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ELLENSBURG (Sept. 7) -- Sophomore Jordan Todd (Bellevue/Interlake HS) ran for 119 yards on 28 carries, and the Central Washington University football team had an opportunity to tie the game in the closing seconds, but the Wildcats fell to visiting Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 21-14, on Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium.

CWU suffered its third straight season-opening loss to the Javelinas, also spoiling the head coaching debut of John Picha.

The two teams nearly played a scoreless first quarter until CWU senior linebacker Ridge Nielsen (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View HS) intercepted an Alex Rios pass at the Wildcats' 49-yard line and returned it for the game's opening points. Two offensive plays later, however, Texas A&M-Kingsville responded with a 60-yard touchdown run by Anthony Washington, and the score remained deadlocked heading into the second quarter.

CWU did have a big-play touchdown called back due to penalty earlier in the opening quarter, when sophomore Isaiah Davis (Bremerton/South Kitsap HS) returned a punt 89 yards, but a penalty brought back the score and the Wildcats did not gain a first down on their ensuing possession after the penalty.

The Javelinas took advantage of an interception of their own on the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, taking over possession at the CWU 17. Two plays later, Rios found Robert Armstrong on a 15-yard touchdown pass that gave the visitors a 14-7 lead less than a minute into the period.

Two series later, the Wildcats tied the game after a 10-play, 63-yard drive that consumed better than five minutes of game clock. Todd had eight carries on the drive, capping it with a six-yard scoring run, and freshman Santiago Lopez (Lynden) tacked on the extra point that made it a tie score.

Neither team scored in a very even third quarter, setting the stage for a thrilling, down-to-the-wire fourth quarter. Texas A&M-Kingsville put together a five-minute drive but was unable to score against the CWU defense. The Wildcats went three-and-out on their next two series, though, sandwiched around the eventual game-winning scoring drive by the Javelinas.

TAMUK took advantage of good field position and some trick-play action to score the winning points. After getting the ball at the CWU 22 following a punt, the Javelinas gained just five yards on three offensive plays but scored on a 17-yard carry by kicker Matt Stoll on a fake field goal, and Stoll's extra point made it a seven-point game.

CWU held Texas A&M-Kingsville on the Javelinas' last full possession of the game, forcing a punt with just over a minute remaining. Redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Lane (Arlington/Lakewood HS) marched the Wildcats down the field with back-to-back completed passes, including a 38-yard strike to sophomore DJ Richardson (Los Angeles, Calif./Gardena HS) that moved CWU into Javelina territory. Three penalties against the visitors aided the Wildcats' progress towards the end zone, which resulted in possession at the two-yard line with 16 seconds left, but Lane fumbled the snap on first-and-goal and Texas A&M-Kingsville recovered and ran out the clock.

Offensively, CWU managed just 202 yards -- its lowest single-game total since a 166-yard performance in a 10-7 loss at South Dakota on Oct. 7, 2006. The Wildcats' two lowest offensive yardage totals since that time have both come in home defeats against Texas A&M-Kingsville in Tomlinson Stadium (213 in 2011). The Javelinas totaled 352 yards, including 210 through the air.

Todd posted his third career 100-yard game to key the Wildcats' offensive effort. Lane completed just 9 of 20 passes for 86 yards in his collegiate debut, and four different receivers had two catches each.

Defensively, CWU held Texas A&M-Kingsville to just 3.5 yards per carry. Senior safety Stan Langlow (University Place/Curtis HS) made a game-high 13 tackles, while Davis finished with 10. Senior defensive end Gabe Bruno (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep) finished with seven tackles -- all solo -- including three for losses. Junior linebacker JB Torsy (Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills HS) also had seven tackles in the game.

Texas A&M-Kingsville quarterbacks Rios and Dean Brantley combined to complete 22 of 36 passes for 210 yards. Rios was 16 of 28 for 155 yards, while Brantley played the entire fourth quarter and was 6 of 8 for 55 yards. Washington finished with 93 yards on 15 carries, and Brandon James led the Javelina defense with 12 total tackles.

CWU will now turn its attention to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, beginning with a home game against Western Oregon University next Saturday (Sept. 14). The Wildcats and Wolves will start at 1 p.m. at Tomlinson Stadium.