Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.— The Aggies played their final home game of the season against the Langston University Lions. The game would come down to the wire as nine Aggie seniors would be playing in their final home game as an Aggie.

After last year's disappointing loss to the Lions in the season finale for the Aggies, the makings of this game proved to be just as intense. A late fourth quarter push by Langston was followed and duplicated for the second year in a row; this game, however, left an even more bitter taste for the Aggies as they dropped the game by one point, losing 20-19.

The first quarter for the Aggies started with a solid 3-and-out performance by the Darkside Defense as they forced the Lions to punt early. The up-tempo offense for the Aggies got things going right away as well. Caleb Holbrook opened the game with a 33 yard strike to Spencer Grijalva, and the Aggies got on the board first with a 34 yard field goal by senior kicker Carlos Nieto. The next two Lion possessions were also dominated by the Aggies defense as Tanner Hallford recovered a fumble, and senior Keidrick Brewster did the same on the following possession for Langston. The Aggie offense could not get on the scoreboard either time, but they received a huge momentum shift as Xazier Murry blocked the Lion's punt, and Brewster recovered and scored on his third defensive touchdown in his outstanding career as an Aggie. After the extra point, the Aggies jumped out to a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play.

The 2nd quarter opened with Langston's possession and they finally got on the board as they used a 10-play, 77-yard drive to score. The extra point attempt was missed and the Aggies still held a 10-6 advantage. The Aggies promptly responded with an 8-play, 61-yard drive in which Holbrook found Chris McClendon on a short pass which he took 22 yards down the sideline to score. The extra point attempt was missed after a delay of game for the Aggies, but they still led 16-6 at this point. The final Langston drive before the half looked to take them right into the end zone until a Lion fumble inside the Aggies' five yard line was recovered by Aaron Dougherty. The score remained 16-6 at the half.

The Aggies opened up with a 7-play, 48-yard drive in which Nieto nailed his second field goal attempt of the game from 22 yards out. A big time quarterback sack from Nate Leota on a fourth down conversion attempt by the Lions gave the Aggies even more momentum as they continued to keep the Lions in check. The action for both teams seemed to fade during the 3rd quarter, but Langston opened the 4th with a 5-play, 90-yard aerial attack on the Aggies as they scored on a 33 yard pass and catch. The Aggies still held on to a 19-13 lead, but the game was just beginning to heat up.

The next Aggie possession ended after three plays as Holbrook lost the ball, and Langston recovered in Aggie territory. Again the Lions took to the air to move the ball and eventually scored on a quarterback keeper as they took their first lead of the game, 20-19, with just under eight minutes left in the game. The offense was unable to move the ball on the following possession, but senior Antonio Mendoza booted an outstanding 47 yard punt which placed the ball on Langston's two yard line. After a stop on first down, the Aggies were called for a personal foul penalty which gave the Lions room to work. They eventually milked five minutes off the game clock until they were finally forced to punt to the Aggies. With one last attempt to win the game, the Aggies had 1:30 on the clock to get things going. After advancing the football 43 yards, they found themselves needing to convert on a fourth and long play. The pass from Holbrook to Andrew Hernandez came up just short of the first down marker, and the Aggies lost by a final score of 20-19.

Holbrook finished the game 16-32 passing with 236 yards and a touchdown. McClendon led the rushing attack with 69 yards on 15 carries as well as 46 yards receiving on 4 receptions. The defense was led by Andrew Dougherty who finished with 11 tackles. Brewster also had an outstanding final home game with his 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery for a touchdown, and three pass break-ups.

Coach Gaskamp had this to say after the game: "First I should say how proud I am of the effort of this team.  Our guys played their guts out and it just didn't end the right way for us.  We played really well for the three quarters but the attrition that we have experienced this year due to injury really caught up with us in the 4th quarter.  The two offensive turnovers in the 4th quarter really hurt our team after playing well on offense up until that point.  We are a better team than our record indicates.  Langston was a good football team that we gave our best shot; we just didn't have enough in the tank to finish what we started.  This Aggie football team is a resilient group though; we will bounce back and play well versus OBU in the season finale."

The Aggies are set to play their final game of the season against Oklahoma Baptist University as they travel to Shawnee, Oklahoma on November 9th. Game time is set for 1p.m.