COMMERCE, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros football team fell, 20-17, on a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the game Saturday to the East Texas A&M (ETAMU) Lions in a Southland Conference (SLC) contest at Memorial Stadium.
Junior quarterback
Aidan Jakobsohn had a career day in the air for UTRGV (2-3, 1-2 SLC), going 17-of-33 with 193 yards and two touchdowns passing. He rushed for a team-high 43 yards and threw one interception. Junior receivers
Jaydon Smith and
Kyran Lee had 47 and 72 receiving yards, respectively, with one touchdown catch each.
Sixth-year linebacker
Spencer Rich led the Vaqueros with 14 tackles. Fifth-year defensive back
Jordan Ford posted a career-high 10 tackles and junior linebacker
Jaiden Haygood finished with nine, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Fifth-year DE
Percy Jackson III career-high 1.5 sacks while graduate student defensive lineman and Harlingen High alum
Nathan Huerta had a career-high tying five tackles with one sack. UTRGV's defense totaled season-highs of 85 tackles and three sacks.
Luke Glass finished 7-of-14 with 69 passing and 27 rushing yards.
Eric Rodriguez was 6-for-9 with 54 yards in the air.
Major McBride scored two rushing touchdowns on 52 yards and
Quay Middlebrooks rushed for 60 yards.
Sean Sallis had 29 yards receiving.
David Spruiells led the Lions (2-4, 2-2 SLC) defense with 10 tackles.
East Texas A&M controlled the tempo in the first quarter. But even with three lengthy, promising drives eating up 12:39 time of possession in the opening quarter, the Vaqueros defense only allowed the Lions one score.
Jackson recorded two sacks, resulting in losses of four and seven yards. Huerta added a sack which set the Lions back five yards on third down to force a punt. Senior defensive back
DJ Shaw had a pass breakup and junior linebacker
Jackson Waid recorded several clutch tackles to limit the Lions. McBride gave ETAMU a 7-0 lead with 2:51 in the first quarter on a seven-yard run.
The Vaqueros were stumped by drops and a special teams miscue early in the first half. Two on-target, third-down passes were dropped to force UTRGV punts. In the second quarter, after the Vaqueros defense forced the first three-and-out for the Lions, a muffed punt return gave possession right back at the UTRGV 10 yard line. McBride scored his second rushing touchdown, this one from four yards out, to extend ETAMU's lead to 14-0 with 9:36 on the clock in the first half.
An 11-yard scamper on third down by Jakobsohn created momentum, then a 10-yard carry by junior running back
TJ Dement got UTRGV in the red zone. The Lions defense got a stop on 4th & 1 on the four-yard line. UTRGV's defense forced a three-and-out deep in its own territory to set up the first score. Jakobsohn and Lee connected twice on the next drive, first for a 33-yard gain to get back in the red zone. On 3
rd & 7, Jakobsohn found Lee with a short pass to the left, and Lee took it to the house with a diving effort, cutting the deficit to 14-7 with 0:30 on the clock.
UTRGV had a better start to the second half, scoring on its first drive in the third quarter. Jakobsohn hit senior receiver
Clint Thomas Jr. for a 33-yard gain to set up a 36-yard field goal by senior kicker
Brysen Gardner, getting the Vaqueros within 14-10.
The teams swapped punts after the field goal, then the Lions made a change at quarterback, sending the freshman Glass under center. ETAMU converted on two third downs before being stopped on a third as Rich and junior defensive back
Alijah Prosser stymied a QB run.
Ozlo Rigby made a 32-yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
Jai Trawick picked off Jakobsohn on the final play of the third quarter.
UTRGV's defense forced a three-and-out to open the fourth quarter as Haygood stopped a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage. But the Vaqueros gave the ball right back with a three-and-out of their own. Fifth-year defensive back
Marcus Heard Jr., playing on his birthday, upended the running back to flip possession and fire up the Vaqueros sideline.
The Vaqueros used an eight-play, 70-yard drive to even things up late in the game. Jakobsohn rushed for 20 yards, then delivered a perfect pass to Smith in the right corner of the end zone, placing it right over the defender where Smith could high-point the grab. The game was knotted at 17-17 with 5:32 on the clock. UTRGV's defense got a pass breakup from fifth-year defensive back
TJ Neal and a big run stop by Haygood to force another Lions punt.
East Texas A&M got the ball back with 1:46 on the clock and used a nine-play, 55-yard drive to set up a 51-yard walkoff field goal by Rigby for the win.
UTRGV's next game will be Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. against (RP/RV) Southeastern at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium. Tickets will go on sale Monday at 8 a.m. at
UTRGVTickets.com. All tickets for UTRGV Athletics home events will use NFC scanning, therefore screenshots will not grant entry. Fans can save and access tickets for entry via Apple or Google Wallet or by logging into your account at
UTRGVTickets.com.
Fans are encouraged to visit
RallyTheValley.com for everything they need to know about attending home football games. If you're unable to attend, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ domestically and
Southland International for international fans.
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