By Tyler McDonough | Senior Reporter

The No. 7 A&M-Commerce Lions dropped their first Lone Star Conference loss of the season, falling to the No. 16 Tarleton State Texans 47-21 this past Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

With the loss the Lions the Lions fall to 5-2 (3-1 LSC) and the Texans remain undefeated at 6-0 (5-0 LSC).

Tarleton St. started things off on a 27-yard field goal by Joanly Martinez at the 12-minute mark in the first after a 9-play, 53-yard drive. The Lions answered at the 6:30 mark in the first after Vincent Hobbs made a spectacular one-handed grab from Kane Wilson to make things 7-3.

Just before the end of the first quarter, Tarleton scored on a 50-yard pass from Ben Holmes to Savon Rollison after a defensive mis-communication by the Lions. Early on in the second, Tarleton tacked on another touchdown to make the score 17-7.

Leading 17-7 and all the momentum shifting toward Tarleton, track star and kick returner Reggie Kincade electrified the crowd taking the ensuing kickoff 100 yards to cut the lead 17-14.

The Lions possessed the ball late in the second quarter, looking to score once more before the half, but the Lions were forced into a costly quick three and out and punted back to the Texans.

Holmes once again took the Texans down the field and threw a 13-yard pass to Zimari Manning with 41 seconds to take a 24-14 lead in halftime.

The Lions got the ball in the second half and marched down the field quickly with long catches from Ryan Stokes and Darrion Landry. Kane Wilson capped off the drive and scored on his patented “truck package” from three yards out to make it a three-point game.

This is where things began to get interesting.

Tarleton scored once more on a field goal after a turnover from the Lions to make it 27-21 late in the third quarter.

The Lions were heavily penalized in the third and fourth quarter, giving Tarleton many opportunities to move the ball down the field.

Tarleton broke the game open early in the fourth scoring to make it 33-21. The Lions once more were forced to punt after some “no-calls” hurt the Lions. Tarleton took advantage of the Lions having to punt, scoring two more times to take the game 47-21.

The Lions were outgained 486-360 in total yards and the Lions were penalized 18 times for 167 yards, while Tarleton was penalized only 5 times for 45 yards.

With two losses on the season the Lions will desperately need help from regional teams ahead of them to slide into the top 7 in Super Region Four before the season ends. In addition, A&M-Commerce will need to win out as well The Lions will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Silver City, NM to take on Western New Mexico.