Tarleton State Pulls Away from Merrimack 45-20
Merrimack's quarterback threw three touchdown passes and the Warriors still lost by 25. That is what two lost fumbles, an interception and a 77-yard fumble return will do to a day.
That fumble return, by Chris Robinson at 10:21 of the first quarter, put Tarleton State up 7-0 before its offense had to do anything. A 36-yard field goal and a 3-yard James Paige run made it 17-0 in the second quarter. Merrimack answered with two Austin Palmer touchdown catches from AJ Hairston Jr (24 yards, then 7 yards with 2 seconds left in the half) and went to the break down 17-14.
The third quarter decided it. Kaden Anderson hit Marquis Willis from 32 yards, Bryce Green ran in from 29, and Anderson found Cydd Ford from 42, three scores in about ten minutes that turned 17-14 into 38-14. Merrimack scored once more, a 22-yard Hairston pass to Cooper Lehman with a two-point conversion, and Tarleton State closed it with a 13-yard Anderson touchdown to Danny Joiner with 6:34 left.
Tarleton State threw for 413 yards and ran 26 times for 103 (call it a passing team that happens to have a running game). Merrimack's 379 yards was respectable: 224 through the air and 155 on the ground. The turnovers were 3-0 against them. Tarleton State is 3-0 and Merrimack drops to 1-2.
For fantasy, Anderson's 407 yards and three touchdowns made him the top scorer, but Palmer and Hairston both landed in the top three from the losing side.