Box Score

Season Stats

CANYON, Texas  – Three touchdowns from junior Geremy Alridge-Mitchell helped spark the West Texas A&M football team to a 48-21 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday afternoon at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.  With the win, the Buffs improved to 5-3 on the year and 4-2 in Lone Star Conference play, while TAMUK fell to 1-7 and 0-6 in league play. 
 
"I thought we play well, little flat in the first half," head coach Mike Nesbit said.  "I felt we got into some rhythm in the third quarter and started playing better.  We were making some penalties and dropping some balls in the first half."
 
Prior to the game, the Buffs honored 14 seniors playing their final regular season home game in a Buffalo uniform.  The 2014 senior class includes; Anthony Johnson, Stormy Butler, Jeremy Watson, Venric Mark, Markus Pierce-Brewster, David Lehocky, Torian Oakley, Brandon Green, Marcus Clements, Emory Atterberry, Stephan Dube, Arthur Fatu, Jacob Hancock, and Meili Valele.
 
"The seniors were pretty emotional last night and we had a nice dinner last night with the parents," Nesbitt said.  "For me, there is a group of about four of five when I was here before and recruited them.  It is neat to see them grow up and graduate and watch them play their last game at Kimbrough it's an experience and kinda sad in a way to watch a guy like Torian Oakley and Jeremy Watson walk out of here."
 
For the game, Alridge-Mitchell led the way on the ground with 121 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns, catching four balls for 73 yards and a touchdown.  Senior Venric Mark had 10 carries for 88 yards.  Junior quarterback Preston Rabb went 20 for 30 for 296 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.  WT tallied 502 total yards with 306 passing yards and 196 rushing. 

Defensively, redshirt freshman Carter James tallied 11 tackles in the game, while redshirt freshman Hunter Streuling added 10 tackles with two interceptions. 
 
TAMUK was led by Shawn Vasquez with 107 yards and a touchdown on the ground.  Quarterback Trey Mitchell went 16 of 27 with two interceptions for 140 yards.  Alex Rios went 1 for 1 for 17 yards and a touchdown.   The Javelinas had 458 total yards with 301 on the ground and 157 through the air.  Defensively, TAMUK was led by Trevor Pesek with 12 total tackles and one interception.
 
On a third and 10 on following a great kick return from junior Geremy Alridge-Mitchell to open the game, junior quarterback Preston Rabb hooked up with junior Xavier Amey for a 55-yard touchdown pass with 14:37 left in the first quarter. 
 
The Javelinas responded with a methodical drive, all rushes, to the Buffalo 43.  A false start forced a third and nine for the WT 45.  Trey Mitchell's second pass was too long for Chaz Adams as TAMUK was forced to punt.
 
Following a WT punt, TAMUK marched within the WT 30, but a big sack from senior Markus Pierce-Brewster on a third and seven, put the Javelinas out of field goal range and forced the second punt.
 
WT then used a nice mixture of passing and rushing from Alridge-Mitchell as the Buffs marched down the field and Alridge-Mitchell scored from 13 yards out on the ground for a 14-0 lead with 3:42 left in the first quarter.  Prior to the drive, WT had just four rushing yards on its first drive and then had seven rushes for 50 yards on this drive.
 
The Javelinas got on the board with a 10 play, 80-yard drive as Joseph Te'o scored from 11-yards out on the ground one minute into the second quarter cutting the WT lead to 14-7.
 
The teams traded punts and on WT's next possession, it drove down the field on five plays for 53 yards helped out by a couple of TAMUK personal fouls as Alridge-Mitchell scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from four yards out for a 21-7 lead with 9:13 left in the first half.  It was the fourth consecutive game Alridge-Mitchell has scored two touchdowns or more. 
 
The Buffs stopped TAMUK on fourth down in Buffalo territory, but had to punt on their next possession.  TAMUK had a 3^rd and 12 at the WT 45 on its next possession as Mitchell rolled out and was intercepted by redshirt freshman Hunter Streuling.  From there, WT marched to the TAMUK 45 with nine seconds left in the first half.  WT sophomore kicker Conner Hollabaugh drilled a career-long 55-yard field goal as time expired for a 24-7 lead at intermission.
 
"I saw the perfect hold that I needed and I knew it was going in," Hollabaugh said. "At the beginning of the year everyone asked me how I was going to fill Sergio's shoes and I am not trying to do that or compare myself to him, I am trying to come in and do the best job I can." 
 
For the half, the Buffs tallied 267 yards with 211 passing yards and 56 rushing yards.  Rabb was 13 of 19 for 211 with one touchdown and Alridge-Mitchell had 56 yards rushing on 12 carries with two scores.  Senior Jeremy Watson had six catches for 72 yards, while Alridge-Mitchell had two catches for 32 yards in the first half.
 
TAMUK had 138 yards rushing on 27 carries and had 88 yards passing.  Mitchell led the team with 76 yards rushing, while going 9 of 16 for 88 yards and one interception. 
 
The Javelinas punted on their first possession of the second half as redshirt freshman Colton McDonald got a piece of the punt as it went to the WT 45.  The Buffs drove down the field for a five play, 55-yard drive as Rabb hooked up with Alridge-Mitchell for a 21-yard touchdown pass and a 31-7 lead with 11:29 left in the third quarter.
 
TAMUK had a fourth down at its own 23.  McDonald came in for the block and had his second of the game.  Freshman Trevor Myklebust fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and a 38-7 lead with 2:53 left in the third.
 
"Coach gave us the call for my side to go in and block it," McDonald said.  "I just slid through there and the ball came my way.  When coach gave us the call the first time, I felt some weakness and the next two times I shot through the gap and was fortunate to get it blocked."
 
The Javelinas scored their second touchdown of the game on a nice 49-yard run from Shawn Vasquez with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter for a 38-14 score. 
 
The Buffs responded in kind as Alridge-Mitchell went over 100 yards rushing for the sixth consecutive game and Rabb tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to junior Word Hudson for a 45-14 lead with 12:27 left in the fourth.
 
Streuling came up with his second interception of the game on the next TAMUK possession as the Buffs regained the ball and used the rushing game to move down the field with senior Venric Mark.  The Buffs settled for a 38-yard field goal from Hollabaugh and a 48-14 lead with 6:47 left.  Mark hasn't played since the second game of the season against Tarleton State.
 
"All week Coach Paremski told the nickel if we stay in there we will make plays," Streuling said.  "I just focused on that all week.  The first one I stayed in the curl and the second one was man and he ran a slant and I read it the whole way and jumped in front of it.  I am proud of the seniors who stepped up and played a lot with great careers like Stormy (Butler) and Oakley (Torian).  A big shot out to them."
 
TAMUK added a late touchdown for a 48-21 score with 4:30 left. 
 
The Buffs close out the regular season next week at Eastern New Mexico in the annual Wagon Wheel Game next Saturday at 7 p.m. CT in a game that has huge LSC playoff implications.