Photo by Teja Munoz
TLU Sports Information & Sports Marketing
Contact: Bryce Hayes (830) 372-6877
For Immediate Release
SEGUIN, Texas — Texas Lutheran’s defense – who entered the weekend third in Division-III interceptions – grabbed seven interceptions in a 57-26 victory over Austin College in non-conference action on Saturday. The Bulldogs have now beat the ‘Roos in seven straight matchups.
The seven interceptions tie the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) record and are the most by TLU in program history, nearly doubling the previous record of four, which was accomplished five times including once in each of the previous three seasons. Adrian Sanchez (Glen Rose/Glen Rose) led the way with three, including an impressive one-handed interception in the fourth quarter to cap his performance. Dylan Anaya (Harlingen/Harlingen South), Owen Garcia (Austin/Connally), Malik Johnson (Paris/Paris), who had a pick-six for a second straight week, and Andrew Silva (Sinton/Sinton) all had one interception each.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs tallied 509 yards of total offense. Quarterbacks Nathan Alvarez (San Antonio/Clemens), Micah Casson (Killeen/Copperas Cove), Elijah Favela (Converse/Judson) and Logan Rodriguez (Orange Grove/Orange Grove) combined for 283 yards passing and three touchdowns, led by a 2-for-3 performance from Rodriguez that yielded 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Ja’Mare Nichols (San Antonio/Roosevelt) was their favorite target, finishing with 116 yards on six receptions. Joe Perez (Schertz/Steele), Jarrell Smith (Beaumont/East Chambers), and KJ Tezeno (Nederland/Nederland) all scored their first touchdowns as Bulldogs on Saturday. Johnathan Pompey led the Bulldogs on the ground with 12 carries for 74 yards and three touchdowns.
Austin College led 20-6 with two minutes remaining in the first half with the only points coming from a Pompey one-yard rushing score. A’Jean Augustine (Houston/Lamar) kicked a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead 20-9 before Micah Casson engineered one final scoring drive to close the half with some momentum – finding Perez for an eight-yard touchdown.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with 28 unanswered capped by a 55-yard pick sick from Johnson and a 31-yard rushing touchdown from Pompey.
The ‘Roos scored a touchdown at 12:14 in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 43-26, then TLU scored on explosive pass plays from Logan Rodriguez in back-to-back drives to bring the game to its final score.
TLU improved to 2-1 while Austin College dropped to 1-2.
Next up, TLU travels to Marshall on Saturday, September 26, for a 1 PM matchup at East Texas Baptist. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran football, follow the Bulldogs on X (Twitter) and Instagram (@TLU_Football) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on X (Twitter,) @tlu_athletics on Instagram, and @tlubulldogson Facebook).