Central Plains FFA Chapter

10/21 23:13 CDT James Jones rushes for 178 yards and a touchdown as New Mexico State beats Sam Houston 30-24 James Jones rushes for 178 yards and a touchdown as New Mexico State beats Sam Houston 30-24 HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) --- James Jones rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown, Adam Damante threw for two scores and New Mexico State beat Sam Houston 30-24 on Wednesday night. New Mexico State had touchdown drives of one and two plays in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead into halftime. After Sam Houston State began the third with an 81-yard touchdown, the Aggies scored 16 straight points to go ahead 30-17. Damante had a pass intercepted midway through the fourth and Sam Houston capitalized on the short field with a touchdown. But New Mexico State used six plays to go 44 yards and run out the clock. Damante was 19 of 29 for 160 yards against one of the stingiest pass defenses in the country as Sam Houston entered allowing just 137.8 passing yards per game to rank fourth in the country. Only Texas Tech has eclipsed 200 yards passing against the Bearkats this season. TJ Washington Jr. also had a rushing touchdown for New Mexico State (3-4, 2-1 Conference USA). Landyn Locke threw for 235 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Sam Houston (1-6, 0-3). Locke, who entered with 11 touchdown passes averaging 34.5 yards for the second-highest average among FBS quarterbacks with at least 10 TD tosses this season, found Tim Burns Jr. over the middle on the first play of the third for the long touchdown. Sam Houston took an early 7-0 lead after Terrence Guillory II blocked a punt and Sam Adams recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.

Up next New Mexico State: Returns home to play Jacksonville State on Oct. 28. Sam Houston: Plays at Missouri State on Tuesday. ___ Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP's full college football coverage here.