CANYON, Texas - The Angelo State football team battled the weather and West Texas A&M Saturday night in Canyon, coming out on top 28-6 in a game played with a steady rain throughout all four quarters.
For the Rams (4-6, 3-6 LSC), it was their first time to win back-to-back games against West Texas A&M (5-5, 4-4 LSC) in Canyon since doing so in the 2000 and 2002 seasons.
"I'm very proud of our guys and the way they performed," ASU head football coach Will Wagner said. "Our kids were very focused this week. They came out and had fun and played Ram football for 60 minutes and that showed."
ASU was led by the performance of its defense, which allowed only 136 yards on the night and held the Buffs scoreless up until the last minute of the game. WT gained only 69 yards on the ground and just 67 through the air, earning its only score in the game with just 42 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It was the fifth time this season that Angelo State has held its opponent under 100 rushing yards in a game and the fewest yards allowed by ASU since allowing only 147 to Texas A&M Commerce in 2003.
The Rams also forced two interceptions from WT quarterback Ben Arbuckle, marking the most interceptions in a single game for ASU this season.
Leading the ASU defense was Grant Aschenbeck who had nine total tackles on the night, followed by Justin Jackson who finished with seven of his own. Darius Doakes was the team-leader in tackles for loss on the night with two.
"Our defense took their challenge really well," Wagner said. "WT got one there at the end, but our guys shut them out for 59 minutes, and that's something we can really build on."
Offensively, the Rams grinded on the ground for all four of their touchdowns. Overall, ASU had its most team rushes of the season, gaining 190 rushing yards on the night on 65 carries.
Josh Stevens led the way with a career-high 34 rushes for 124 yards, making the junior running back just 27 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark this year. Stevens also led the team in receiving with five catches and 40 total yards. The Florida native had one touchdown on the ground as well as one through the air.
Also scoring for the Rams was running back Ronald Winston, who carried the ball eight times for 44 yards, and quarterback Jake Faber who rushed 14 times for 13 yards and one TD. Faber also completed eight passes on the night for 54 yards.
The Rams started off the game strong, intercepting a pass from Arbuckle on the Buffs first drive. ASU then took the ball and used nine plays to drive 44 yards and take an early 7-0 lead. The score came when Faber hit Stevens in the flat and beat several Buffs on the way into the end zone.
Both teams were held scoreless for the rest of the quarter, but when the Rams took over right after the start of the second quarter, they were set on doubling their lead. ASU used the next 17 plays to march down the field, finally finding the end zone on a quarterback sneak from Faber on the one yard line. It was the longest scoring drive of the season for the Rams.
Angelo State converted on two fourth downs during the drive to keep it alive, and went five of six on fourth down conversions in the game overall.
Neither team scored again before the horn sounded for half time, and no one was able to get into the end zone in the third quarter either. Part of the reason the Rams were able to stifle the Buffs so well was their ability to get off the field on third down. ASU only allowed a conversion on one of 12 third downs from WT and moving the Rams' third down conversion allowed percentage down to 26 percent.
ASU got back in the end zone again in the fourth quarter, once again scoring following a Ben Arbuckle interception. With the offense taking over at the WT 18, the Rams used five plays to get into the end zone on a Josh Steven 13-yard run.
The Rams took over on offense again almost immediately, recovering a fumble at the WT 15 yard line and took just four more plays to score their fourth touchdown of the night, this one on a rush from Ronald Winston. It is Winston's first career touchdown for the Rams.
"Our guys up front did a great job all night really controlling the line and creating running lanes for Josh and the other guys," Wagner said. "The conditions and the rain kind of favored us, so I was really proud of the way the offense stepped up."
Angelo State will return home for their next matchup, facing Texas Permian Basin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 12 at LeGrand Stadium at First Community Credit Union Field for the Rams' senior day.
