Box Score

Season Stats

KINGSVILLE, Texas  –  On a rainy and windy night in South Texas, the West Texas A&M Buffs got a hard-fought, 24-14 victory Saturday evening, snapping a three-game skid  and spoiling TAMUK's Homecoming.  The Buffs improved to 3-4 on the year and 2-3 in Lone Star Conference play.  TAMUK fell to 1-7 on the year and 0-5 in league play.
 
WT senior Geremy Alridge-Mitchell set a new school-record in carries with 45 as he recorded 149 yards on the ground with one touchdown.  Alridge-Mitchell set the previous school-record of 40 carries at Midwestern State on Oct. 10.  Sophomore quarterback Ethan Brinkley was 12 of 21 for 121 yards and a touchdown, while senior Jarrian Rhone caught five balls for 49 yards and a score.
 
The Buffs had 378 yards of offense with 121 passing yards and 257 rushing yards to go along with 25 first downs.  WT held TAMUK to 193 yards of total offense on 136 rushing yards and just 57 yards passing, while the Javelinas had just 11 first downs.
 
Defensively, the Buffs were led by sophomores Hunter Streuling and Carter James as they each had seven tackles, while Streuling had one of three big interceptions in the game.  WT had five sacks in the game, seven tackles for loss and forced five turnovers.
 
Following a punt by the Javelinas on their first possession into a stiff 18 mph wind of the North, the Buffs took over in TAMUK territory and got a first down, but stalled as junior Conner Hollabaugh attempted a 54-yard field goal going wide right.  TAMUK regained possession at its own 37.
 
The Javelinas got a nice run up the middle from Shawn Vasquez down to the WT 38.  From there, quarterback Myles Carr threw right at senior John Sheehy, who intercepted the pass and returned it 65 yards for a WT touchdown as the Buffs led 7-0 with 9:46 left in the first quarter.  It marked the third interception return for a touchdown by the Buffs this season.  It was Sheehy's first career touchdown.
 
TAMUK came right back with a steady diet of running from Shawn Vasquez and Greg Pitre as the Javelinas marched to the WT six for a second and goal.  On third down, the Javelinas got the benefit of a roughing the passer penalty as he was injured on the play.  Trey Mitchell, who started the game, used an option run on a bootleg for a touchdown tying the game at seven with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
 
On a 3^rd and eight for the Buffs from their own 38, Brinkley tossed a screen pass to Alridge-Mitchell as he prolonged the drive with a great run and spin move to pick up the first down.  A face mask penalty helped the Buffs in the red zone as Alridge-Mitchell scored from five yards out for a 14-7 WT lead with 1:23 left in the first quarter.  It was Alridge-Mitchell's tenth rushing touchdown of the season.
 
The Buffs played the clock management game as a sack of the third quarterback for the Javelinas, Steve Joe Dorman by Sheehy, forced a third and long and then a run for about eight yards forced a fourth down.  WT used two timeouts to force the Javelinas to punt into the 18 mph wind before the first quarter expired.   
 
Rhone called a fair catch and was taken out by a TAMUK player and a flag was thrown.  After a lengthy discussion of the referees, the referee waived off the flag and WT set up on offense.  Before the play, the refs whistled as TAMUK called an apparent timeout.  After another lengthy discussion, the referees reversed the call saying a TAMUK player was blocked into Rhone as he fumbled the ball and TAMUK recovered.
 
From there, Vasquez scampered 34 yards and then Dorman threw a touchdown pass to tight end Chris Cooper for a touchdown and a tie game at 14 with 14:29 left in the first half.
 
The teams didn't score the rest of the half, but the Buffs had two good chances as Dorman fumbled the snap at his own 18 as junior Alex Olson recovered the fumble for his team-leading third recovery of the season.  Alridge-Mitchell ran 13 yards on first down to the five, but the Buffs were stopped on the next three downs.  Hollabaugh attempted a 20-yard field goal and missed wide right. 
 
The Buffs got the ball back late in the half as Brinkley hooked up with senior Xavier Amey for 12 yards to the TAMUK 34.  Alridge-Mitchell picked up a first down to the TAMUK 22.  A false start moved the Buffs back five and a 10-second run off by rule as the clock was running from the previous play.  WT was unable to get into the end zone and, with no timeouts, was unable to kick a field goal in that situation. 
 
Alridge-Mitchell had 24 carries for 76 yards and a score to lead the Buffs in the first half.  Brinkley was 4 of 10 passing for 39 yards and Amey had two catches for 22 yards.  The Buffs had 154 yards of offense on 45 plays.  TAMUK had 150 yards of offense on 122 rushing yards and 28 passing yards.  Vasquez led the Javelinas with 91 yards rushing on eight carries.
 
On a third and 12 for the Buffs at their own 34, Brinkley found junior Terrance Drew in coverage for a big first down at the TAMUK 38.  Alridge-Mitchell then scampered 12 yards to the 26 as the offense found a spark with the catch by Drew.   The Buffs settled for a 31-yard field goal attempt and it was blocked by the Javelinas and recovered by TAMUK's Brandon Robinson who had a shot to go the distance, but was pulled down at the 30.
 
Following a three-and-out by the Javelinas, the Buffs spelled Alridge-Mitchell for junior Devon Paye who had a number of nice runs with a 1-2 punch of Alridge-Mitchell and Paye.  WT again completed a long third down with a couple of nice moves from Rhone on a catch from Brinkley to the TAMUK 28.  Brinkley and Drew connected for a bootleg down to the TAMUK 11 for a first down.  On 3^rd and goal from the two, Rhone was stopped in the backfield two times back to the 10-yardline, but dodged tacklers and scored a touchdown for a 21-14 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.
 
WT punter Felipe Parra got the Buffs out of their own end with a career-long 76-yard punt with 8:04 remaining as the rain and wind picked up in the fourth quarter.  Later, the Buffs regained possession and marched down to the TAMUK 19 as Hollabaugh nailed a 36-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead with 2:35 left.
 
Dorman was sacked on the first play from scrimmage following the field goal and then threw the third interception of the game – this time to Streuling to seal the game.
 
The Buffs return home to face rival Eastern New Mexico for Senior Day next Saturday at 12 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.  The Buffs look to bring the Wagon Wheel back to Canyon as ENMU has won the previous two battles for the annual Wagon Wheel and has won three-straight in the series.