Football | 10/13/2019 11:04:00 AM

Box Score GOODWELL, Okla. – A Homecoming crowd of nearly 1,700 fans was treated to a thrilling double-overtime win by the Oklahoma Panhandle State University football team, 34-28, over Texas Wesleyan University. With newly-minted Homecoming King Zion Byrd and Homecoming Queen Jena Konieczka in attendance, the Aggies improved to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
 
It was the first overtime game for the Aggies since the 2015 campaign, when they scored a 36-35 win in the first overtime at McMurry University (Texas).
 
Byrd, also the 6-foot-4, 325-pound junior starting offensive tackle for OPSU (from Cedar Hill High School in the Metroplex) - along with fellow o-line members Derek Smith, Sergio Sosa, Romario Martinez and Tony Redmond – cleared the path for Aggie running backs to amass 254 rushing yards.
 
As has been the norm for Panhandle, sophomore quarterback Tonty Brown led the ground game. Brown had 155 yards on 35 carries, scoring three times, including the game-winner in the second extra segment. He also completed 10-of-28 passes for 84 yards and two aerial touchdowns, as well.
 
In six games, Brown is averaging 114.2 yards per game rushing and has a team-best six TDs. He averages 6.0 yards per attempt.
 
And none was larger than his final carry of the day – a one-yard plunge behind his offensive line – for the score to cap the Aggies second overtime series. The Rams drove down to the Panhandle 16 on their possession in the second overtime, before its drive was thwarted, thanks to a tackle for a loss of two yards by Diamante Pounds on a huge hit and a pass break-up by Antonio Vaughn.
 
It was a great finish for OPSU after fighting back to force overtime. However, the Aggies started the day off like it might get out of hand in their favor.
 
Brown had a six-yard run for a touchdown at the 8:18 mark of the opening period. His jaunt capped an eight-play, 60-yard series that made it 7-0, after Luis Rivas' extra point kick. The drive was set up when, on its first possession of the day, an errant center snap by TWU was recovered by the Aggies' Anthony Taylor at the Rams' 40.
 
Panhandle State upped its advantage to 14-0 at the 11:34 juncture of the second quarter, thanks to an amazing 38-yard catch-and-run by running back Danny Valverde Jr. On a third-and-10, Brown took the snap from the shotgun formation, rolled to his left and flipped the ball ahead to Valverde, who hauled it in at the 24 yard line. Valverde caught the ball in stride on the near sideline, twirled to avoid one would-be tackler at the 15, side-stepped another at the six and drug a third with him across the goal line to make it 14-0, after a SportsCenter top-10 nominated effort.
 
But that was only the beginning of what was a second-quarter fireworks show, which saw a total of 35 points scored between the teams.
 
After TWU came right back on the ensuing kickoff to score, the Aggie defense once again set up a scoring opportunity. On a second-and-10 from its own 10, the Rams' Jermarcus Jones was popped by OPSU lineman Tristan Inman to force a fumble, which Inman also recovered at the TWU 11 yard line.
 
After a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 21, Brown needed just one play to run it in and make it 21-7. The Rams added two unanswered TDs to send the clubs to0 the locker room deadlocked at 21-21.
 
Midway through the third segment, TWU was able to take its first lead of the day, after Brown fumbled deep in Ram territory.  The visitors, beginning at their own 15, went 85 yards in five plays to lead 28-12 at the 7:13 mark. That score stood until 5:08 left in regulation, when Panhandle tallied the equalizer. Brown found Jaishone Brown on a seven-yard strike in the right-hand corner of the end zone to make it 28-28 and force overtime.
 
In overtime number one, TWU went first and, on a fourth-and-11 from the 26, had its series ended when the Aggies' Malik Brown intercepted the ball in the end zone. Panhandle could do nothing against the Ram front, forcing the second overtime set.
 
Brown opened with a 16 yard run down to the TWU nine. That was followed by carries of five, three and finally the one-yard touchdown dive that, after TWU failed to score, put the win in Panhandle's column.
 
 In addition to Tony Brown's running exploits, Valverde and George Dominguez had 55 and 43 yards, respectively.
 
On defense, Pounds matched his uniform number with 13 total tackles, seven of which were solo. Pounds had a game-leading five tackles for loss and a sack, as well.
 
Ja'Quavion Daniels added eight tackles. Charoy Joseph, Tony Davis and Warren Dillon and Taylor all had six stops in a balanced defensive effort.
 
The Aggies will travel to the Phoenix, Arizona area next Saturday for a match-up at Arizona Christian University.