KINGSVILLE, Texas -- Midwestern State's Chauncey Harris broke free on a 60-yard touchdown run as the Mustangs reeled off 38 consecutive points in the second half to roll to a 48-7 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday night at Javelina Stadium.
 
"There was no doubt that turned the game around for us, then we were fortunate to return the fumble on the kickoff and put it in," MSU coach Bill Maskill said. "We were able to control the game from that point on. We did some really good things and played some really good kids."
 
The Mustangs, who earned the No. 3 seed after Angelo State came back to beat Tarleton State 34-31 Saturday, take on Rams in the Lone Star Conference Playoffs Saturday in San Angelo. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
MSU and Angelo State tied for second place at 5-2 in league play, but the Rams controlled the tiebreaker due to a 45-13 win over the Mustangs last month in Wichita Falls.
 
The Mustangs got off to a slow start falling behind the Javelinas 7-3 on Shawn Vasquez's 5-yard run two minutes into the second quarter, but MSU reeled off the final 45 points of the game.
 
"They had us on our heels in the first half," Maskill said. "The coaches did a great job of making sure the guys were ready to go in the second half."
 
Sophomore running back LaFrontae Conkleton capped off a 9-play, 56-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge as the Mustangs regained the lead at 10-7 with 5:39 to play in the opening half.
 
Harris, who finished with a game-high 171 yards on 17 carries, ripped through the Texas A&M-Kingsville defense for a 60-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half then  Arsenio Phillips recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set the Mustangs up at the TAMUK 33-yard line.
 
Four plays later, senior quarterback Jake Glover hit Statron Jones on a 30-yard scoring strike to push the lead to 24-7.
 
Redshirt-freshman running back Don Jerry added 19-yard TD run just two minutes later, then Glover hit Levy Wilson on another 11-yard TD connection to give MSU a commanding 38-7 lead with 4:42 to go in the third quarter.
 
"We were fortunate to get all of those points in the third quarter," Maskill said. "That's a knockout punch."
 
The Mustangs added a 37-yard Andy Alkhazshvilly field goal and a one-yard scoring run by Hagen Hutchinson to close out scoring in the fourth.
 
Midwestern rolled up 509 yards of total offense including 351 yards rushing while limiting the Javelinas to 147 total yards of offense.
 
Sophomore linebacker Adam Hill led the MSU defense with six tackles while senior defensive back Dayvyon Henry, senior linebacker Demetrich Gilliam and senior defensive lineman Eric Olson had five stops each.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville dropped its seventh straight game to fall to 1-8.