Box Score

UT Permian Basin football's 2018 season came to an end Saturday night with a 24-21 loss against Texas A&M Kingsville at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville, Texas.

UT Permian Basin made field position work in its favor in the first quarter. The Falcons started their first possession on the Kingsville 41 yard line, and despite turning the ball over on an interception, the Javelinas were pinned on their own one yard line to start their second possession. They went nowhere on their second drive as Jack Lacy knocked down a pair of long passes in single coverage, and the Falcons took over on offense again on the Texas A&M Kingsville 30 yard line after a short punt.

Taylor Null made a big play with his feet on the ensuing drive, converting a third and 10 with a 15-yard run, and UTPB found the end zone two plays later when Leroy Giles leaped over the pylon for a 17-yard rushing touchdown for a 7-0 lead at 8:46 of the first quarter.

The UTPB defense held Kingsville to just 14 yards on their first three possessions of the night, but the Javelinas tied the game shortly after halftime with a nine play, 70-yard drive capped by a 3-yard pass from Koy Detmer Jr. to Brandon Smith to tie the game at 7-7.

The Javelinas took their first lead of the night on their next possession, scoring on a 32-yard pass to Ryan Martinez to go on top 14-7.

UT Permian Basin got the ball back on a short field once again at the end of the second quarter when Ryan Baker sacked Detmer Jr. and forced a fumbled that was recovered by Miquon Mayes at the Kingsville 33.

Ben Galaviz picked up a first down on a reverse down to the Kingsville 18. A pass by Kameron Mathis for eight yards to Kristian Brown took the Falcons to the Kingsville 10, and a rush by Adrian Walker for a first down to the six-yard line was moved to the three after a facemask penalty.

Hunter Bowers caught the first pass of his career on the next play, walking in to the end zone on a three-yard pass from Mathis as the Falcons tied the game 14-14 with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Javelinas scored the first points of the second half after taking over deep in UTPB territory after a 23-yard punt return to the Falcon 23 yard line. The drive stalled out after three plays for no yards, but Juli De La Garza was good from 40-yards away to put the Javelinas up 17-14.

UTPB took over deep in Javelina territory after their next offensive possession resulted in a punt by the Falcons. Texas A&M Kingsville attempted to pick up a bouncing ball and muffed the attempt, resulting in Marquee Allison pouncing on the loose ball to recover possession at the Kingsville 15-yard line. Adrian Walker picked up a first down on 3^rd-and-10 on a 10-yard screen pass, and a personal foul after an incomplete pass on 3^rd-and-2 extended the drive to give the Falcons a first down on the one. Mathis punched the ball into the end zone on a keeper to the left side to reclaim a 21-17 advantage for UTPB.

A 39-yard pass by Kingsville two possessions later brought them into the Falcon red zone, and Detmer Jr. found Aaron Dilworth in the end zone on 3^rd-and-long for a 16-yard touchdown to reclaim a 24-21 lead.

The Falcons moved the ball 64 yards down the field, but turned the ball over on possession on a run by Mathis that was a yard short on fourth down at the Kingsville 22.

UTPB had held the Kingsville ground game in check through the first three quarters, but a 58-yard run down the middle of the field by Nick Pelrean put the Javelinas in UTPB territory. The Falcons were able to hold Kingsville out of the end zone, forcing a turnover on downs when Keegan Gray stopped a rushing attempt on 4^th-and-3 behind the line of scrimmage.

But the Falcon offense was pinned deep in its own territory and was forced to punt, and Kingsville moved the ball back into the UTPB red zone with a 42-yard return down to the Falcon 5-yard line.

The Falcon defense held strong, moving the Javelinas back five yards on a pair of rushes before a 15-yard personal foul moved the ball back to the UTPB 25 after second down. Kingsville gained half of the yards back on a third down carry, but were stopped short on a pass on 4^th and goal from the 13.

UTPB picked up a first down on a pass to Ben Galaviz on 4^th-and-3, and a personal foul (illegal hands to the face) moved the ball to the Kingsville 46 with just over 20 seconds remaining.

Mathis found Mitchell Leonard while scrambling to move the ball down to the Javelinas 30 with eight seconds remaining, but Kingsville took over possession to seal the win on an interception at their own 19.

Brown ended the night leading the Falcons with five catches for 44 yards. Mathis was the team's leading rusher, running for 36 yards on 11 carries.

Chris Hoad paced the defense with 12 total tackles. The Lone Star Conference leading tackler entering the week and ranked second in the nation ends the year with 133 total tackles.

Detmer ended the game with 249 yards and three touchdowns at QB for Kingsville. Tyler Wilson was Detmer's favorite target, catching 11 passes for 127 yards. Pelrean ran for 117 yards on 16 attempts.