MONMOUTH, Oregon – The Angelo State football team started off the 2018 season with a dramatic win, taking the lead with 52 seconds left on a pass from Charlie Rotherham to wide receiver Lawson Ayo to secure a 24-17 win over Western Oregon on Saturday at McArthur Field. The ASU defense forced three turnovers and had five sacks, led by Hunter Kyle who had two interceptions and a two-sack performance from Markus Jones who now has 21.5 sacks in his career. Simon Maxey recorded the third turnover, an interception with 23 seconds remaining in the game to seal the win for the Rams.
The game-winning drive took less than a minute in a game that lasted more than four hours after the Wolves took the lead with 1:46 left to play after a 74-yard pass set them up for a touchdown and a 17-16 lead over the Rams.
"I'm really proud of our kids," said ASU head coach Will Wagner, who improved to 7-1 in season openers leading the program. "Even after the long pass from Western Oregon, our guys were still positive on the sideline which was good to hear. Our offense struggled today, but they got in that rhythm on that last drive to move the ball down the field. We had guys step up and make plays when they had to and we are going back home at 1-0."
Rotherham completed back-to-back passes to Tashani Bibbs to start the game-winning drive before hitting Keke Chism for 11 yards, forcing a Western Oregon timeout. He then hit Ayo for a 16-yard touchdown.
"I knew that on that drive we were going to do what we needed to do," Rotherham said. "I felt confident and trusted everyone on that field. Our defense had been playing a great game and it was our turn to do our part and finish it off. The game of a season can be a grinder but this is something we can build on. We have to fix a lot of mistakes, but coming away with a win on the road is really promising for our team."
The game-winning drive needed only six plays with Rotherham hitting Bibbs on the first two passes, Chism the third and then finding Ayo in the corner of the end zone. The Rams would add a two-point conversion with Rotherham hitting running back Lloyd Howard just beyond the goal line to make it a seven-point game. Rotherham finished the game 17 for 26 with 199 passing yards and two touchdowns. His longest completion of the day went to Chism for 31 yards and a touchdown to start the third quarter that gave the Rams a 10-0 lead.
Chism finished the day with a team-leading 106 receiving yards on seven catches. Two other Rams, Bibbs and Ayo, also had seven catches in the contest. Angelo State gained 286 yards through the air overall. ASU gained 185 yard on the ground, with running back Tyrese Nathan gaining 134 on 23 attempts. The sophomore averaged 5.8 yards per carry and had one touchdown. Nathan scored the second ASU touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run with 8:43 remaining in the fourth quarter to cap an 11-play, 88-yard drive that gave the team a 16-10 lead.
Defensively, ASU limited Western Oregon to 313 yards total on the day. They were led by Grant Aschenbeck with 14 tackles and Kyle who had 10. Jones, who was named the LSC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after an all-American junior season, finished the game with seven total tackles with four for loss that totaled 23 of negative yardage for the Wolves. DeShaun Douglas added six tackles and Donavyn Jackson six more for the Rams who also had sacks from Travaughn Moore, Cameron Cavanaugh and Aschenbeck.
Payne Sullins also played at quarterback, finishing 8-for-14 and 87 yards passing in his first game as a Ram.
Angelo State returns to action next Saturday against Abilene Christian in Abilene before hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, Sept. 15 in its home and Lone Star Conference openers at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field. The Wildcats are coming off a 55-27 loss at Baylor on Saturday and will be playing ASU for the first time since 2012 when the Rams earned a 28-23 win over ACU in San Angelo.
