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Team Texas Downs Team Nation, 41-14 in Western Refining Texas Vs. Nation Game
Feb. 2, 2008
EL PASO, Texas - Team Texas forced six turnovers and limited Team Nation to just 189 yards in total offense in a 41-14 Texas victory in the 2008 Western Refining Texas vs. Nation All-Star Game at the Sun Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
Amendola caught three passes for a game-high 71 yards and a touchdown while Omon rushed for 91 yards to lead all ballcarriers on the evening. University of Texas defensive back Erick Jackson earned Defensive Player of the Game honors. "I really wanted to show people that I could play with I-A players," Omon said after the game. "I got an opportunity and I took advantage of it. The speed of the game is a little bit faster but for a runningback it's all about instinct once you get out there." Colorado State quarterback Caleb Hanie completed 8-of-13 passes for 165 yards while San Jose State signal caller Adam Tafralis was 10-of-19 for 136 yards and a touchdown to give Team Texas 301 yards through the air. The Texas win evens the two-year-old series at 1-1. The Nation won the inaugural game, 24-20, in 2007.
Amendola and Tafralis hooked up on a 28-yard scoring pass early in the second quarter to give Texas a 7-0 lead. The Nation's Darnell Blackman of North Carolina State quickly erased the deficit when he took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 and bring the crowd of 26,821 to their feet with his scintillating return (Watch It Now!). But Team Texas would run off 34 unanswered points over the next three quarters as the Nation offense could not solve an attacking Texas defense that limited the Nation to just 12 first downs for the game. Bethel (Tenn.) runningback Adrian Smith gave Texas the lead for good shortly before halftime when he scored on a four-yard run with 1:05 left in the half. Smith's score was set up by an interception by Oklahoma's Darie Williams that gave Texas the ball at the Nation 15 yard line. On its first drive the second half the Nation moved 40 yards in 10 plays and was nearing midfield when University of Texas linebacker Robert Killebrew forced a fumble by Richmond runningback Tim Hightower. Killebrew's Longhorn teammate Erick Jackson scooped up the fumble and sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 Team Texas lead. Following a three-and-out by the Nation on its next possession Oklahoma kicker Garrett Hartley converted on a 45-yard field goal to extend the Texas lead to 24-7 with 6:40 to go in the third quarter. On the Nation's next series Boise State quarterback Taylor Tharp moved the Nation to the Texas 19-yard line. But on Tharp's fourth-and-two pass intended for Washington's Marcel Reese fell short and Texas took over on downs. Nine plays later Hartley converted a 26-yard field goal for a 27-7 Texas lead. Texas forced a Nation punt on the next series and Hanie engineered a five-play, 70-yard scoring drive that included a 38-yard run by Smith and a 30-yard completion by Hanie to Tennessee fullback Chris Brown. Missouri Southern's Alley Broussard capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run for a 34-7 lead with 13:07 left in the game. Hanie capped the Texas scoring with a one-yard run with 6:35 left in the game. The score ended a nine-play drive that featured a 41-yard third down run by Omon and a 25-yard completion to Amendola on fourth-and-13 that set up Hanie's score. The Nation finally found the end zone again with 2:29 left in the game when Mount Union's Pierre Garcon returned a Texas punt 62 yards for a touchdown (Watch It Now!).
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