SAN ANGELO, Texas — No. 20-ranked Midwestern State displayed more of its mettle Saturday night taking down No. 6 Angelo State 29-20 at LeGrand Stadium at First Community Credit Union Field.
"Everyone did what they needed to do to get this win and it was sweet," MSU coach
Bill Maskill said. "Our motto has been someone has got to step up when something happens. We were able to overcome mistakes and put this one away today."
The Mustangs improved to 5-0 for the sixth time in program history and first since 2011, while taking a leg up in the race for the Lone Star Conference championship moving to 3-0.
MSU was already without injured senior linebacker
Daniel Laudermilk, then lost reigning LSC Offensive Player of the Week
Hagen Hutchinson with an apparent leg injury in the first quarter.
But junior
Adam Hill moved over to the mike linebacker position and produced an interception which he returned 77 yards to thwart Angelo State's opening possession.
The Mustangs didn't cash the opportunity but senior
Calvin Stewart, who made his first start of the season at linebacker, delivered a career night.
The Rialto, Calif. native made 12 tackles including 1 1/2 for loss, intercepting a pass to put away the game in the third quarter after trouncing on a fumble for a touchdown in the opening stanza and falling on another on a fumble on a kickoff in the third quarter.
"Our kids believed," Maskill said. "We talked about how were capable of doing this but we had to have the faith and confidence to do this. And we did that."
The Mustangs used a bend but don't break mentality in the first half holding the nation's top offense to a single touchdown as MSU trailed 7-6 at the half.
Things seemed to be going Angelo State's at the start of the second half as Jonathan Shannon jumped a wide receiver screen and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams a 13-6 lead.
The Mustangs would settle in from there behind another great relief performance by junior quarterback
Quade Coward.
The Cleburne native accounted or 51 rushing yards of an 8-play, 93-yard drive which culminated in a 24-yard strike on a post route by
Statron Jones to knot the game at 13-13.
Midwestern netted 231 yards of total offense in the second half including 133 on the ground to take control of the game.
"In the first half, we might have been playing uptight," Maskill said. "We were making mistakes that we haven't been making. In the second half, I told them we needed to play fundamentally sound football and kick their butt. We finally found our rhythm there in the third quarter. We pecked away at them. Our players are in outstanding shape and we were able to wear them down."
The Mustangs regained the lead on
Andy Alkhazshvilly's 41-yard field at 16-13 with 1:38 to play in the third quarter.
That was after sophomore
Don Jerry forced a fumble on a kickoff return which was recovered by Stewart.
MSU produced yet another special teams gem before the end of the quarter as
Michael Gerst broke through to block a punt which was recovered in the end zone by
Sir'Vell Ford to give the Mustangs a 23-13 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Angelo State struck back to pull within 23-20 after Ryan Byrd finished off a 3-play, 89-yard drive just under a minute into the fourth quarter.
But the Mustangs controlled the clock the rest of the way using 6 minutes on a 13-play 60-yard drive then chewed 3:26 on a 6-play, 14-yard drive both resulting in 30-yard field goals by Alkhazshvilly.
Coward completed 15-of-29 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown while leading the Mustangs with 63 yards on 12 carries, while freshman
Vincent Johnson had 45 yards on 10 totes and Reggie Gipson turned in 30 yards on seven carries.
Jones led the receiving corps with 57 yards on six catches including the 24-yard touchdown.
Senior safety
Marqui Christian added 10 tackles with a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
"It was a big win for our players and they deserved every bit of it," Maskill said.
Midwestern State takes on West Texas A&M Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
