The Abilene Ruff Riders had trouble scoring in the first half and fell 68-34 to the Austin TurfCats on Saturday in an Indoor Football League game.
The loss was the fifth straight to open the season for the Riders, who return home after a three-week road trip to play Lone Star Division rival Corpus Christi next weekend.
The TurfCats, who lost 71-20 to Amarillo the week before, squared their record at 2-2.
Abilene was down 26-6 at halftime, scoring on a 50-yard pass from Bart Gloyd to Desmond Sanders, his first IFL touchdown.
It was 40-6 before the Riders scored again, this time on a 32-yard pass from Gloyd to Robert Gill. Abilene got three touchdowns in the fourth quarter — a short pass from running back Carlos Alsup to Gill, a 45-yard pass from Sanders to Gill and, with 1:01 to play, a 16-yard pass from Gloyd to Fred Howze.
Gloyd was 14-of-28 passing for 153 yards without an interception while Alsup rushed for 38 yards. Howze caught seven passes and Gill six.
Deron Ellis threw for 86 yards and four touchdowns while running for another for the ’Cats. Austin also got a 45-yard kickoff return from Rickey McKinney, the second time this season that Abilene has surrendered a return for six points.
The 68 points is the most the Riders have given up since the franchise moved to Abilene for the 2009 season.
“No turnovers, just couldn’t score in the first half or stop them on defense,” coach Gerald Dockery reported by text message.
