The Tarleton State University football team kicked off the homecoming game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. The No. 23 Texans lost to Texas A&M-Commerce with a final score of 22-20.

The ball went back and forth between the Texans and Lions until Jerome Regal ran the ball into the end zone and gave the Texans their first touchdown of the game, making the score 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter proved to be the quarter in which both teams would do the majority of their scoring. The Lions put up their first points early in the second quarter. Tarleton, determined to take back the lead, was forced to kick a 26-yard field goal, bringing the score back up to 10-7, Texans, with 9:42 left in the second quarter.

With the ball back in Commerce’s hands, they forced their way into the end zone for their second touchdown.

Tarleton matched the Lions with a touchdown of their own by running back, Zach Henshaw. Blake Barnes’s successful extra point put the Texans ahead at the half with the scoreboard reading 17-14.

During the third quarter, Tarleton managed to stop Commerce from adding any more points to their score of 14. Barnes had another effective field goal to make the score 20-14, Texans, at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter showed to be the toughest. The score remained at 20-14 until Commerce managed to score another touchdown with a two-point conversion tagged on after, moving the score 22-20, Lions. Texan offense moved its way down the field to get into field goal range, but a 39 yard field goal attempt by Barnes, with 1:05 left in the game, was kicked too far right.

The Texans weren’t able to defeat Commerce, but Jake Fenske was able to complete 20 of his 33 pass attempts for 274 yards and Aaron Doyle completed 12 of his passes for 109 yards.

Henshaw led the Texans in rushing and receiving. His 58 yards of rushing and 137 yards of received gave him 195 all-purpose yards at the end of the game.

Le’Nard Meyers had nine catches and had a total of 96 receiving yards. Marquis Wadley and Dan Jackson each had a game high of eight tackles.

Isaac Arellano was able to average 51.2 yards per punt and forced the Lions back inside the 20-yard line on three of his five punts. He also had a career-long 72 yard punt, just four yards shy of the school record.

The Texans next game will be Saturday, Nov. 2, against Texas A&M-Kingsville in Kingsville at 7 p.m. If the Texans come out with a victory, they will be able to claim at least a share of the LSC regular-season title.