Lion Football sacks the Mustangs 10 times, rolls 58-0 on Homecoming.

COMMERCE – Behind a program-record ten sacks in the first half, the Texas A&M University-Commerce football team dashed over the Western New Mexico Mustangs, 58-0, in the Homecoming game presented by Brookshire’s on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. 

The Lions had ten sacks in the first half, which are the most by the team in half in program history, and fell just one shy of tying the all-time single-game record of 11. 

Justice Williams (Detroit, Mich.) and Celestin Haba (Columbia, S.C.) had two sacks each. In contrast, Anthony Hayes (Panama City, Fla.), Elijah Earls (San Antonio – Stevens), and Jaylon Hodge (Houston – Fort Bend Travis) had 1.5 each. Hodge had an interception as well. 

A&M-Commerce improves to 4-3 on the season and 2-1 in Lone Star Conference games, dropping Western New Mexico to 1-6 overall and 0-5 in LSC games. The Lions have played the Mustangs three times on Homecoming weekend and have outscored them 172-24 in the three games. Saturday was the first shutout for the Lions against an NCAA Division II opponent since 2017. 

The Lion starting quarterback Miklo Smalls (Plano East) scored the first two touchdowns of the day, both one-yard rushes. Smalls played just the first half and had 224 passing yards on 8 for ten passing. He threw for two touchdowns as well as an interception. 

After knocking on the door all season long, Dominique Ramsey (Converse – Judson) returned a punt for a touchdown to make it 21-0. Ramsey logged 62 yards on the punt return, and he also returned another punt for a touchdown in the second half, which officials negated by a penalty. 

Ramsey had a role in all three facets of the game on Saturday. He made five tackles on defense, returned three punts for 68 yards, and caught a pass on offense for 10 yards. 

Andrew Armstrong (Dallas – Bishop Dunne) broke away for a 74-yard touchdown, the most extended gameplay for either team in the second quarter. In the second half, Andrew had 82 receiving yards and also caught an eight-yard touchdown pass. 

The Lions had three touchdown plays for over 62 yards on Saturday. First was the punt return by Ramsey, next was the touchdown catch by Armstrong, and Kevin LeDee (Cy Ridge) scored on a 66-yard reception to give the Lions a 28-0 lead at halftime. 

The Lions had just two plays all season, which gained more than 62 yards, and scored a touchdown on only one of the plays. 

Jaiave Magalei came in at quarterback at halftime and threw two passes in the game. Both were for touchdowns. He had 13 passing yards on the two touchdown passes, one of them coming to Armstrong in the second half. 

In the game’s opening drive, Matt Childers (Henderson) caught a 44-yard pass to set up the Lions in the red zone. Childers caught a five-yard pass from Magalei to score a touchdown in the third quarter. He led all receivers with three catches on the day. He totaled 59 yards on the three catches. 

In the second half, Jake Viquez went 7 for 8 in point-after attempts and kicked in a 25-yard field goal. He is 11 for 14 in field goal kicks this year. 

The Lions used four quarterbacks throughout the day. Shane Gosson (Missouri City – Ridge Point) took the helm of the offense in the fourth quarter and scored on an 11-yard run with two minutes left in the game to make it 58-0. Gosson had two rushes for 38 yards in the game. He did not throw a pass. Brock Nellor (Mt. Vernon) had rushed twice for two yards. He also did not throw a pass. 

After just 80 yards rushing last week, A&M-Commerce rushed for 283 yards this week. Carandal Hale (Greenville) gained 102 yards on 13 carries, J.T. Smith (Klein – Klein Oak) racked up 88 yards on nine carries, and Antonio Leali’ie’e (Copperas Cove) had 36 yards on four carries in the second half. 

The Lion defense held Western New Mexico to 157 yards of offense, and the Lion offense picked up 520 yards on offense, which is a season-high. 

Along with the ten sacks, the Lions had three more tackles for loss to a total of 14 in the game. Kader Kohou (Euless – Trinity), Champ Mathis (DeSoto), Dominion Ezinwa (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) had a tackle for loss each. 

