By Wes Bloomquist  ||  wes.bloomquist@angelo.edu

STEPHENVILLE – Angelo State will host a first-round Lone Star Conference football playoff game next week after Chris Omigie caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Washington with 31 seconds remaining and Fred Lawrence intercepted a Tarleton State pass to seal a 34-31 win over the Texans on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The Rams (6-2, 5-2 LSC) overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to snap a 12-game losing streak to Tarleton State (4-4, 4-3 LSC) and will now host Midwestern State at 7 p.m. next Saturday at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field. ASU played tough throughout the game and overcame three first-half turnovers by gaining 529 yards of offense and scoring a high-pressure touchdown on a 4th-and-1 with Dakarai Pecikonis taking a pass from Washington 16 yards to cut the Rams' deficit to 31-26 with 11:49 to play before Omigie and Washington connected on the game-winner.

"I think we were trying a little too hard in the first half because everyone knew what was on the line," ASU head coach Will Wagner said. "We knew that if we won the game we would be back at home and that's what we wanted to do. We got down, but our kids responded very well at halftime with some adjustments and we talked about coming out a different team and playing Ram football. I'm proud of how our kids responded and how they kept fighting. It took some time and it came down to the last seconds, but I'm just really proud of the effort on both sides of the ball."

Down 17-3 at halftime, the Rams cut the deficit to 17-6 with a 40-yard field goal from Peter Marquez but saw the Texans march down the field and score on a Zach Henshaw 1-yard touchdown run with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter to take a 24-6 lead over the Rams. ASU found its first real offensive stride on the next drive when Washington found Pecikonis for a 55-yard touchdown pass to cut TSU's lead to 24-13 with 6:10 to play. The quick-strike touchdown connection ended a three-play drive and came with Pecikonis grabbing the ball after it was tipped by a TSU defender.

The Rams cut the lead to single-digits six minutes later with running back Trey Green taking a pass 16-yards for a touchdown to cap an eight-play 80-yard drive. Green's touchdown was his first of the season and came on the first play of the fourth quarter. With ASU surging, the Texans responded quickly with Jabari Anderson breaking free for a 62-yard touchdown run. With Green's score cutting the lead to five, Anderson once again made it an 11-point game with Tarleton leading 31-19 with 13:36 to play.

With the ball at their own 23, the Rams took the ball down the field on nine plays in only 1:47 with Washington finding Pecikonis for the 16-yard touchdown on a fourth down play. The drive, which cut the deficit to 31-26, was highlighted by a 20-yard reception from Omigie and a 9-yard run by Green to set up the play. The scoring play was followed by the defensive units on both sides stepping up with ASU forcing two punts. ASU had the ball back down five with 8:23 remaining. A quick tempo, score-fast offense then used 6:18 of clock and 15 plays and were unable to come away with points. The promising drive included a 15-yard pass to Brett Rasberry for a first down on a 3rd-and-13 and a 4-yard run by Green on a 3rd-and-3. The drive was also aided by a face-mask penalty on TSU which took the ball to the 13-yardline, but ASU's drive stalled and ended when Washington threw an incompletion to Omigie in the corner of the end zone with 2:05 remaining in the game.

With TSU leading by five, the game seemed to be in the home team's control, but the ASU defense held Henshaw to three yards on first down, put Anderson down for a 3-yard loss on second down and then saw Zed Woerner throw an incompletion. A 23-yard punt by Blake Barnes followed and ASU had the ball back at the TSU 33 with 1:08 remaining in the game.

Washington found Talon Smith for a 23-yard gain on first down to take the ball down to the 10, Green took a handoff for six yards to the TSU 4-yard line and then Washington hit Omigie for the 4-yard game winner on the third play. In total, the game-winning drive took only 37 seconds and was followed with Washington running in the 2-point conversion to make it a three-point game and win.

"I know what our offensive is capable of doing because we've seen it all season," Wagner said. "I knew that when the time was right they would make those plays. We have great leaders over there and they stepped up and made some big plays."

Angelo State finished the game with 529 yards of total offense and held the potent TSU offense to 436 yards and 13 points below its season-average. ASU ran for 169 yards on 42 rushing attempts and had a 31-24 first down advantage over the Texans in the game. Washington finished the game with 453 yards of total offense, including 360 yards passing with four touchdowns to go along with 93 yards rushing. Washington distributed the football to eight receivers in the game and finished the night 28-for-49 with one interception. Pecikonis led the Rams with eight receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns and Omigie had four catches including the game-winner. Talon Smith, Rasberry, Trey Green, Anthony Yancy and Donovan Thompson each had three receptions in the game. Green also finished the game with 51 yards rushing on 11 carries, while Ryan Byrd ran for 17 yards on five carries.

Rush Seaver led the ASU defense with 16 tackles, including nine solo takedowns and one tackle for loss. Blair Smith added 10 tackles, Clayton Callicutt contributed nine and London Dial finished the game with seven tackles. Lawrence recorded his second interception of the season by picking off Woerner's pass with three seconds remaining in the game. Lawrence also had an interception earlier this season at home against A&M-Commerce.

Angelo State trailed by 14 at halftime after committing three turnovers with two lost fumbles and an interception. The Rams led 3-0 on a Peter Marquez 37-yard field goal with 14:44 remaining in the second quarter, but the Texans would score 17-unanswered first half points with Clifton Rhodes III scoring the first touchdown on a 3-yard pass from Woerner with 7:43 remaining in the second quarter. Woerner then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and Blake Barnes kicked a 25-yard field goal to cap a nine-play, 96-yard drive with 25 seconds remaining in the first half.

Washington led the Rams with 110 yards passing and 33 yards rushing in the first half, but also threw an interception. Washington connected with seven receivers in the first half, including finding Pecikonis for four passes and 50 yards and Yancy having three receptions. On the defensive side, Seaver led the Rams with seven tackles and Callicutt had six tackles. ASU was unable to score a touchdown for the first time in a half all season.

"I think this win shows that the program is going in the right direction," Wagner said. "This was a big one based on our record against them. We tried not to make that big deal, but I know it meant a lot to our kids and university to get it. We control our own destiny and we all excited to be where we are right now."

Woerner finished the game 31-for-44 with 302 passing yards after replacing starter Collin Strahan who was injured early in the game. Woerner threw one touchdown to Rhodes III and connected with Le'Nard Meyers on 10 passes for 127 yards. Anderson led the Texans with 78 yards rushing on five carries, including his 62-yard touchdown run and Henshaw finished the game with 40 yards on a team-high 17 carries. The Texans will travel to Commerce next weekend where they'll take on top-seed A&M-Commerce in the first round of the LSC playoffs.