Texans fall in season opener

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Hilaree Foreman/ JTAC News 2015

John Zanella/ Sportwriter [email protected]

After a long offseason, the Tarleton State UniversityTexans (0-1) took the field in Memorial Stadium Saturday against the University of Findlay Oilers(2-0) for the first time since 1978. Returning offensive starters Zed Woerner, Bubba Tandy, and Lenard Meyers got the Texan offense producing early, while on the reciprocate, Findlay did the same.

The opening possession belonged to Findlay, as their C. Bridges broke for 32 yards on the game’s first play. Seven plays later, Marcus Jones managed to pierce the Texan defense from the 2 yard line for the Oilers’ first points of the night.

As 11:23 remained in the opening quarter, the Texans took over on offense with 80 yards to go. Woerner’s 22 yard strike to Tandy kept the chains moving; however, a fourth down Zack Henshaw rushing attempt resulted in a 2 yard loss and a change of possession.

The second offensive series for the Oilers resumed on Tarleton’s 42 yard line. After advancing 31 yards, Findlay was threatening in the red-zone until Cody Burtscher’s sack imposed an 8 yard loss on 3rd down. Burtscher proved to be the hero of the drive, following his 3rd down sack with a blocked field goal and recovery to return the ball and momentum to the Texans.

Woerner’s 12 yard run on the drive’s opening play set the tone for the series, which caused the second level of the defense to creep up as a means to account for Tarleton’s dual-threat signal caller. Six plays later, Le’Nard Meyers capitalized on the Oilers’ stacking the box to be the recipient of Woerner’s 50 yard touchdown pass, knotting the score at 7-7 (3:26 in 1st).

With ideal field position, Findlay’s offense took over at the 44 yard line that would result in a 32 yard touchdown pass from R. Gervais to J. Moore that put the Oilers on top of Tarleton 14-7.

Tarleton’s offensive efforts resumed deep in their own territory, but a well balanced ratio of run/pass plays kept the defense on their heels for the duration of the series. Proceeding Meyers’ 9 yard reception establishing 1st and goal, Woerner found Tandy in the right corner of the end zone for a 3 yard touchdown strike (14-14, 10:20 in 2nd).

Findlay’s next two drives proved unsuccessful, serving in Tarleton’s favor at which point they took advantage by way of Blake Barnes’ 21 yard field goal and a 43 yard sprint for a touchdown from Jabari Anderson (24-14, 00:37 in 2nd).

Tarleton reached halftime with a 24-14 advantage, and outgained the Oilers’ 233 total first half yards with their 298 total yards.

The Texans’ opening drive of the second half began with better field position at their own 35-yard line, at which time Woerner went to work leading the offense down the field. After eight plays that ate 2:57 off the clock, Zack Henshaw’s 5-yard touchdown run extended the Texan lead to 31-14 (11:54 in 3rd).

The Oilers responded with a 6 play, 90 yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown connection between Gervais and Moore that shrunk Tarleton’s lead to ten points (31-21, 10:18 in 3rd).

An empty series from the Texan offense gave the Oilers offense a window to lessen their deficit, at which point the Oilers drove 99 yards before scoring the touchdown that put them down by a mere field goal (31-28, 00:41 in 3rd).

Both defenses managed to keep the offenses pointless on their following drives; but, with 8:25 remaining, Barnes tacked on three points for the Texans (34-28).

To the dismay of the Texan faithful, Findlay found the end zone forcing the first lead change since the 2nd quarter (35-34, 5:42 in 4th).

An untimely fumble ended the following Texan possession prematurely, and would be the last time Tarleton’s offense held the ball for the remainder of the contest.

For the offense, Meyers had 7 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Tandy tallied 5 receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown. Jabari Anderson rushed 7 times for 79 yards, and Woerner accounted for 21-32 passing attempts for 237 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions). In addition, Tarleton’s offensive line allowed zero sacks on Woerner in their home opener, while the Oilers allowed 5 sacks on Gervais. Burtscher led the defense with 14 total tackles, and a field goal block and recovery.

Coach Cary Fowler and the Texans will travel to Arlington this weekend where they will face West Texas A&M University in AT&T Stadium at 3:30 p.m.