASU quarterback Blake Hamblin completed 33 of 48 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score.  Joey Knight had seven catches for 77 yards and a score while Dakarai Pecikonis had seven receptions for 51 yards and two carries for 39 yards.

Ram linebacker Rush Seaver had seven tackles including two and a half quarterback sacks.
Angelo State had 409 yards of total offense while holding Abilene Christian to just 317 yards.

ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale was just 17 of 42 for 308 yards and three touchdowns, but was sacked seven times by the ASU defense.  Demarcus Thompson caught five passes for 131 yards and a score.

The Rams limited the Wildcats to just nine yards rushing while ASU had 135 yards on the ground.

The win over ACU was the first for ASU in the last seven games and could be the last meeting between the two teams.  Next year ACU is moving up to the Football Championship Series and will join the Southland Conference.

The two teams have met 49 times dating back to 1964 and ASU now leads the series 28-20-1.

The ASU defense was solid all night, limiting the Wildcats to just and stopping them on two key fourth down plays, one late in the game and another that led the Rams go-ahead score in the second quarter.

The Ram defense stopped ACU on fourth down and 11 yards from the ACU 32 yard line with 4:11 left in the game.

Then after ACU stopped the Rams on fourth and 12 at the Wildcat 34, Ryan Clapsaddle intercepted a tipped pass with 2:43 left in the game.

Hamblin then sealed the victory by scrambling 11 yards on third and four from the ACU 45-yard line.

ASU led 21-9 entering the fourth quarter, but ACU scored on the first play of the fourth quarter when Gale hit Gabriel over the middle for a 33-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-16.

But ASU responded with 12-play, 75-yard drive as Hamblin hit Joey Knight on a third down play over the middle at the eight-yard line, Knight broke a tackle and scored to give the Rams a 28-16 advantage.

Three plays earlier, Hamblin kept the drive alive by scrambling eight yards on third and six from the ACU 28.

ACU came right back, covering 77 yards in just six plays and taking just over a minute off the clock as Gale connected with Gabriel again for a 17-yard score to cut the Ram lead to 28-23 with just under eight minutes left in the game.

ASU increased its lead to 21-9 when Hamblin ran for his second touchdown of the night, scrambling to the far side of the field and beating the ACU defense to the corner of the end zone with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

ACU's offense had just three first downs in the third quarter and was limited to only 11 yards.

The Rams led the Wildcats 14-9 thanks to a solid defensive effort.

ASU held the ACU scoreless in the second quarter, limiting them to just 45 yards and sacking Gale four times.

One of those sacks set up the go-ahead touchdown.

Midway through the second quarter, ACU elected to go for fourth down and 10 from the Angelo State 41-yard line and Gale was sacked by Clayton Callicut and Riley Davis.

ASU took over from its own 49-yard line and drove 51 yards for a touchdown with Donavan Roberts scoring from 8 yards out on a spectacular cut-back, cross-field run.

The Rams outgained ACU 208-166 in the first half with Hamblin completing 14 of 21 passes for 120 yards.  Gale completed just 9 of 25 passes for 162 yards.

Angelo State survived a first drive touchdown and a blocked punt to only trail 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Wildcats drove 78 yards in six plays on the opening drive, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass from Gale to Demarcus Thompson. 

The extra point attempt went wide, but ACU led 6-0 just under six minutes into the game.

Angelo State picked up a first down on its first possession, but was forced to punt and Thompson blocked Joseph Pickett's punt and recovered at the Ram 22-yard line. 

The Ram defense stopped ACU and the Wildcats had to settle for a 32-yard by Morgan Lineberry.

Angelo State then responded by driving 75 yards on seven plays with Hamblin scoring from one yard out to cut the Wildcat lead to 9-7.



Post-Game Reaction