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Lions travel for yet another clash of contenders

lionathletics.com
Head coach Colby Carthel and the Lions have a 5-0 record in Lone Star Conference play.

The Texas A&M University-Commerce football team, ranked no. 22 nationally among NCAA Division II teams, rolls into Wichita Falls looking to knock off Midwestern State. The Lions hope to defeat the Mustangs on the road for the first time since 1998 and clinch the outright Lone Star Conference championship at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on KETR.

1st and 10

- The No. 22 Lions are ranked in the AFCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll for the second straight week ... The Lions entered the poll last week at No. 23 ... It is first time since 2001 the Lions have been ranked during the season ... The team is 10th in the Massey ratings.

-  A&M-Commerce is coming off of a thrilling 48-21 win over West Texas for their fifth consecutive victory ... Prior to the WT game, the Lions narrowly escaped Angelo State with a 41-40 win on a game-winning field goal by Saul Martinez with two minutes remaining.

- The Lions enter the game at 284-208-12 in 504 LSC games ... At 5-0 in LSC play, the Lions guaranteed themselves share of the LSC title ... The 21st in program history and first since 1990.

- A&M-Commerce is 5-0 in LSC play for the first time since the ‘90 season when A&M-Commerce went 7-0 en route to the title.

- The Lions are currently ranked first in blocked punts ... Second in team tackles for a loss and in scoring offense in the NCAA ... Individually, Davarus Shores is ranked third in blocked kicks ... Charles Woods is ranked 9th in tackles ... Toni Pulu ranks seventh in tackles for loss, while Tyrik Rollison is ranked seventh in passing yards per game ... Saul Martinez is first in FGs per game.

-  The Lions are averaging 51.4 points per game, which would shatter the previous school record of 36.2 ppg set in 1990.

- In the win over ETBU, the Lions shattered NCAA, LSC and school records ... The 986 yards of total offense set a new NCAA record.

- Following the ETBU game, the Lions were featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter, College GameDay, NBC Sports, Fox Sports1 and numerous local and regional news outlets.

- The Lions experienced the biggest turnaround by a collegiate team in the state of Texas after their 7-5 season in 2013.

-  The Lions are the only LSC team with two All-Americans in Vernon Johnson and Charlie Tuaau.

About the Series against the Mustangs

- The two teams meet for the 19th time Saturday, with A&M-Commerce holding an 11-7 advantage in the series ... However, MSU has won the last three meetings in the series and seven of the last eight meetings ...

- The Mustangs took the 2013 game 30-24 in Commerce ... The Lions scored with 1:32 left in the fourth to cut the gap but could not come up with the onside kick in the loss.

- A&M-Commerce’s last road win in the series came in 1998, a 10-7 game.

- The series started with 10 straight Lion wins spanning from 1947 to 2000.

About Midwestern State

- The Mustangs enter the game at 4-2 overall and 3-2 in Lone Star Conference play ... They are one of four teams in a tie for second place in the league.

- Midwestern State spent four weeks ranked in the AFCA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll reaching as high as No. 16 on September 29 ... The Mustangs are still receiving votes.

- MSU comes into the game after a 71-13 rout of McMurry in their last game ... Prior to the win, the Mustangs lost back-to-back games to Angelo State, 45-31, and West Texas 34-13.

- The Mustangs bring the league’s best scoring defense into the game allowing opponents to average 25.8 points per game ... They are the second best defense allowing only 394.7 yards per game.

- Dante Taylor is the team’s leading rusher averaging 115.8 yards per game on 81 carries ... He also has a team-high five rushing TDs ... Jake Glover averages 164.5 yards per game through the air ... He is 64-for-136 with four INTs and six TDs ... Statron Jones is the leading receiver averaging 64.3 yards per game with four touchdown catches.

Fans can follow all the action from the 2014-15 season on www.LionAthletics.com, through twitter @Lion_Athletics and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LionsAthletics.