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HOUSTON (AP) -- Trindon Holliday had his third kick return for a touchdown of the preseason and Justin Forsett rushed for 114 yards and two more scores in the Houston Texans' 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the preseason finale Thursday.
Holliday brought back a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, bolstering his case to make the Texans solely as a special teams threat. Forsett broke a 52-yard run on Houston's second play from scrimmage and set a Texans rushing record for a preseason game.
The 5-foot-5 Holliday brought back a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, bolstering his case to make the Texans solely as a special-teams threat. The former LSU track star returned a kickoff 87 yards in the preseason opener at Carolina and a punt 90 yards for a score against San Francisco before fumbling twice against New Orleans last week.
Jordan Todman rushed for 114 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown for Minnesota. Jarius Wright caught six passes for 122 yards, including a touchdown for the Vikings. Devin Aromashodu also caught a TD pass for the Vikings.
Minnesota punted after its first possession of the second half. Holliday made a quick move, broke a tackle and easily outran Minnesota's a pack of defenders, slowing down in his final strides. Houston coach Gary Kubiak said he needed to see something spectacular in training camp from Holliday and he has gotten it.
In the second half, backup quarterbacks McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Case Keenum got their last chances to impress coaches.
Bethel-Thompson, an undrafted free agent out of Sacramento State in 2011, went 15 for 29 for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Vikings in his first action since the preseason opener. Keenum, an undrafted rookie who set NCAA passing records at the University of Houston, went 5 for 10 for 43 yards.
The Texans scored on their opening possession in each of their four preseason games. Forsett broke through a big hole on the right side on Houston's second play, then scored from the 3 just three minutes into the game.
Vikings coach Leslie Frazier needed to sort out the depth at running back behind Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart. Matt Asiata had six carries for 45 yards and Lex Hilliard carried seven times for 33 in the first half, and Todman started Minnesota's first series of the second half.
Houston's Mister Alexander stuffed Asiata on third-and-3 from the Houston 25 on Minnesota's first series, and rookie Blair Walsh missed a 43-yard field goal. Hilliard picked up a fourth-and-1 near midfield later in the first quarter, then ran 22 yards to the Houston 32.
Joe Webb started for Minnesota and went 4 for 7 with 22 yards rushing on two carries in two series. Walsh atoned with a 36-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
Houston starter John Beck found Lestar Jean for a 27-yard gain when the Texans regained possession. He threw behind Jean in the end zone from the Minnesota 5, and the Vikings stopped Forsett at the goal line on fourth down. Tackle Rashad Butler, who lost the starting job to Derek Newton, hurt his elbow during that series and left the game.
Sage Rosenfels, a Texan from 2006-08, relieved Webb with about 10 minutes left in the half. The 34-year-old Rosenfels, trying to lock down the No. 3 quarterback spot ahead of Bethel-Thompson, overthrew a wide-open Aromashodu along the sideline.
On Houston's next play from scrimmage, Beck was hit as he completed a short pass to DeVier Posey, who broke two tackles and sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown, the breakthrough play coaches have been waiting to see from him. But Posey fumbled after a hit in the fourth quarter.
Rosenfels faced heavy pressure in the second period, and was sacked twice. He took another hit as he found Aromashodu across the middle late in the half, and Aromashodu bounced off Troy Nolan and ran for a 58-yard touchdown.
Bethel-Thompson made a case for himself after Holliday's big return, floating a perfect pass to Wright for a 59-yard touchdown. He started 3 for 4, and the incompletion bounced off Stephen Burton's fingertips.
The Vikings were minus-3 in turnovers through the first three preseason games, and Reggie Jones' fumbled punt set up Forsett's second touchdown run.
