The Texas Wesleyan University football team lost a heartbreaker to the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers. The final score of Saturday’s afternoon game in Plainview was 41-30.

The Rams defense was unable to stop the Pioneers at crucial moments during the game. Wesleyan is now on a five-game losing streak and has fallen to 1-7 on the year and 1-5 in conference play. TWU now has the second-worst record in the Sooner Athletic Conference, according to ramsports.net.

The Rams started the first quarter strong with Donovan Isom’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Eric Richards at the 10:57 mark. Richards was able to walk backwards into the end zone on the blown coverage by the Pioneers. Kade Dixon’s extra point was good, giving the Rams a 7-0 lead.

WBU answered back with Nick Quintero’s touchdown pass to Caleb O’Conner. Edgar Baeza kicked an extra point and the Pioneers tied it up 7-7 with 7:45 left in the first quarter.

With the Rams unable to get anything going on offense, the Pioneers marched down the field and scored again on a 30-yard field goal by Baeza. Pioneers lead 10-7 with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

Wesleyan struck back quickly with another touchdown pass by Isom. This time he connected on a 54-yard bomb to Le’Mant Monroe for the score. Dixon missed the extra point, but the Rams led 13-10 with 13:59 left in the second quarter.

The Rams defense got a stop late in the second quarter. Dixon redeemed himself by kicking a 43-yard field goal which put Texas Wesleyan in the lead 16-10 with 2:34 left in the half.

Quintero threw another touchdown, this time to De’Sean Johnson for the 30-yard score. Baeza kicked an extra point and put the Pioneers in the lead 17-16 at the end of the half.

The Rams started the third quarter strong with a 24-yard scamper by Jermarcus Jones on a handoff by Isom for a score. Dixon kicked the extra point and the Rams retook the lead 23-17 with 10:05 left in the third quarter.

With 4:52 left in the third quarter, Johnson scored again for the Pioneers. This time he got the touchdown on a 22-yard run. The lead switched again when Baeza connected on the extra point and put the Pioneers in the lead 24-23.

TWU, unable to stop the Pioneers’ offense, allowed another touchdown pass. This time the connection was Quintero to Emanuel Reese. Baeza kicked the extra point and the Rams trailed the Pioneers 31-23 with 13:51 left in the fourth quarter.

The Rams got the ball back but were unable to put points on the board. Dixon missed a 39-yard field goal short and wide to the right, to give the Pioneers the ball.

WBU’s offense scored yet again, this time on Jerrell Peterson’s 30-yard touchdown run. After getting the extra point, WBU lead 38-23 with 7:50 left in the game.

Richards took over quarterbacking duties for the Rams and hit Le’Mant Monroe for a 75-yard touchdown. Dixon kicked the extra point and the Rams closed the gap to 38-30 with 7:39 left to play.

Texas Wesleyan’s defense got the turnover it needed to allow the offense a chance to tie up the game. Unfortunately, the Rams’ offense was unable to score on fourth down.

Wayland Baptist drove down the field and kicked a 46-yard field goal in the waning seconds to increase their lead. This made the final score 41-30.

The game was closer than the score indicated. Had the Rams offense been able to score late in the fourth quarter, or if the defense was able to get a late stop, it would have been a different game.

The Rams will play their homecoming game on Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. against Lyon College at Farrington Field.