Box Score

Season Stats

THE BASICS:
 

• Score: #9 Texas A&M-Commerce 35, West Texas A&M 16

 

• Records: West Texas A&M 3-6 (1-5 LSC), #9 Texas A&M-Commerce 7-1 (5-1 LSC)

 

• Location: Canyon, Texas (Kimbrough Memorial Stadium)

 

• The Lead: The West Texas A&M football team fought tough with No. 9 Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday evening, falling 35-16 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. 

 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Texas A&M-Commerce marched right down the field on its opening possession, highlighted by a 70-yard pass from Luis Perez to Darrion Landry to the WT 11.From there, Perez found D'Arthur Cowan for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
• Following a WT punt, Perez was sacked by sophomore Gerred Johnson, as he coughed up the ball with WT junior Solomon Perdue recovering, setting the Buffs up at the TAMUC 15.Redshirt freshman Justin Houghtaling found senior Junior Pome'e for a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 7-7 score with 9:31 left in the first quarter.
• Perez and the Lions marched right back down the field as Perez hit Carandal Hale for a 31-yard pass and capped the drive with a 6-yard pass to Darrion Landry for a 14-7 lead.
• The Buffs marched down the field and freshman Alex Schrag hit a 45-yard field goal for a 14-10 deficit.
• WT entered the game ranked second nationally in kickoff return defense allowing just 13.11 yards per return, TAMUC's Buck Wilson returned the ensuing kick 100 yards for a 21-10 score as it marked the first kickoff return for a touchdown against WT since Kiernan Duncan returned a kick 98 yards for a score against Colorado State-Pueblo in 2015.
• Midway through the second half, WT cut the deficit to 21-13 on a field goal after TAMUC tried a fake punt and failed.The Lions also attempted an onside kick and converted at the end of the first quarter.
• Perez found Derique Ryan for 34 yards and a first down on a third and four setting up a 14-yard strike from Perez to Cowan for his third score of the half and a 28-13 lead at halftime.
• TAMUC scored its only touchdown of the second half with 7:33 left in the third as TAMUC converted two third downs on the drive as Vincent Hobbs took the eight yards to pay dirt on the ground for a 35-13 score.
• WT took over with 4:29 in the third and got a pass interference penalty on a fourth and five from the TAMUC 38.Schrag later buried a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth for a 35-16 score.
• The Buffs had a chance to close the deficit midway through the fourth as Houghtaling's pass was intercepted at the TAMUC one.
• The Lions missed a field goal and the Buffs went for it on fourth down on their possession and came up short.
• Late in the game, WT began calling timeouts on defense to extend the game as the Lions continued to throw towards the end zone in the final seconds.TAMUC attempted a field goal on a 2nd and 10 from the 20 as Kristov Martinez missed his missed his second field goal in the quarter as time expired.

 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 

• For the half, the Buffs had 110 yards of offense on 28 plays with 63 passing yards on six of eight from Houghtaling, while the Buffs had 47 yards rushing and six first downs.
• TAMUC had 312 yards of offense on 36 plays with 14 first downs and 296 yards passing yards and 16 rushing.
• WT junior running back Warren Witherspoon had 61 yards on the ground on 18 carries, while Perez went 20 of 27 for 294 yards and three touchdowns.Landry had 108 yards receiving in the first half and one score.
• For the game, WT had 244 yards of offense on 60 plays, while recording 86 yards on the ground and 158 through the air as Houghtaling went 10 of 20 with an interception.
• TAMUC had 514 yards of offense on 74 plays with 448 through the air and 66 on the ground.
• Witherspoon paced the Buffs with 88 yards on the ground, while sophomore Avery Lewis had 72 yards receiving on two catches with a long of 60.
• Perez finished the game 30 of 46 for 389 yards and three scores becoming the all-time leading passer in school history.Landry had 123 yards on six catches.
• Senior Carter James led WT with eight tackles, while redshirt freshman Keimone Davis had seven stops with a tackle for loss.
• Brucks Saathoff had 12 tackles and a forced fumble for Lions, while Kieston Ccarter had five tackles with one sack and three tackles for loss.
• WT had two sacks and four tackles for loss in the game with a forced fumble, while TAMUC had six sacks and 11 tackles for loss with an interception.

 
 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Buffs return to the road next Saturday night at Angelo State and will close the 2017 Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium versus Western New Mexico for Senior Day.
• Links to live stats and video are available on the football schedule page at www.gobuffsgo.com. 

 
 
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