UTPB Athletics

ODESSA, Texas (October 31, 2026) – Aided by two first-half touchdowns by Cheno Navarrette, two clutch field goals by Diego Chavarria toward the end of each half, a great overall defensive effort, and a new school record fifth interception of the season by Nicholas Butler, The University of Texas Permian Basin football team earned its first-ever win at home over Angelo State University, defeating the Rams by a final of 20-10 on Saturday night at Astound Broadband Stadium.

The opening drive of the game saw quarterback Braxton Baker convert on three third-down passes, starting with completions of 14 and 16 yards, respectively, both to George Sims before a 26-yard touchdown pass to Navarrette on third-and-eight. It would be one of the longest drives of the game (11 plays, 75 yards).

Baker completed two more third-down passes on the next UTPB drive, going 28 yards and 17 yards, respectively, both times to Tre Brown. After the opening touchdown by the Falcons five minutes into the game, UTPB nearly made it 14-0 in the first quarter when a 14-yard touchdown run by Sims on a jet sweep to the right side was erased on a holding penalty. Two plays later Baker's pass was intercepted in the endzone.

Meanwhile, the UTPB defense forced the ASU offense into three straight three-and-outs to open up the game. Even after a 41-yard punt by Matthew Sebade punting out of his own endzone and an 11-yard return set the Rams fifth drive of the game up at the UTPB 33-yard line, the Falcons' defense still held the Rams to a 39-yard field goal. It took the Rams over 24 minutes to get onto the scoreboard.

On the very next drive for UTPB, Baker again picked up a third-down conversion, this time with a 10-yard pass to Navarrette on third-and-nine from near midfield. Then on third-and-two from the ASU 17-yard line after the two-minute timeout in the first half, this time it was Navarrette taking the snap out of the wildcat formation and taking it himself for a 17-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 14-3 Falcons' lead. After an 11-play, 75-yard drive leading to the the Falcons' first touchdown, this time it was a 10-play drive again going 75 yards and resuting in a touchown.

Still with 1:55 on the clock in the first half, a four-yard tackle for loss by Isaiah Mathews pushed the Rams back to third-and-long on their ensuing drive, ultimately resulting in a punt that saw the Falcons get one more drive with 1:36 remaining in the first half and starting at the ASU 41-yard line. That drive started with an amazing play on a 16-yard pass to Navarrette, who somehow juked multiple defenders before running out of bounds at the 25-yard line. That would help set up a 34-yard field goal by Chavarria as time expired in the first half, giving UTPB a 17-3 lead at the break.

ASU opened up the second half with a long run on a 52-yard touchdown pass on a screen to the running back who was lined up at wide receiver, Canon Wiese, who last week was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for all four of ASU's touchdowns – three rushing and one receiving – in 28-14 win over Texas A&M University-Kingsville. However, with the Rams in Falcon territory on the next ASU drive, the UTPB defense stepped up with a tackle for loss on a screen pass on third-and-five from the UTPB 31-yard line, and then on fourth-and-six, a huge pass breakup by Kendrick Jones forced the turnover on downs.

On the final play of the third quarter, a 37-yard pass on third-and-three again put the Rams at the UTPB 31-yard line. Another tackle for loss by the Falcons' defense on the first play of the fourth quarter was followed two plays later by an interception at the five-yard line by Butler as UTPB again kept the Rams from adding points.

After the second interception of the game thrown by Baker gave ASU the ball back at the UTPB 14-yard line, the Falcons' defense went back to work and forced a three-and-out and a punt. Later, on fourth down on another ASU possession in the final four minutes of the game, arguably the biggest play of the game occurred when a tackle for loss by Eli Leiataua on a run by the Rams' quarterback got the ball back for the Falcons in Rams' territory and ultimately led to a clutch 45-yard field goal by Chavarria to make it a two-score game (20-10) with just 2:10 left to play.

It was a nice final drive of the game by the Rams, who went 11 plays and 39 yards in just 1:37 and picked up a fourth-and-five with a 17-yard pass and had two third-and-one conversions along the way. However, with time running down and the Rams at the UTPB 24-yard line, a huge sack fumble both forced and recovered by Mathews was all she wrote, securing the win.

Leiataua led the UTPB defensive effort with 10 total tackles and at least one tackle for loss for the second game in a row while McKyle So'oto had seven tackles. Nicholas Elko added five tackles and a tackle for loss, Layne Horak had five tackles in his return to the field, and Butler had four tackles to go along with his record-breaking interception. Lastly, Mathews stuffed the stat sheet with three total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack fumble and the ensuing fumble recovery to seal the game.

As a team, UTPB totaled two sacks, seven tackles for loss, two takeaways (interception, sack fumble), and five three-and-outs. It was UTPB's eighth straight game with a least one interception and one sack on defense. UTPB continues to lead the LSC in scoring defense and total defense while also increasing its league-lead in interceptions, sacks and forced fumbles.

Navarrette ran the ball 12 times for 73 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 68 yards and another touchdown. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry while his rushing long (17 yards) and receiving long (26) both went for touchdowns in the first half.

Making his first start of the season, Baker completed 22 of his 39 passes for 214 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

The UTPB defense limited ASU to zero first downs, six passing yards on one completion and 19 total yards on two three-and-outs in the first quarter. That was followed by three first downs and 12 passing yards on two completions in the second quarter. The UTPB offense, meanwhile, started 5-for-6 on third down and posted 151 yards of offense in the first quarter. The Rams were 1-for-7 on third down in the first half while UTPB was 7-for-11.

The final numbers were pretty even as both teams finished the game with under 100 yards rushing and under three yards per carry, and both threw for under 215 passing yards. The two teams finished within 36 yards of each other overall. UTPB finished with narrow leads of 312-276 on overall offense, 4.3-4.2 on yards per play, and 22-20 on completed passes. The biggest difference was UTPB going 10-for-18 on third down compared to just a 6-for-17 rate for ASU, which also never reached the redzone in the game.

UTPB Head Coach Chris Softley said, "What a great night for Homecoming and Halloween at UTPB. We are incredibly grateful for this team and are proud to earn a historic victory over Angelo State with our first win over the Rams here in the Permian Basin. Our young men played with their hair on fire, brought tremendous energy, and did an outstanding job executing the game plan. When the game was on the line, our team showed tremendous toughness and fight down the stretch. We are continuing to close the gap between our current performance and our ultimate potential. I am proud of this team, grateful for this community, and excited for what lies ahead. Always in pursuit of a Max Out."

UTPB improves to 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the LSC while ASU falls to 3-6 and 3-4. The road team had won each of the last four games in the series until tonight. In addition, it was the Falcons' first-ever win at home against the Rams (1-4). Saturday night's matchup also marked the 10th game between the two teams dating back to UTPB's inaugural season in 2016. The Rams lead the series seven wins to three, but the Falcons have now won three of the last four meetings between the rivals. In 2025 the Rams finished 6-5 overall – their worst record since 2018 – and 4-5 in LSC play, their poorest league mark since 2016.

Next up, UTPB will take on its final road game of the season as the Falcons travel to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a matchup against second-place Midwestern State University starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, form Memorial Stadium.