The Texas Wesleyan University football team (6-2) was victorious against Texas College (TC) (0-8) at the Rams Homecoming game on Sat. Oct. 30 in Fort Worth with the ending score of 69-18 points.

Since the re-establishment of football at Texas Wesleyan University (TWU), the 2021 Homecoming game is the highest scoring football game produced by the Rams.

The first touchdown of the game was completed by freshman running back Clint Epperson with a 29-yard run after catching a kick by freshman punter Daniel Trejo with 12:45 left in the first quarter. After recovering a fumble, senior defensive lineman Adrian Johnson delivered the second touchdown with a 30-yard run.

TC’s Dajuan Hill scored their first touchdown after 10 plays and a total of 76 yard run. At 2:27, Trejo’s kick wrapped up the first quarter with a successful field goal, making the score 17-6 in favor of Texas Wesleyan.

The second quarter had four successful Wesleyan touchdowns – one interception and 35-yard run by sophomore defensive back Elijah Hall, two passes from sophomore quarterback Dalton Dale to junior wide receiver Collier Ricks and Dale’s end-of-quarter pass to junior wide receiver PJ Williams – gaining 28 points.

The third quarter play by Dale to Williams was topped off with a successful field goal by freshman punter Francisco Castillo, leaving the third quarter score with a 46-point lead.
The Rams started the fourth quarter with two touchdowns, one by junior running back Ty Williams and the other with a field goal by Castillo. Texas College scored their second touchdown with Quindarius John running 59 yards with 4:45 left in the game.

Freshman wide receiver Jaysen Price scored with a 57-yard run – the longest Wesleyan run of the game – with 2:37 left on the clock. And the game ended with Texas College scoring one last touchdown with seconds left in the game, ending the game at 69-18.

After the game ended, Coach Joe Prud’homme talked about his excitement of another home win and hopes of the team’s winning streak continuing. Prud’homme said, “It’s always [exciting] whenever you win, but to get the four-game home stand and win them all at home and go undefeated at home, we are really proud of that. The kids came out a little choppy at first, but once we smoothed out, it got a lot better.”

He said after the change of coordinators over the summer, it didn’t take long for the football team to get into a good grove. “It’s clicking right along. That’s hard to do. Normally you change coordinators or change an offensive scheme and it takes a couple of years to get it where it is supposed to be. These guys just grabbed it and ran with it,” said Prud’homme.

Tony Mcclain, defensive line coach and special teams coordinator expressed his feelings on the progress of the team’s success and the homecoming game. He said, “It was a great win, a great program win. It was good for our school and good for our kids.” Mcclain felt that the football team worked hard up to this point, and it has paid off.

“What we preach as a coaching staff is ‘finish’ and I think today we had a few ups and downs, but we finished,” said Mcclain. “The biggest thing is the kids are building something special. We have a foundation, and we want to keep building on it,” he continued.

Nick David-West, freshman running back, said, “I feel like we deserve this win with how hard we’ve been working in practice all week, really all year, to have the season we have had. It feels good, it feels like we deserve it.”