KINGSVILLE, Texas --- Trailing 23-10 late in the second quarter, the New Mexico Highlands football team rallied all the way back to take a 30-26 lead it held midway through the fourth quarter against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
But the Cowboys couldn't get the stops they needed as the Javelinas scored a go-ahead touchdown with 4:23 remaining and NMHU couldn't answer as it fell on the road 33-30 Saturday night at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium.
Late in the third quarter the Cowboys (2-3) were pinned on their own 1 and trailed 26-24, but on the first play quarterback
Danny Cameron turned a sneak into a 19-yard gain – and with a 15-yard sideline interference penalty added on after the play – NMHU had the ball on its own 35. Two plays later Cameron hit
Devon Henderson for a 29-yard pass to get the ball down the TAMUK 30. The Cowboys eventually got the ball down to the 1-yard-line where
Kamari Mosby punched it in – and after a failed two-point conversion – NMHU led 30-26 with 14:31 left in the game.
The teams traded possessions without any points when the Javelinas (2-3) started with the ball on their own 25 with 7:09 remaining in the contest. NMHU forced a third-and-14 at the TAMUK 21 when the Javelinas' Koy Detmer, Jr., completed a pass to Aaron Dilworth for 34 yards for a first down. On the next set of downs, NMHU again forced a third down – this time third and 8 – when Detmer hit Ryan Martinez for a 13-yard pass for a first down to the NMHU 30. On the next play Detmer found Jeff Carr down the right sideline for a 30-yard touchdown to give the Javelinas a 33-30 lead with 4:23 remaining.
NMHU got the ball twice in the final four minutes, but couldn't put together a game-tying or game-winning drive as the Cowboys dropped their third game in a row.
The Cowboys got on the board first as
Israel Farfan booted a 49-yard field goal with 10:04 left in the first quarter to make it 3-0. Kingsville went on to score 16 points in the final 10 minutes of the quarter to take a 16-3 lead into the second.
The score remained the same and it appeared the Javelinas were going to tack onto it when
Malik Brown intercepted a pass for the Cowboys and returned it 51 yards down to the TAMUK 7 (a personal foul penalty moved it down to the 3-yard-line) midway through the second quarter. Cameron then hit
Darrell McIntyre for a touchdown pass to make it 16-10 TAMUK.
The Javelinas answered with a touchdown and looked they were going to get the ball back with a 23-10 advantage late in the second, but they muffed a punt and it was recovered by the Cowboys'
Jovanni Valle at the TAMUK 38 with 1:47 remaining. The Cowboys took advantage of the short field – and several Kingsville penalties – and scored on a Cameron touchdown pass to
Jason Aguirre to cut the TAMUK lead to 23-17 just before the half.
Kingsville kicked a field goal on its opening drive of the second half (a drive where it converted a third-and-25 on their own 7-yard line) to push the lead to 26-17 before a wacky play got the Cowboys within a score. NMHU had the ball down to the TAMUK 34 when a fumble was recovered by the fullback Aguirre and he rumbled the rest of the 34 yards for a touchdown to cut the Kingsville lead to 26-24.
The Cowboys eventually took the lead early the in fourth quarter, but couldn't hang on.
NMHU was outgained by the Javelinas 472-348 in yardage – much of it in the passing game as Kingsville passed for 296 yards compared to 171 for the Cowboys.
Cameron finished 16-for-36 for 171 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Cowboys.
D.J. McFadden had a team-high 77 yards and five catches. Mosby led the NMHU ground game with 53 yards while Cameron had 44 yards on the ground and
Dione Alston added 41.
Cameron Forziati had a team-high 11 tackles, including 1.5 sacks, while
Stevan Thornton had nine tackles, two sacks, four tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.
NMHU returns to RMAC play next Saturday as the Cowboys travel to take on CSU-Pueblo at 6 p.m.
