WICHITA FALLS, Texas - A long punt return and fumble return for a touchdown was enough to lift No. 21 Midwestern State to a 17-3 win over Angelo State Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
The Mustangs improve to 4-0 overall with the win and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference's South Division, while Angelo State dropped to 2-3 and 0-1.
BeeJay Mathis' 63-yard punt return down the sidelines set up MSU at the Rams' 16-yard line with 3:01 left in the third quarter before
Zack Eskridge found
David Little in the end zone on the next play to give the Mustangs a 10-3 edge.
MSU turned to its defense to put the game away.
The Mustangs recorded five sacks and forced four turnovers including a touchdown when
Sharod Basey returned a Will Mezger fumble 5 yards for a score in the fourth quarter after
Kellen Belcher forced the loose ball on a blindside sack.
Midwestern State managed 159 yards of total offense and were led by
BeeJay Mathis, who rushed for 44 yards on seven carries, while
Marcus Mathis ran for 40 yards on 14 carries.
Eskridge completed 14-of-20 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Angelo State running back Daniel Thomas rushed for a game-high 93 yards on 22 carries, while Mezger passed for 143 yards on 11-of-16 passes.
Midwestern State travels to Canyon to take on No. 6 West Texas A&M, while the Rams play host to Eastern New Mexico.
Notables
* The Midwestern State defense has allowed one touchdown in its last 13 quarters and have allowed just four TDs all season...
* Winky Walker has intercepted a pass in each of MSU's four games this season and has now intercepted six in his last five games dating back to last season...
* The MSU defensive end combo of
Stephen Turner and
Jarrell Warren have combined for seven sacks and 11 quarterback hurries thus far this season... Warren had two sacks and forced a fumble in Saturday's 17-3 win over Angelo State... Turner failed to record a sack for the first time this season in Saturday night's win over Angelo State, but Turner did record a season-high seven tackles, record a quarterback hurry and returned a fumble nine yards...
* Opponents are averaging just nine points against the Mustangs, who have also limited the opposition to a 20-percent (11-of-55) success rate on third down...
* Junior
BeeJay Mathis became the Mustangs' all-time leader in punt return yardage Saturday night when he broke free for a 65-yard punt return in third quarter against Angelo State. Mathis now has 587 yards on 39 returns to pass former NAIA All-American Henry Johnson, who needed just 34 returns to record 540 return yards...
* With 40 rushing yards on 14 carris, sophomore running back
Marcus Mathis became the 12th runner in MSU history to amass 1,000 career rushing yards. He is now 12th on MSU's all-time ground gainer list with 1,030 yards, but needs just 10 more to move past James Beebe (1,039 from 1988-89)...
* Midwestern State goes into the West Texas A&M game undefeated for the third-straight year after winning its 14th-straight game played in the months of August and September. The Mustangs are 24-6 in those two months since the
Bill Maskill era begane in 2002...
* Saturday night's win over Angelo State marked Maskill's 50th at MSU. As the program's all-time winningest coach, Maskill has compiled a 50-20 (.714) in now his seventh season at Midwestern...
* The Mustangs are 28-7 (.800) at Memorial Stadium in the Maskill era and are now 62-43 in 21 seasons at Memorial Stadium. The Mustangs are 36-9 (.800) since 2000 on their home field...
