Junior quarterback Mitchell Gale threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns to lead the ACU Wildcats past upset-minded Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Gale picked apart the Javelina secondary all night long finding his two receivers, Darian Hogg and Taylor Gabriel 16 times. Hogg led the ‘Cats with 156 yards receiving while Gabriel wasn’t far behind with 109 yards.
“Man, we stayed after practice all week and worked on the Jug Machine,” Gabriel said. “Catching and look to tuck, look to tuck. That’s the motto of the week: look to tuck.”
The Wildcats gained over 500 yards of offense with running back Daryl Richardson rushing 23 times for 123 yards.
ACU again got off to a rough start as the Javelinas and their star player jumped on the Wildcats early. On the Javs second drive, running back and track all-American Jonathan Woodson took a handoff 87 yards, running past the entire ACU defense, on his way to the end zone.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kingsville caught the Wildcats off guard with an onside kick, which they recovered. The ACU defense answered though with a big play of their own as defensive back Nathan Baggs picked off Javelina QB Daniel Ramirez.
After the interception, the offense found their rhythm as Gale hit tight end Ben Gibbs on a 53-yard pass to get the ‘Cats inside the Kingsville 10-yard line. The next play Gale again went to the air as he hooked up with Darrell Cantu-Harkless for a six-yard touchdown to tie up the game at 7.
A three-and-out by Kingsville gave the ball right back to the Wildcats as Gale again drove ACU down the field. Daryl Richardson got the ball on the final three plays of the drive capping it off with a five-yard scamper to put the Wildcats up 14-7.
Defensive end Aston Whiteside came up with the Wildcats next big play as he stripped running back Randall Toney giving the ball back to Gale and the offense. The Wildcats couldn’t find the end zone this time, but lined up to try a 49-yard field goal. A bad snap dearly cost the special teams unit as the ball bounced downfield and was recovered by the Javs in ACU territory.
Two plays later, Woodson had his second touchdown of the game on a 24-yard run and Kingsville tied it up 14-14 on the extra point.
The Wildcats continued their balanced offensive attack a few drives later as Charcandrick West got into the end zone on a 6-yard run. On the drive Gale completed all three of his passes for 50 yards while West added four carries for 20 yards as the Wildcats jumped back ahead 21-14.
After halftime, ACU looked poised to extend their seven-point lead but Kingsville was the team who came out of the locker room hot.
On the Javelina’s first possession of the second half, it was Woodson again as he got his third touchdown of the game, this time a rush for 80 yards, tying the game at 21 points each. It is the first time in Texas A&M-Kingsville history that the Javelinas have had two or more runs of at least 80 yards in a season, and Woodson accomplished the feat in one game.
Trying to keep pace, ACU answered on their next drive as Gale completed three straight passes, two of which going to Darian Hogg. Hogg’s second catch of the drive went 27 yards to pay dirt as ACU regained the lead 28-21.
Again though it was Woodson who had the Kingsville response. This time it was through the air as Ramirez found Woodson on a screen. Woodson did the rest as he showcased his speed en route to a 60-yard touchdown run.
Woodson’s performance earned him the Lone Star Conference’s offensive player of the week honors and his fourth touchdown tied the game again at 28.
This time though the Wildcats weren’t able to respond, instead the Javelina defense came up with a huge play.
As Gale dropped back to pass, he was hit from behind by Marcus Sanders and fumbled the ball. Kingsville recovered and was back in business inside the ACU 25-yard line. It only took one play as Ramirez found receiver Sherman Batiste for a touchdown as Kingsville jumped back ahead 34-28.
On the extra point though, the Wildcats snatched the momentum back. With Kingsville looking to tack on a point to their lead, Nick Richardson broke through the Javelina offensive line and blocked Matt Stoll’s attempt.
Down six points going into the fourth quarter, Gale and the Cardiac ‘Cats rallied with some late game magic.
A 14-yard drive led to Richardson’s second touchdown of the game and Lineberry’s PAT gave the Wildcats a one-point lead.
Another three-and-out by the ACU defense gave the ‘Cats the ball right back and again they strung together a successful drive.
Up a point, Gale found Gabriel over the middle on a face route. Gabriel found some field, and it was off to the races as he sprinted 39 yards to the end zone and widening the Wildcats lead to 42-34.
“Coach has been getting onto me about not taking the face route to the house, and I told him that I was going to do it for him this week,” Gabriel said. “It ended up being the game winning drive so I am kind of excited about that.”
On the next Kingsville drive the Wildcat defense put the cap on the game when they stopped a Javelina fourth down attempt inside the ACU five-yard line.
ACU will finish it’s regular season next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Incarnate Word at Shotwell Stadium. A win next week will all but guarantee the Wildcats a spot in the NCAA playoffs.
