STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Kaden Anderson threw for a career high 407 yards and three touchdowns and Tarleton State pulled away from Merrimack for a 45-20 win on Saturday night.

The Texans took a 7-0 lead when Chris Robinson returned AJ Hairston Jr.'s fumble 77 yards for a touchdown four-and-a-half minutes into the game.

Alejandro De La Poza made a 36-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. Halfway through the second, James Paige ran it in from the 3 to make it 17-0.

Merrimack made it a contest when Hairston connected on a pair of scoring passes to Austin Palmer of 24 and 7 yards, respectively. The first occurred with 3:13 before halftime and the other with two seconds before intermission.

But a three-touchdown effort in the third sealed it for the Texans (4-0) when Anderson threw a 32-yard touchdown to Marquis Willis, Bryce Green ran it in from 29 yards and Anderson threw a 42-yard score to Cydd Ford for a 38-14 lead.

Hairston threw for 214 yards and three touchdowns for Merrimack (1-3).

Merrimack: Hosts New Haven on Saturday.

Tarleton State: Is off next week before hosting Chicago State on Oct. 3.

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