Box Score

Despite record setting performances from Easton Melancon and Shedrick Davis the 2016 edition of the "Battle for the Border Claw" didn't finish the way the Wildcats wanted, as #18 ETBU escaped with a 64-62 victory on Saturday night.  The Wildcats fall to 4-4 on the season and 1-3 in ASC play with two road games remaining on the schedule, at McMurry and at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

The high tempo Tigers came out on the opening possession moving the ball 61-yards in just over three minutes of game time but were turned away with a missed 30-yard field goal.  After a Wildcat punt on their first possession, it didn't take long for the nations highest scoring team to get on the board as the Tigers scored on a 17-yard run by McNeill, taking less than a minute off the game clock, after a successful 2-point attempt, the Tigers led 8-0.  ETBU would add to their lead after an interception return for a touchdown and another successful 2-point conversion and midway through the first quarter the Wildcats found themselves down 16-0.

LC would bounce back with a fury over the next three possessions, taking advantage of excellent field position along the way. A 76-yard kickoff return by Lamar Carroway set up the Wildcats first score of the game, an 8-yard run by Aurren Cooksey.  The next two Wildcat scores came off Tiger turnovers, a fumble recovery by Anthony Dorsey and an interception by Josh Pickett, gave the ball to the Wildcats in plus territory.  The Wildcats would take lead a 21-16 lead on an impressive 36-yard touchdown run by Aurren Cooksey, his second score of the game.

ETBU would regain the lead 22-21 in the second quarter after a interception gave the Tigers the ball at the Wildcats 13 yard line, and then go ahead by a touchdown on their next drive with a 60-yard touchdown pass.  Down 28-21 the Wildcats would answer the Tigers score on their next drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Carroway to tie the game at 28. The teams would trade punches on their next drives with LC evening the score at 35 on a touchdown pass to Shedrick Davis with 2:57 remaining in the half. The Tigers would convert a 25-yards field goal with 11 seconds remaining in the explosive first half to take the 38-35 lead into the break.

The teams continued to trade scores to start the second half, LC took the lead on a 51-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Williams, but the Tigers answered and regained the lead on a 34-yard pass of their own on the next drive. Down by three, 45-42, LC regained the lead at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Shedrick Davis, but once again the Tigers answered with a 40-yard pass to go back ahead 52-49 at the end of the third quarter.

ETBU would score on their next two possessions to push their three point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter up to a 15 point advantage midway through the final frame. But just as they had done all night, the Wildcats responded, Shed Davis caught his record breaking fourth touchdown pass of the game with 4:30 minutes left in the game to cut the lead to eight at 64-56.  After the defense forced a punt that backed the Wildcats up to their own 14 yard line, Easton Melancon hit Lamar Carroway on a slant pass and the speedster broke two tackles and raced for an 86-yard touchdown to bring the Wildcats within two points of the Tigers. Forced to go for two with just 2:29 left in the game, the swing pass to Nick Julien to the left was stopped one yard short of tying the game.

The Wildcats would be unable to recover the ensuing onside kick and a 19-yard pass on third down and 18 for the Tigers would seal the game for the visitors and send the homecoming crowd home just short of a victory. Although the senior game result did not go in the Wildcats favor, senior quarterback Easton Melancon inked his name in the LC record book setting the new standard for passing touchdowns in a single game with seven, breaking the record held by Ben McLaughlin and Wes Cooper.  Shedrick Davis also set the record for touchdown receptions in a single game with four, moving past ten different occurrences of three scores in a game.

Wildcats head coach Dennis Dunn said after the game, "I'm just so proud of our guys for fighting for 60 minutes and never quitting.  That's what these guys are made of, they are so proud and so much tradition. This was a heck of a game, ETBU is a good football team. We knew they were going to be explosive and they were but we feel like we matched up with them and it came down to one play. We feel like we had the right play called there, we just came up a yard short. I'm just proud of our guys and I couldn't have asked for any more of this football team."

Melancon finished the game with 398 yards passing and seven touchdowns, his 10th, 350 plus passing yard game of his career.  Davis led the Wildcats in receptions with 13 catches for 126 yards and four touchdowns and Lamar Carroway led the Wildcats in all-purpose yards with 327 total yards and two touchdowns.  Aurren Cooksey had his 10th game rushing for over 100 yards in his career, totaling 110 against ETBU with two touchdowns. Ryan DeMattie and Josh Pickett had double digit tackles for the Wildcats and Jesse Provost and Deandre Cotton each had a sack in the game.

The Wildcats will play their final two games of the season on the road, at McMurry next week and at Mary Hardin-Baylor to close the season on November 12. Kickoff next week is scheduled for 2pm and can be heard on 104.3 FM The Bridge.