CANYON, Texas – In a heavy rain throughout, Angelo State spoiled West Texas A&M football Senior Day with a 28-6 win over the Buffs Saturday evening at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.  WT fell to 5-5 on the year and 4-4 in Lone Star Conference play, while ASU improved to 4-6 and 3-5 in league play.

Prior to the game, the Buffs honored ten seniors playing in their final game at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium as Rashawn DuPree, Davontae Merriweather, Chris Gilchist, Devon Paye, Tevin Creeks, Will Toliver, Conner Hollabaugh, Alex Olson, Austin Carson and Kennedy Kodua.  Patric Youngman, who had a career-ending injury a season ago, had a promising career cut short.  He stayed on this year to be an offensive student assistant coach. 

WT tallied just 136 yards of offense in the game which was a season-low as the team had 69 rushing yards on 26 attempts and a season-low 67 yards passing.  Sophomore quarterback Ben Arbuckle went 11 of 23 with two interceptions 67 yards passing and one touchdown.  WT had the ball for just 18 minutes this season which was a season-low as the defense was on the field for 42 minutes which marked a season-high for opponent possession. 

The Buffs had a season-low eight first downs in the game and three came by way of penalties.  Junior wide receiver Junior Pome'e caught the final ball of the game for a 25-yard touchdown reception for his ninth score of the season with 42 seconds left.  Sophomore P.J. Leonce had four catches for 16 yards, Paye had 33 yards rushing on 16 carries and three catches for 12 yards.

Angelo State was led by Josh Stevens who ran for 121 yards and a score on 34 carries, while leading the team with five catches for 40 yards and a score.  Jake Faber was 8 of 13 passing for 54 yards and a score as he also had 14 rushes for 13 yards and a score.  Defensively WT had three players with double-digit tackles as junior Solomon Perdue led the way with 15 tackles, including 12 solo stops and three tackles for loss, while junior Daelin Young had 12 tackles (10 solo) and one tackle for loss and redshirt freshman Gerred Johnson also had 12 tackles with a sack and three tackles for loss.

The Rams had 18 first downs in the game with 190 yards rushing on 65 carries, while passing for 54 yards and 244 yards for the game.  Grant Aschenbeck led the Rams with nine tackles and a fumble return. 

ASU went an impressive 5 of 6 on fourth down in the game and 4 of 17 on third, while WT was 1 of 12 on third down and 1 of 2 on fourth.

On the opening possession following a targeting ejection on Fred Lawrence of ASU, Arbuckle's pass on third and 10 was intercepted as ASU marched down to the WT 26 for a fourth and three.  The Rams decided to go for it as Faber found Stevens out of the backfield for an eight yard gain and a first down at the WT 18.  Faber found Stevens out of the backfield once again for a 15-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 lead with 8:44 left in the first.

The Rams continued dominating the ground game into the second quarter as ASU had a third and three from its own 46.  Trey Green, one of the two-headed rushing monsters for ASU, came up just short on the yard to gain forcing a fourth down.  ASU decided to go for it for the second time in the game and got it on a rush by Faber. 

Following the second fumble from Faber, due to a wet football.  The Rams moved to the WT 31 on a face mask penalty, but ASU had a third and three from the WT 24.  ASU converted another fourth and short for the third conversion in the game and second of the drive.  Faber rushed to the one and then called his own number for a one-yard run and a 14-0 lead.  It was the longest drive in both time and plays against WT this season. 

For the half, WT had just two first downs, 23 yards rushing on 11 carries and Arbuckle was 7 of 14 for 56 yards and one interception.  He led the team in rushing with two carries for 15 yards.  Leonce had three receptions for 12 yards as did senior Devon Paye.  It was a season-low yards and first downs for the Buffs in the first half.

ASU had 94 yards on the ground on 32 carries and was 8 of 12 passing for 54 yards, while accumulating 148 total yards.  Stevens had 54 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Faber had eight carries for 24 yards and a score.  Stevens also led the team in receiving with five catches for 40 yard and a score.  Faber was 8 of 12 passing for 54 yards and a score.  The Rams led in time of possession in the first half 20:37 to 9:23.

WT had not scored since the 5:11 mark of the fourth quarter in the win over then-No. 4 Midwestern State on Oct. 22.  The Buffs went 95:11 of playing minutes without scoring through the first half of the game Saturday.

Punting out of their own end zone on the first drive of the second half, gave WT its best starting field position of the game at the ASU 36.  Arbuckle fumbled as Aschenbeck recovered on WT's first play from scrimmage.  A sack and fumble from Johnson forced the Rams to punt.  Due to the poor weather conditions, WT punted on its possession giving ASU the ball back at its own 28 with 9:57 left in the third.

Merriweather blocked the ASU punt as WT took over at the ASU 34 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.  It was his second blocked kick of the season for the Buffs.  A pass interference penalty moved WT to the 29.  It was just the third first down of the game for WT and the first since the first quarter.  WT didn't convert on fourth and seven from the 24 as the ball went over on downs to ASU. 

The rain continued to pick as the third quarter moved along.  On a third and nine, Stevens broke through to the second level for 13 yards and a first down as junior Carter James made a touchdown-saving tackle.  ASU had a fourth and nine from the WT 18 and Faber fumbled, but recovered as the Rams turned it over on downs. 

Arbuckle's pass, on third and seven, was intercepted by Justin Jackson to the WT 18.  On fourth and five from the WT 13, Stevens ran up the middle for 13 yards and a score and a 21-0 lead with 7:02 left.  ASU was 5 of 6 on fourth down to that point. 

ASU took over at the WT 18 following a WT fumble as Green rushed to the nine on the first play.  Green scored from one yard out for a 28-0 with 4:48 left.  To that point, ASU scored 21 points off WT miscues. 

With less than a minute remaining, on fourth and four from the ASU 25, Arbuckle found junior wide receiver Junior Pome'e for a touchdown ended a streak of 124:53-minute scoreless streak for a 28-6 score as the extra-point was blocked.

The Buffs will close out the 2016 season a week from tonight at Western New Mexico with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.  Catch the game on 98.7 JACK FM with Lucas Kinsey and Kent Johnson having the call from Silver City, N.M.  Check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for live stats, ticket information and streaming links of the game.