FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University Football team (0-10, 0-7 CSFL) suffered a 63-7 loss at the hands of No. 23 Arizona Christian University (7-3, 5-3 CSFL) at Farrington Field on Saturday.
ACU quarterback Ryan Esslinger, the reigning CSFL Offensive Player of the Week, turned in yet another strong performance. Esslinger threw six touchdown passes against Texas College last week to win his fourth player of the week award of the season. This week he threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in just over a half of play.
After receiving the opening kick, the Rams had a strong drive going after
Jermarcus Jones got loose for a 40 yard run, but the drive ended abruptly when ACU's Josh Chadwick picked off a pass and returned it 58 yards for the game's first score.
From there, the Rams had trouble slowing a high powered ACU offense as the Firestorm put two offensive and one defensive score on the board in each of the first two quarters to lead 42-0 at the half.
Esslinger started the second half with a 14 play, 75 yard drive that ate up 5:53 and finished with a terrific catch in the end zone by Kendrick Murphy on a 27 yard pass, before turning the reigns over to Adam Abbatacola for the remainder of the game.
With 5:50 remaining in the third quarter, Texas Wesleyan's
Trey Jackson etched his name in the record books returning a Derek Brush punt 70 yards to the house. That marked the Rams' first punt return for a score in the modern era.
Unfortunately the TXWES offense, with an injury riddled line, was unable to do much damage against a much larger ACU defense.
Esslinger and Abbatacola combined for 394 passing yards and four touchdowns, while Alias Sturges racked up 107 yards and a score on six carries.
For the Rams,
Erik Richards threw for 146 yards including 61 yards on five catches for
Brandon Reeves. After the strong start, Jones finished with 56 yards on the ground. Reeves added another 24 yards on three carries giving the junior from Pleasant Grove, TX, 85 all-purpose yards which was second on the team only to
Trey Jackson who finished with 86 yards on the day.
The Rams will regroup and play their season finale next week when they travel to Oklahoma Panhandle State University. That game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start in Goodwell, OK, on Nov. 11.
Ramblings
- Ram Nation supported the return of TXWES Football in force this season. The Rams drew nearly 15,000 fans to Farrington Field, averaging just a tick under 3,000 fans in five home games.
- Texas Wesleyan honored eight seniors in the final home game of the season: (Football)
Anthony Caston and
Muhye Abuhammattah, (Ram Band) Drenda Burk, Luis Calderon and Jorge Lopez, (Cheerleaders) Demi Dotson, Matt Mayfield, and Alli Perez.
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Anthony Caston, a 5-6 wide receiver from Dallas, was the lone active senior on the team. This season he averaged 10.24 yards per catch with 215 yards on 21 catches including a touchdown against New Mexico Highlands. He also averaged 21.18 yards while returning 11 kicks for 233 yards.
