by Austin Coats, sports editor

A&M Consolidated met the Temple Wildcats at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos for their first round playoff game. The Tigers could not control turnovers and the Temple running game, and fell 58-14.

Play in the first half was sloppy for both teams as they collectively fumbled five times. Consol senior Aaron Leventis recovered a fumble in the second quarter as the Wildcats marched into the Tigers’ territory. The Tigers tried to take advantage of the mistake and got within the red zone. However they were forced into fourth down, on which junior Mason Hickson was rushed and hit as he threw straight to a defender.

To only make it worse, Consol’s defense struggled to contain Temple’s running back Jeff Carr. The senior ran for 284 yards on 15 carries.

A&M Consolidated responded well to their first half woes, receiving first in the second half. It was a seven-play drive that ended with 25-yard touchdown from junior Tyri Merchant after he broke a tackle at the five.

From that point, though, everything went downhill fast for the Tigers. A minute-twenty gone in the fourth quarter, Consol had conceded four more touchdowns and were down 52-14. Junior Dayden Lane replaced Hickson in the fourth, but even multiple personnel swaps couldn’t fix the blowout so late in the game.