COMMERCE, Texas -- Senior running back Keidrick Jackson rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns to lift No. 23 Midwestern State to a 30-24 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in Lone Star Conference play Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.
 
It was the second consecutive road win for the Mustangs to improve to 2-1 on the season and to 1-1 in league play. A&M-Commerce falls to 2-2 and 0-2.
 
"It was a hard-fought win. I really liked the way we competed," MSU coach Bill Maskill said. "We didn't capitalize putting points on the board when they made mistakes. We earned every point we had tonight."
 
MSU churned out 273 on the ground on the way to 372 yards of total offense and never trailed.
 
Junior running back Chauncey Harris burst 40 yards for a score on his second carry of the season to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead with 8:47 to play in the first quarter.
 
The MSU defense kept the Lions off-balance in the first half proving opportunistic with interceptions from Neiko Conway and Dominique Willliams.
 
But the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs inside the A&M-C 10-yard line when Jackson was stuffed for no gain following a 51-yard return by Conway early in the second quarter.
 
MSU struck quickly following Williams' pick later in the quarter.
 
Redshirt freshman Dante Taylor rushed for 10 yards then took a 15-yard screen pass down to the A&M-C 16 before Jackson pounded his way through the middle to push the Mustangs' advantage to 14-3
 
The Lions answered with a 14-play, 71-yard drive culminating with a 17-yard strike from Rollison to Seth Smith with 4:05 to play in the half.
 
Midwestern put together a solid drive to take the first of Greg Saladino's three field goals - a 20-yarder at the buzzer to give the Mustangs a 17-10 halftime advantage.
 
MSU pushed the lead to 27-10 in the third quarter using a 60-yard punt return from Williams to set up Jackson's second TD of the game from 18 yards out four minutes into the second half.
 
The Lions rallied for a pair of scores in the fourth quarter to close to within 30-24, but MSU would hang on for the victory.
 
Junior quarterback Jake Glover connected on 8-of-15 passes for 99 yards and nearly matched the output by running for 72 yards on 11 carries. Harris added 51 yards on five carries, while Taylor added 40 yards on 10 totes.
 
Sophomore Marqui Christian finished with 13 tackles to lead the defensive effort.
 
Midwestern State plays host to Texas A&M-Kingsville in its home opener Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.