SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State football team was in an offensive rhythm Saturday night, topping UTPB 70-21 at LeGrand Stadium at First Community Credit Union Field in its season finale.
The game was the final one in an ASU uniform for the 19 Ram seniors, including for London Dial, Mark Munson, Ricky Pelzer, Kevin Wharry, Melvin Robinson, Jeremiah Baines, Richard Franklin, Trey Green, Isaiah Aneke, Willie Brown, Jesus Vargas, Stephen Dugas, Tyler Hamilton, Reggie Harris, Rance Layton, Nolan Osmanski, Isaiah Smith, Grant Peterson and Andy Gonzalez, and
were honored on the field prior to the game.
The 70 points in one game was the most in program history for the Rams (5-6, 4-5 LSC), breaking a record set in 1993 when ASU outscored Fort Lewis 69-0. The Rams also recorded their longest passing play ever in the game, when quarterback Jake Faber hit Mark Munson on the sideline and Munson ran the rest of the way for a 99-yard touchdown reception.
The Rams did it through the air and on the ground offensively in the game, gaining 322 yards passing and 258 with the run, while scoring six touchdowns passing and four rushing.
Leading the Rams on the ground was the quarterback Faber, who ran for three touchdowns and 94 yards on the night. Josh Stevens also proved reliable for the Rams again, breaking the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 68 yards on the night. He would become the eighth player overall and first ASU player since Kyle Washington in 2013 and first running back since Daniel Thomas in 2008 to gain at least 1,000 yards rushing. Ronald Winston followed close behind with 52 rushing yards on the night, including a long of 48 that ended in the end zone.
Faber played strong in the passing game as well, completing 68 percent of his passes for a career-high 276 yards and three touchdowns against the Falcons. The Minnesota native completed passes to seven different receivers on the night.
Leading the receiving corps was Mark Munson, who finished with only two catches, but had 104 yards and two touchdowns on the night. Lawson Ayo was finished just three yards shy of the 100-yard mark and caught one touchdown pass on the night. Ayo also completed one touchdown pass, hitting Donovan Thompson on a double pass play for 47 yards. Thompson finished the night with the one touchdown and caught two other passes for a total of 52 yards.
The Rams also saw plenty of strong individual performances on the defensive side of the ball, limiting the Falcons to just 37 rushing yards of offense on the night. It was the sixth time this season ASU has limited the opponent to less than 100 yards rushing.
Justin Jackson led the way with 11 total tackles including two for loss. Three other Rams finished with at least two tackles for loss, including Melvin Robinson, Richard Franklin and Bright Ihegworo. Grant Aschenbeck also had one tackle for loss.
Angelo State defensive back Kevin Wharry also had his best game of the season against UTPB, recording five pass breakup and intercepting two passes on the night. The interceptions were Wharry's first of the season.
The Rams set the tone on their first drive of the game, driving 68 in just four plays to find the end zone for the first time in the night. Trey Green put the ball in the end zone on the drive, scoring in the final game of his career at ASU.
UTPB came back with a four-play touchdown drive of its own, but the Rams scored again when they took over on offense, using a short field after Jeremiah Baines returned the kickoff 80 yards and scoring on an 11-yard run from Stevens. They would go on to score three more times in the first quarter with three different receivers - Ayo, Munson and Thompson - to jump out to a commanding 35-7 lead. The 35 points was the most ASU has scored in a quarter this year.
Angelo State scored twice more in the second quarter, first on a run from Faber and the 48-yard run from Winston. They also held the Falcons scoreless to increase its lead. The Rams only punted twice in the entire first half and went into the locker room leading 49-7.
Coming out to start the second half, the Falcons scored on their opening drive. The Rams responded, however, using 10 plays to drive 61 yards and make it into the end zone once again on Munson's second touchdown of the night. The Ram defense forced a turnover on downs and ASU scored again on its next drive, using Faber's career-long 23 yard run to find the end zone this time.
Faber would run one more into the end zone in the fourth quarter to score the Rams' seventh and final touchdown of the day, and the Rams would run out the clock for the rest of the game to seal the 70-21 victory.
