COMMERCE, Texas (AP) — Sam Vidlak threw two touchdown passes to Kylon Harris, Gavin Rutherford had two short touchdown runs, and Stephen F. Austin beat East Texas A&M 31-21 on Saturday night.
Vidlak opened the scoring for Stephen F. Austin (6-2, 4-0 Southland Conference) with a 13-yard touchdown toss to Harris.
Ron Peace answered with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Devin Matthews and a 6-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left to give East Texas A&M (2-6, 2-2) a 14-7 lead after one quarter.
Rutherford's 1-yard touchdown run was the lone score of the second quarter and pulled the Lumberjacks even at halftime.
Vidlak connected with Harris from 38 yards out for the only score of the third quarter and Stephen F. Austin led 21-14.
KJ Shankle scored on a 1-yard run for the Lions to tie it at 21-all early in the fourth quarter. Lavon Williams intercepted Vidlak and returned it 46 yards to the Lumberjacks' 13-yard line to set up the score.
The Lumberjacks, ranked No. 23 in the FCS coaches poll, regained the lead 28-21 when Rutherford scored from a yard out at the end of a 12-play drive with 7:21 left to play. Carlos Alvarado made it a two-score game with a 40-yard field goal inside the final two minutes.
Vidlak totaled 309 yards on 30-for-46 passing but was picked off three times. Jerrell Wimbley rushed 26 times for 124 yards. Harris caught 16 passes for 183 yards — both career highs for the senior.
Peace completed 18 of 37 passes for 250 yards with an interception for the Lions, who managed only 10 yards on 20 rushes.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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