Bryce Hayes
SEGUIN, Texas — Using explosive special teams plays and taking advantage of Texas Lutheran turnovers, East Texas Baptist rallied from a 14-point first quarter deficit to outlast Texas Lutheran, 38-35, Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.
The two teams combined for 902 yards and 73 points in a game that saw six lead changes.
The Bulldogs (3-5, 2-4 ASC) jumped out to a 14-point lead behind a rushing touchdown from Jacob Forton (Spring Branch/Smithson Valley) and a passing touchdown from Seth Cosme (Angleton/Angleton) to Aaron Sotelo (Castroville/Medina Valley).
Following a 73-yard kickoff return, East Texas Baptist responded with 5:37 left in the first quarter scoring the first of their two first quarter touchdowns as the Tigers brought the game to 14-all after one quarter.
Texas Lutheran regained the lead as Seth Cosme scrambled in for a 10-yard rushing touchdown as TLU took a 21-14 lead early in the second quarter. East Texas Baptist would close the half with 10 unanswered points – taking a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Texas Lutheran would start the second half just as they did the first with a quick scoring drive capped off by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Seth Cosme to Cayleb Klostermann (Lyford/Lyford). The Tigers would respond with a touchdown of their own before Texas Lutheran would regain the lead with Aaron Sotelo’s second receiving touchdown of the day with four minutes remaining in the game.
East Texas Baptist would return the ensuing kickoff 60-yards for prime field position as the Tigers would score on the following possession and pick up one final stop defensively to take a 38-35 win at Bulldog Stadium.
Texas Lutheran signal caller Seth Cosme ended the day with 356 yards passing with three scores and an interception while adding 27 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground. Aaron Sotelo would lead the Bulldogs with 94 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Senior wide receivers Keon Torello (St. Louis, MO/Austin Crockett) and Jeremiah Glaspie (Indianapolis, IN/Ridge Point (TX)) enjoyed career-days finishing with 93 yards and 66 yards receiving respectively. Jacob Forton led the Bulldogs rushing attack with 65 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 15 carries while adding 57 yards receiving on seven receptions.
James Gipson (Castroville/Medina Valley) led the Bulldogs defensively with seven tackles. Khalen Wilkerson (Killeen/Ellison) and Caleb Giles (Houston/Lamar) finished with six tackles each with Giles adding his second interception in as many games and a tackle for loss.
Texas Lutheran now turns its attention to Southwestern University as the Bulldogs travel to Georgetown, Texas, on Nov. 5 with kickoff set for 1 PM. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran football, follow the Bulldogs on 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 Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).