WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Ritse Vaes drilled a 54-yard field with one second remaining to lift Midwestern State to a thrilling 34-31 win over Eastern New Mexico Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

The game appeared destined for overtime, but the Greyhounds were called for kick-catch interference with six seconds remaining. The 15-yard penalty gave MSU possession at the ENMU 37-yard line which provided Vaes with the opportunity.

And he drilled it right down the middle.

The 54-yarder was the longest by any Midwestern State kicker at Memorial Stadium and the second longest in program history. It was just shy of Greg Saladino's 57-yard effort in a 37-34 win over Northeastern State in 2011 and the collegiate long of 56 yards set by Abilene Christian's Morgan Lineberry in 2009.

Midwestern State took control of the game in the first half on the strength Jalen March's legs. The sophomore running accounted for 145 of his team-high 161 yards with four runs of at least 10 yards including a 57-yard dash to set up a 19-yard TD run to give the Mustangs a 21-7 lead with 6:03 left before halftime.

March helped MSU cash in on a Greyhound fumble in the Mustangs' Red Zone by dashing six yards for the first score of the game with 6:31 left in the first quarter.

Zachary Keen, who was making his first start at signal caller, also accounted for an MSU touchdown on a 23-yard keeper with 6:10 to play in the second quarter to cap off a seven-play, 99-yard drive.

But Eastern New Mexico used a pair of big plays to claw back to within a touchdown at halftime including a 37-yard run on a fullback dive by Elijah Zeh in the first quarter, then a 69-yard TD on a desperation chest pass from Mario Sanchez to Ja'Calvin Newsom in the second quarter.

Zeh, who finished with a game-high 194 yards on 30 carries, tacked on a second touchdown on a 6-yard run with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter before Sanchez hit Newsom for another 10-yard score to give the 'Hounds their first lead of the game at 28-21 with 3:10 to go in the third quarter.

The teams exchanged field goals in the fourth quarter before the MSU attack came alive.

Keen hit Devin Cross on a swing pass for a 23-yard TD to cap a seven-play, 64-yard drive to tie the game at 31-31 with 1:30 to play.

The Mustangs forced a three-and-out, then ENMU was called for kick-catch interference to set up Vaes' game winner.

Cross finished with 128 yards of offense including 93 yards on 11 carries, while catching three passes for 35 yards with a touchdown.

Sophomore Kaleb Manning led the MSU defense with 10 tackles, while junior Javian Gipson-Holmes had nine tackles with a forced fumble.

Midwestern State enjoys a week off before taking on UT Permian Basin on Saturday, October 7 at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Eastern New Mexico suffered its first loss of the season to fall to 3-1.
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