Aggies Drop Midweek Contest at Jax State

NM State returns home on Tuesday, Oct. 15, when they host LA Tech.

Source: NMSU Athletics (Photo: Courtesy)

NM State (1-5, 0-3 CUSA) traveled to Jacksonville, Ala., for its first of three midweek contests this season as they took on Jax State (3-3, 2-0 CUSA) on Wednesday night in AmFirst Stadium.

On the night, the lone points for NM State came from the foot of Abraham Montaño who tallied two field goals, including a career-long 53-yarder in the first quarter.

FIRST QUARTER
Jax State moved the ball into Aggie territory on the first drive, however, a missed field goal from 41 yards out allowed the Aggies to take over at the 24-yard line with the score still even at 0-0. During their first possession, the Aggies leaned on the rushing attack as they remained on the ground for their first three plays of the game and found success – earning a combined 37 yards. The Aggies would ultimately move the ball 41 yards on seven plays and would come away with a 53-yard field goal from Abraham Montaño.

Scoring plays: NMSU – A. Montaño 53-yard field goal; JAX – T. Stewart 10-yard rushing touchdown (kick by G. Rippa)

End Q1: NM State 3, Jax State 7

SECOND QUARTER
From there, Jax State would manage 16 unanswered points to take a two-possession lead with 12:10 remaining in the second quarter. The scoring would come in the form of a pair of rushing touchdowns from Tre Stewart split by a safety forced by the Jax State defense.

NM State’s second possession of the quarter ended in a fumble and resulted in junior running back Monte Watkins getting stretchered off of the field. Watkins maintained movement in all of his extremities but was taken to the hospital via ambulance following the play.

NM State would then add to their total with a second field goal from Montaño – this time from 41 yards out. Unfortunately, this would be the last time the Aggies would score in the half while Jax State scored on each of its next three possessions during the half – extending its lead to 27 points before the clock ran out. An Aggie defense missing captains Buddha Peletiand Dylan Early wound up giving a total of 315 yards while allowing 33 points to mark the most points in the first half it has given up this season.

Scoring plays: JAX – Safety; JAX – T. Stewart 32-yard receiving touchdown; NMSU – A. Montaño 41-yard field goal; JAX – G. Rippa 45-yard field goal

End Q2: NM State 6, Jax State 33

THIRD QUARTER
The Gamecocks would add to their lead in the third quarter as they put together a five-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 28-yard rushing touchdown to push the deficit to 34 points with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Following another touchdown drive for the Gamecocks, NM State put together its longest drive of the night – gaining 51 yards. The possession was highlighted by a 38-yard connection between Parker Awad and wide receiver PJ Johnson III. However, looking at a 41-yard deficit, the Aggies turned the ball over on downs after electing to go for it on fourth down from the Jax State 24-yard line.

Scoring plays: JAX – A. Paul 28-yard rushing touchdown (kick by G. Rippa); JAX – B. Rechsteiner 5-yard touchdown reception (kick by G. Rippa)

End Q3: NM State 6, Jax State 47

FOURTH QUARTER
Jax State pushed its lead to 48 points just one play into the fourth quarter as quarterback Logan Smothers rushed 72 yards to the end zone to result in the sixth consecutive scoring drive for the home side.

Facing a 3rd-and-20 later in the quarter, Awad would find Johnson III once again for an unlikely first down. Later, Awad and Johnson III would link up once again – this time in the end zone to mark the Aggies’ first touchdown of the game.

NM State would show one final sign of life on its final drive as they worked the ball toward the JSU end zone, however, the Gamecocks would come up with an interception in the end zone on the final play of the game.

Scoring plays: JAX – L. Smothers 72-yard rushing touchdown (kick by G. Rippa); NMSU – P. Johnson III 21-yard receiving touchdown (kick by A. Montaño)

Final: NM State 13, Jax State 54

UP NEXT
The Aggies will now prepare for a quick turnaround as they return home for a Tuesday night matchup against LA Tech on Oct. 15. In six days, the Aggies will welcome a LA Tech squad that currently sits at 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in CUSA play and will take on Middle Tennessee on Thursday night. This means both sides will be on limited rest for next week’s matchup on ESPNU.

For complete coverage of the NM State football program, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), Twitter (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFB).

Noteworthy

With the loss, the Aggies move to 1-1 all-time against Jax State and 0-1 all-time in AmFirst Stadium.
After finishing a perfect 4-0 in midweek games during the 2023 season, NM State drops to 0-1 after its first midweek tilt during the 2024 campaign.
The 53-yard field goal in the first quarter from Abraham Montaño marks the longest of his career – besting his previous long by two yards.
Punter George Eberle tallied four punts for 179 yards to end the game with a 44.8-yard average – finishing just off of his season average of 45.7 yards per punt which ranked 15th in the country entering the night.

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.