Six Lions led the team with five tackles: Williams, Ramsey, Earls, Hayes, Daryion Taylor (Humble – Atascocita), and Cedrick Wilcox III (Port St. Lucie, Fla.). 

Williams also forced a fumble, which Earls recovered. 

UP NEXT

The Lions make the trip across the Lone Star state to Canyon to face West Texas A&M on Saturday, October 23 at 6:00 pm.

Vela records most assists in NCAA this season in a three-set match against the Javelinas.

COMMERCE – Celeste Vela recorded 51 assists in a three-set win for the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at the Field House. Vela’s 51 assists are most for any setter in all three divisions of the NCAA in a three-set match this season and most in a Lone Star Conference match since 2017. 

A&M Commerce swept Texas A&M-Kingsville by set scores of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-17. 

The Lions have won seven Lone Star Conference matches in a row, improving their record to 7-3 and post an overall winning record for the first time this fall at 8-7. The Javelinas drop to 11-4 overall. All four of their losses have come in conference play. They have an LSC record of 5-4. 

Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) and Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) had 14 kills each. Allen had ten digs as well for her second double-double in as many nights. Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) had 51 assists, while Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) and Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 14 and 11 digs, respectively. 

Vela’s previous career-high was 44 in a three-set match. 

Seventeen of the 25 points in the first set came via kills for the Lions. Their hitting percentage was .333 in the match. A kill by Sydney Andersen (Placentia, Calif.) gave A&M-Commerce set points in the first set, which they won on an ace by Davidson. 

The Lions cruised to a 25-12 win in the second set. They had a hitting percentage of .467 in the set, Allen had six kills, and Vela had 16 assists. A&M-Commerce took the set on a kill by Maiya Dickie (Huntsville), who had nine kills in the match, as did Taryn Cast (Peaster). 

A&M-Commerce took the third set by 25-17, with Vela having 18 assists in the set and Rashford having five kills. An ace by Allen gave the Lions a chance to win the match at 24-16, and they won it on a service error. 

Andersen had seven kills. Allen had four aces, Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) had three. 

UP NEXT

The Lions are on the road against two teams that are in the top-three in the LSC standings. A&M-Commerce is at Angelo State on Friday at 7:00 pm and at Lubbock Christian on Saturday, October 23 at 2:00 pm.

Lion Volleyball sinks Dustdevils in four, increasing LSC’s winning streak to six.

COMMERCE – By beating the Texas A&M International Dustdevils by a score of 3-1 on Friday night, the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team has increased its winning streak to six matches in the Lone Star Conference contests. The Lions won the game by scoring 25-14, 25-20, 22-25, and 25-20 at the Field House against the Dustdevils. 

Essence Allen (Longview – Tatum) had another double-double for the Lions with career-high 21 kills and 14 digs. Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) also had a double-double, recording 44 assists and 14 digs, remaining on her conference-leading pace of 10 assists per set. 

The Lions have won six of their last seven matches to improve their overall 7-7 and hold an LSC record of 6-3. The Dustdevils drop to 2-13 overall and 2-6 in the conference. 

A&M-Commerce led 9-6 in the first set and improved it to 16-9 on a kill by Allen and forced Texas A&M International to use a timeout. 

Coming out of the timeout, Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) won three straight points for the Lions, two on kills and one on an assisted block by Dickie and Syndey Andersen (Placentia, Calif.), to force the Dustdevils to use their second timeout of the set. 

The Lions won the set, 25-14 on an assisted block by Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) and Taryn Cast (Peaster). Allen had five kills in the first set and led the team with five digs as well. 

Rashford had four kills in the first set. She had 14 in the match. 

The second set started with A&M-Commerce building a 10-4 lead, starting with a 5-0 run after dropping the first point of the set. Allen had two kills, while Allen and Andersen had an assisted block and Cast had two to spark the run. 

The Dustdevils stayed in the second set, pulling to 15-12, but the Lions responded with a 3-0 run and closed out the set, 25-20 on a kill by Allen, who had five kills and five digs in the second set as well. Rashford, Vela, and Andersen had three kills each in the set. 

Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colorado) had nine digs in the second set. She led the team with 20 in the match. Riley Davidson (Commerce) had 16 in the game, and Dickie had 10. Five Lions had double-digit digs on Friday night. 

Through the first 14 points of the third set, the two teams had combined for seven service errors. Texas A&M International capitalized on the errors to build a 13-9 lead, but the Lions responded to tie it at 13 on two kills by Allen and one each by Dickie and Andersen. 

The Dustdevils were on their way to forcing a fourth set with a 24-19 lead, but the Lions did not go down quickly in the set. After a kill by Allen returned the serve to A&M-Commerce, Ashley Pennington (Frisco – Liberty) served for the Lions, who won two straight points on kills by Allen to make it 24-22. 

Following a timeout, Texas A&M International responded with a kill by Mackenzie Catalina to take the third set, 25-22. Catalina led the Dustdevils with ten kills. The Dustdevils hit .128 in the match, while the Lions had a hitting percentage of .268. 

The Lions led the fourth set, 4-0, on a service error and three attacking errors by the Dustdevils, leading 14-10 in the set. However, the Dustdevils remained in the match with a 5-0 run, including back-to-back kills by Hannah Thompson to take a 15-14 lead. 

The two teams exchanged points until an ace by Vela and an assisted block by Cast and Andersen gave the Lions a 22-20 lead. Then, Andersen delivered two straight kills to open up four-set points for the Lions, who closed out the fourth set on an attacking error, 25-20. 

Andersen had ten kills and six assisted blocks in the match. Dickie had seven assisted blocks, and the Lions had 24 total assisted blocks in the contest. 

UP NEXT

A&M-Commerce continues its homestand on homecoming weekend on Saturday at 1:00 pm against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Lion Women’s Golf rises to No. 11 in Mizuno WGCA Poll.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Following a win at the West Texas A&M Fall Invitational, the Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s golf team rises to No. 11 in the latest Mizuno Women’s Golf Coaches Association Poll. The Lions jumped three spots in the poll released on Friday. 

A&M-Commerce is at the midway point of its fall season. The Lions had a top-seven finish at the DBU Classic to start the year and finished with the best score in the 13-team field at West Texas A & A&M. The Lions are one of four teams from the Lone Star Conference the top 12. 

Sophie-Charlott Hempel (Pirmasens, Germany) and Michelle Becker (San Antonio – Reagan) carded a top-five finish at West Texas A&M. 

UP NEXT

Next week, the Lions are in Enid, Oklahoma, to compete in the Ranger Invitational, hosted by Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday and Tuesday at Meadowlake Golf Club.

DIVISION II MIZUNO WGCA COACHES POLL

Rank	University (First Place Votes)	Points
1	Lynn University (12)	368
2	Limestone University (1)	349
3	Dallas Baptist University (2)	335
4	Barry University	328
5	University of Findlay	310
6	St. Mary’s University (Texas)	300
7	Anderson University	297
8	University of Indianapolis	267
9	Grand Valley State University	235
10	Rollins College	198
11	A&M-COMMERCE	170
12	West Texas A&M University	169
13	Lee University	161
14	University of Tampa	137
15	Henderson State University	134
16	Rogers State University	128
17	Saint Leo University	127
18	Nova Southeastern University	115
19	Florida Southern College	108
20	California State University-San Marcos	105
21	Carson-Newman University	99
22	University of Central Missouri	78
23	Arkansas Tech University	64
24	The University of Missouri-St. Louis	53
25	University of North Georgia	51

Others Receiving Votes: Lenoir Rhyne University (43); Oklahoma Christian University (26); Flagler College (20); Northeastern State University (17); the University of Nebraska at Kearney (12); Texas A&M International University (9); University of West Florida (9); University of West Georgia (9); Cameron University (7); Sonoma State University (7); University of Arkansas Fort Smith (7); Wingate University (7); University of Central Oklahoma (6); Augustana University (South Dakota) (3); Midwestern State University (3); Lander University (2); Tiffin University (2)