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WT Postgame Interview

Shorter Postgame Interview

ARLINGTON, Texas  – In an eerily similar start to last season in the Lone Star Football Festival, the West Texas A&M football team battled back from a 19-7 halftime deficit for a 27-19 victory over Shorter University Saturday afternoon.  With the win, WT improved to 1-2 on the year, while Shorter fell to 2-1. 
 
Click here for Postgame press conference.
 
Chadron State held a 24-3 lead at intermission last season but the Buffs rallied for a thrilling 34-31 victory in that game.  WT now is 4-0 all-time in the Lone Star Football Festival as the only team to play in all four and be unbeaten.  The Buffs now have outscored their opposition 100-28 in the second half in four LSC Festival games.
 
"I don't know how many more times we can come here and keep playing like that," head coach Mike Nesbitt said.  "I thought our kids played really well in the second half and the kids got used to the option and the speed of the game.  The defensive guys got their eyes in the right position in the third quarter and good things happened.  Geremy (Alridge-Mitchell) ran the ball really well today and the offensive line got in the flow and Preston (Rabb) continued to grow with a great third and fourth quarter."
 
Following a punt on WT's opening possession of the second half, Kendarius Dukes fumbled the punt return as junior Dimitri Donald recovered at the SU 16.  A false start penalty on the Buffs halted the drive, but sophomore Connor Hollabaugh connected on a 29-yard field goal for a 19-10 score.
 
"We knew at some point and time someone needed to make a play and flip the momentum and the guys believe and that's the big thing," Nesbitt added.  "Today we were able to get on the botched punt where we didn't last week and it really gave us a spark."
 
After a 3-and-out by the Hawks, WT took over at its 30 and junior quarterback Preston Rabb connected with senior Anthony Johnson on a great catch and run down the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown pass and a 19-17 score. 
 
On Shorter's ensuing drive, senior Torian Oakley came up with his second interception of the season and the Buffs turned that into points for a 20-19 lead on a Hollabaugh 38-yarder and the first lead of the game.  Shorter then fumbled it away again with a sack and fumble on quarterback Eric Dodson as junior Alex Tucci caused the miscue. 
 
The Buffs had a 4^th and 6 at the SU 35 and Rabb found Donald who made a great catch and run for a first down to keep the drive alive.  From there, junior Geremy Alridge-Mitchell scored on the ground from two yards out, following a great pass from Rabb to Johnson for a 27-19 lead.
 
Shorter had a chance late as it stopped the Buffs on 4^th and one from the SU 38, but the Buff "D" stood tall with three sacks of Dodson on the final Hawk drive.  Shorter entered the game not allowing a sack in its previous two games this season. 
 
For the game, WT was led by Alridge-Mitchell who had 29 carries for 118 yards and a score, while returning two kicks for 123 yards, including a kickoff return for a touchdown of 93 yards for the Buffs' first score in the second quarter after being down 16-0.  He finished the day with 273 all-purpose yards and had one catch for 30 yards.
 
Rabb was 15 of 23 with two interceptions and one touchdown for 180 yards, while Johnson had six catches for 100 yards and a score.  He is 35 receptions away from the top-10 in school history and is 359 yards receiving away from the top 10. 
 
Defensively, the Buffs were led by redshirt freshman Carter James with 18 total tackles and seven solo stops.  He had one sack for eight yards.  Redshirt freshman Hunter Streuling had 11 total tackles with six solo ones, while sophomore Patric Youngman had eight tackles with seven solo along with a sack and two tackles for loss.  WT sacked Dodson five times and had eight tackles for loss for 37 yards.
 
Shorter was led by Dodson with 59 yards rushing on 20 carries and one score.  B.J. McCoy added 74 yards on the ground and a score.  Dodson was 3 of 7 with an interception and 12 yards passing.  Shorter is a run option team.  
 
In the first half, the option seemed to give the Buffs fits as Shorter scored on a Dodson 1-yard run, but junior Iosia Iosia blocked the extra-point for a 6-0 lead.  WT had the ball just 1:52 in the first quarter as Shorter used two long drives both resulting in touchdowns with the second coming early in the second quarter.