Football | 10/22/2017 8:28:00 PM

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—Panhandle State Football fell in a hard-fought battle to the No. 18-ranked NAIA team in the nation. Saturday's meeting with Southwestern Assemblies of God University held fans on the edge of their seats until the bitter end, when the Aggies took their first CSFL loss of the season 29-21 at No Man's Land.

A strong effort by Panhandle's Darkside Defense held the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the NAIA to two field goals in the first quarter and a scoreless fourth. Prior to Saturday's contest, the Lions averaged 47 points per game. The Aggie defense allowed a mere 54 yards rushing to their opponents, SAGU's lowest yielding run-game this season. The rigorous matchup kept the Aggie defense on-field for over 35 minutes, with the Panhandle offense accounting for just under 25 minutes of playing time.

Sloppy play on special teams, four turnovers and untimely penalties were the Aggies' ultimate downfall. With poor field position throughout much of the game, the Aggies struggled to find their stride offensively. The opening kickoff set quarterback Brandon Ramon up on the OPSU-11 and the team was unable to pull past the 15, forcing a three-and-out for a punt in their first series. SAGU started their opening drive near midfield on their own 44. Despite four offensive penalties, the Lions managed to enter Aggie territory, but were denied entrance into the end zone with great plays by defensive backs Marcus McCants and De'adryelle Fites. A 32-yard field goal landed the Lions on the board for the first points of the day with 8:28 left in the first quarter.

Miquel Hudson brought the ensuing kickoff back 35 yards to spot the Aggies on their own 40 yardline. However, a fumble on the next play put the ball back in SAGU hands. Without much of a break, the Aggie defense did their jobs and set the Lions back five yards on their first three rush attempts; a high snap on the punt pushed the ball back to the SAGU 34 as the Aggies took over on downs. Ramon completed back-to-back passes starting with a 15-yarder to running back Orlando Haymon; a 22-yard completion sent Kameron Taylor into the end zone to take a 6-3 lead. The extra point attempt failed left it a three-point ball game. The Aggie defense brought two three-and-outs and another successful field goal tied the score at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter.

An illegal block by the Aggies on the SAGU kickoff after the field goal set the offense up on the OPSU-5 to start the second quarter. Despite the daunting field position, the Aggies marched downfield on four straight running plays with the added assistance of two face mask penalties by the Lions. Orlando Haymon opened with a seven-yard carry and was followed by three runs by Preston Baker for a combined ten yards. Facing first-and-ten from the SAGU-48, Ramon airmailed a pass to receiver Seth Barbarino who went all the way for an Aggie TD. Barbarino's 48-yard reception was a game-long catch and put the Aggies up 13-6 after the successful PAT by Cesar Tellez.

The Lions went on to even the score 13-13 with 4:35 left to play in the first half, and a fumble on the kickoff return, recovered by SAGU sent the Aggie defense back on the field. Starting on the OPSU-26 put the Lions in prime position to notch another touchdown before the first half ended. Neither team would convert on the final four possessions, leaving the Aggies trailing 20-13 going into the locker room.

Another out-of-bounds kickoff by the Aggies gave the Lions field position at the SAGU-35 to start the third quarter. They moved the chains for three first downs into Aggie territory, but D-lineman Justin Slaughter and linebacker Nathan Leithead came together on a tackle for loss on second down to force a pass play. The pass was incomplete bringing out the field goal unit. The 39-yard attempt was blocked by Panhandle's David Smith, and recovered by De'Adryelle Fites to the OPSU-27. From there, the Aggies threatened offensively with a 25-yard pass from Ramon to Hudson, and two rushes by Baker totaling 22 yards. Pressure from the Lion defense left the Aggies in a fourth-and-ten situation at the SAGU-26. Panhandle opted against a punt and took a sack for a loss of 13 yards at the SAGU-39. The Lions took advantage of the momentum shift and took six plays 61 yards back into the Aggie end zone to increase their lead to 27-13.

Ramon suffered two more sacks on the next series, the second of which landed behind the goal line for a safety that put two more points up for the opponent (29-13). Knowing their capability for comebacks, the Aggies did not relent. Dante Shipman came down with a huge interception and a seven-yard return to give the Aggies the ball on their own 27. Ramon and the Aggie offense drew up four first-downs with a balanced series that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Darrance James. Success on the two-point conversion pulled the Aggies within eight points (29-21) as the third quarter ticked away.

The resulting kickoff was again sent out of bounds, this time bringing a penalty and rekick, which was returned to the SAGU-40. Dominick Bell and Zach Perez-Clack stopped the Lions in their tracks with a quarterback sack for a loss of two yards on their first play of the drive. A dropped pass brought up third down, and Kameron Lyons came through with a solo sack for another two-yard loss on third-and-12 forcing a punt.

The Aggie offense looked to be clicking, as they received great field position at the OPSU-46 with plenty of time on the clock (13:19). Ramon went four-of-five for 21 yards passing, and Haymon added 14 yards on the ground. On third-and-two the Aggies were taken for a loss of nine and took a delay of game penalty to bring up fourth-and-23. Tellez came out to attempt a 35-yard field goal, but the low-lofted ball was blocked and recovered by the Lion at their own 15. SAGU gained just six yards on the next drive and a short punt gave the Aggies another opportunity with good position on the OPSU-47. Clicking again, Ramon completed a 12-yard pass to James and a 22-yarder to West to enter Lion ground. An intentional grounding call on first down bumped them back to the SAGU-25, and an amazing defensive play by Jordan Coleman of SAGU turned the ball over for a third time with an interception and 13-yard return to the SAGU 41.

The Darkside Defense came through with another great stop giving the Aggies the ball with 3:08 left in the game. Another great punt by Tluang Hmung placed the Aggies behind the eight yard line where Brandon Ramon opened with an 18-yard completion to Hudson for a first down. Ramon's next pass, however, was intercepted by the Lions completely taking the air out of No Man's Land Stadium. The Lions ran out the clock and maintained their undefeated record in the Central States Football League with the 29-21 victory.

Head Coach Russell Gaskamp shared mixed feelings after the game, "I thought defensively we played well enough to win; offensively, we never got into a rhythm." Gaskamp expressed frustration adding, "When you lose the turnover margin 4-1 and play as bad as we did on special teams, you are not going to win games against good teams." He expounded on the offensive woes noting, "A lot of our problems had to do with where we were starting drives. Major discrepancies in starting field position kept us playing behind the eight ball all day." The Aggies starts six drives within their own 13-yardline; SAGU averaged their drive starts at the 44.

The Aggies totaled 317 yards on offense, netting 62 yards rushing and 255 passing. SAGU totaled 370 yards on the day with 316 in the air. Both teams racked up an abundance of penalties; SAGU with 14 for 143 yards and Panhandle with ten for 91 yards lost. Despite taking three sacks and two interceptions, Ramon had a productive day completing 23 of 35 pass attempts for 255 yards and two touchdowns. The Aggie receivers shared duties with Darrance James and Nick West catching the bulk of the balls at six reception each. James led with 60 yards receiving, followed by Barbarino with 48, Hudson with 43, West with 42 and Taylor with 40. Hudson also had the game's longest kickoff return at 35 yards. On defense, the Aggies were led in tackles by Marcus McCants who had eight solos. Dante Shipman was also a leading contributor with 6.5 tackles, one interception and two pass breakups. Nathan Leithead totaled six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one breakup.

Coach Gaskamp remains optimistic that his team will pull things together for this week's rivalry game on homecoming weekend. "If we can clean things up and beat Langston, we still have a shot at the playoffs." The Aggies host the Oklahoma A&M Showdown against Langston University this Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.