Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score San Angelo, Texas—High hopes were hampered Saturday evening as the Angelo State Rams claimed a 22-point victory over Panhandle State football, in a Lone Star Conference matchup that proved to be more than the Aggies had bargained for.

A scoreless first quarter set the stage for a promising performance with the Aggie defense holding the Rams to under six minutes of possession time, allowing Shane Truelove the opportunity to open up with nine complete passes on ten attempts for a total of 65 yards in the first fifteen minutes. Panhandle's Byron Edwards aided the defensive efforts with an early interception in ASU's opening drive of the game. The Aggies came knocking on the Ram's door in the following series, but failed to convert on a 4th-and-3 play that turned the ball over on downs at the ASU 23-yard line.

A 19-yard punt return by the Rams closed out the first quarter, setting up a three-play series that ended in the end zone for an ASU touchdown. The Aggies then took over three minutes off the clock and came away with three points on a 42-yard field goal by Sterling Claphan. He would go on to miss a 30-yard attempt at the four-minute mark of the second quarter, and a fumbled punt return on Angelo's next drive left the Aggies empty-handed and put the ball back in the hands of the home team. The Rams capitalized with a successful field goal of their own and maintained a 10-3 lead going into intermission.

At the halfway mark the Aggies owned 152 yards of total offense; 134 in passing and 18 rushing yards. Angelo State went into the locker room with a more balanced attack that produced 73 yards passing and 75 rushing. Although the Aggies trailed in points at the break, they left the field leading the game both in yardage and time of possession, holding the ball for almost 18 of the first 30 minutes.

Things were still within reach for the Aggies after halftime as Marcus McCants came away with pass intended for a Ram receiver, snatching an interception on ASU's opening drive of the third quarter. A personal foul on the Aggies pushed back progress, and a sack on Truelove on the ensuing play put the Aggies on their own two-yard line for 2nd-and-18. Running back Rod Moore did his best with a seven-yard rush, but an incomplete pass on third down brought Jacob Test out for the punt. The Rams then racked up 40 yards on three consecutive run plays and found the end zone with a 23-yard pass to pull into a 17-3 lead with only five minutes taken off the clock. Panhandle was held scoreless through the remainder of the third quarter, but the Aggie defense did not give up. Edwards got his hands on an ASU field goal attempt and McCants came away with the blocked ball. The Rams held the Aggie offense to a mere 45 yards in the third quarter, while ASU maintained balance with 75 yards rushing and 74 yards passing to surpass their first-half offensive performance by one yard.

With plenty of time to battle for a two-touchdown comeback, the Aggies forced a punt on Angelo's opening drive of the fourth quarter to keep the hope alive. However, an intercepted Truelove pass on the Aggies' following possession was returned 15 yards for another ASU touchdown to put the odds further in favor of the Rams. Not relenting to the Rams, Truelove and the Aggies took 13 plays 89 yards on their next drive to add a TD to the board for Panhandle; unfortunately, the extra point did not go through and the Aggies still had a 15-point deficit to overcome, and under nine minutes to get the job done. The Aggies' fate then seemed to be sealed as Angelo State ran off almost three minutes with an 85-yard touchdown series that spanned five plays, all rushing. The Rams then added insult to injury sending two consecutive sacks to Truelove forcing a 4th-and-20 punt with 4:03 left on the clock. Angelo State ticked away the remaining minutes with seven-straight rushes and ended in victory formation to clinch the 31-9 win over Panhandle State.

The Aggies were held to just 42 yards in the run game, yet out-gained their opponent on the pass 234 yards to ASU's 147. The Rams grounded out 286 yards on 44 rushing attempts to average six-yards per carry for the game. Each team struggled on third down with ASU converting on 3-of-15 attempts and Panhandle producing on 4-of-19 third down situations. One big problem for the Aggies was the pressure put on the quarterback as the Rams took a total of six sacks and had eight pass breakups and one interception. The Aggie defense got away with three INTs and had six QB hurries for the game.

Panhandle's top performers included receiver Eddie Thomas IV who caught five passes for a total of 54 yards and the Aggies' lone TD of the game; Devyn Williams had six catches for 46 yards and gathered 84 yards on four kickoff returns. Sophomore Xavier Jones averaged 4.1 yards per carry totaling 57 yards on 14 carries followed by Rod Moore who had nine carries for 27 yards. Truelove connected on 26-of-46 pass attempts despite the six sacks and one interception taken by the Rams. Leading tacklers for the Aggies were freshmen Dharius Timmons and Darryn Cain with four solos each; Timmons had seven total tackles and Cain had 6.5.

Coach Russell Gaskamp provided a statement after the game, "I'm excited about our team trying to get better; we have to continue to improve and, hopefully we will play better on both sides of the ball against West Texas this week. We're excited to see a great turnout for Homecoming."

This week's showdown is sponsored by Tri-County Electric Coop. and brings a re-match of last year's close contest against West Texas A&M (28-21) that left the Aggies hungry for another opportunity to host the Buffaloes. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, but there will be plenty of pre-game Homecoming activities including a parade around campus at 11 a.m. and an alumni BBQ following at 11:30. Tailgating will begin east of the stadium at 10:30 a.m. and pre-game recognition of Hispanic student-athletes will start 20 minutes prior to game-time. Look for a full listing of all HOCO 2016 events at opsuaggies.com.