ABILENE – Angelo State scored 24-unanswered points to take a 24-17 halftime lead over Abilene Christian but couldn't continue that momentum into the second half as the Wildcats earned a 41-24 non-conference win over the Rams on Saturday at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
The Rams (1-1) and Wildcats (1-1) were playing for the first time since 2012 when ACU went to NCAA Division I FCS play after the two programs had played every year since 1964. Angelo State now leads the all-time series 28-21-1 but will go into next week's home opener with the 1-1 record after the Wildcats scored three touchdowns and kicked a field goal in the second half to thwart the ASU effort.
Down 17-0 in the second quarter, Angelo State junior
Larry Johnson took a kickoff back 88 yards for the first touchdown of the game for the Rams. Johnson scored the second touchdown of his career after cutting through the ACU kickoff team and give ASU a response to Abilene Christian's fast start. On the next ASU possession
Charlie Rotherham would cap an eight-play, 89-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to
Lawson Ayo in the middle of the end zone.
"I'm really proud of the way our guys fought," ASU head coach
Will Wagner said. "In that first half we could have laid down when they hit us big but having the kickoff return and interception return to score in all phases was great to see. There are a lot of things we need to improve on. We can't sulk on it with a week before Kingsville comes to town for the start of Lone Star Conference play. They are an unbelievable team so we're going to have to find a way to put four quarters together. The second quarter tonight was great, but we just made too many mistakes in the third and fourth that hurt us."
ASU would score its first defensive touchdown of the season in the waning moments of the second quarter when sophomore linebacker
Donavyn Jackson picked off a pass and returned it 29 yards down the home sideline for a touchdown. A San Angelo native, Jackson's interception return was the first of his career and gave the Rams a 21-17 lead with 1:59 remaining in the first half.
Connor Flanigan capped the 24-0 run of points with a 41-yard field goal as time expired to take the Rams into halftime with the lead.
ACU would tie the game quickly though with a touchdown pass to Fink from Anthony for their second connection of the game. Anthony would finish off the second drive of the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run to cap a nine-play, 94-yard drive. The Wildcats added a field goal and a late rushing touchdown for the 17-margin of victory.
ASU was forced to punt four times in the second half and also had two interceptions and a fumble. The three turnovers and punts limited the Rams to only 117 yards of offense in the half while ACU had 262 yards in the final 30 minutes of play.
Rotherham finished the game with 158 yards on 16 completions, including the touchdown to Ayo but would also throw two interceptions in the game. He now has three touchdown passes through two games this season. Ayo and
Tate Kennedy led the Rams with four receptions, while
Keke Chism had three receptions and a team-leading 45 yards receiving.
Tyrese Nathan led the Ram rushing attack for the second straight week after running for 89 yards on 20 carries. The sophomore back was coming off a 134-yard performance against Western Oregon last week and would average 4.5 yards per carry against ACU that included a 41-yard run to set up Ayo's touchdown.
Leddy French led the ASU defense with 11 tackles, while Darrick Dickerson and
Grant Aschenbeck recorded 10 tackles each. Aschenbeck now has 23 tackles through two games of his senior season, while
Markus Jones had nine tackles with two for loss. Dickerson also had a second-quarter interception after the first ASU touchdown. The Ram defense did not record a sack in the game after having five last weekend but would limit the ACU rushing attack to 147 yards.
Anthony led the Wildcats by throwing for 370 yards and two touchdowns, while James ran for 96 yards on 21 carries and Fink finished with two touchdowns, eight receptions and 161 yards for ACU. Angelo State finished the game with 272 yards of offense, while ACU had 517 with 370 of those coming in the air.
Angelo State will host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, Sept. 15 at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field. The game is Military Appreciation Night and the first of five home games for the Rams
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