PORTALES, N.M. – West Texas A&M forced a season-high six turnovers, Nick Gerber accounted for four touchdowns as West Texas A&M defeated Eastern New Mexico 35-14 on Saturday evening in the Wagon Wheel Game at Greyhound Stadium in Portales, N.M. The Buffs put up 21 points in the first quarter and never looked back as they ended a three-game losing streak to the Greyhounds taking control of the Wagon Wheel for the first time since 2015.
WT's defense made their first big stop of the game on the opening drive of the game when ENMU went for it on fourth-and-5 from their own 43-yard line. Wyatt Strand was stopped for no gain by Nathan Foreman and Hayden Dennis to give the Buffs great field position. Nick Gerber would orchestrate a 7-play, 43-yard drive capped off with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Semaj Mitchell. Jordan Johnson kept the drive alive with a 6-yard run on fourth-and-2 at the 20-yard line followed by Mitchell's third receiving touchdown in the past two games.
The Buffs would get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff as Ayrton Payne recovered the fumble after ENMU was unable to handle Mauricio Gonzalez's short kick. Gerber would only need five plays to make it 14-0 as the Levelland product ran it in from five yards out for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
They continued to move the ball down the field without a problem on their third drive until Gerber's pass was intercepted at the goal line by Ricky Barfield. Fortunately for the Buffs, Barfield fumbled the ball on the return that was recovered by Josh Campbell at the 10-yard line. They would score two plays later on a Duke Carter IV 6-yard run to make it 21-0 with under a minute left in the first quarter.
The special teams unit came up big again for the visitors on the Greyhounds next possession as Markel Stephens-Peppers picked up a botched snap on a punt and returned it 12 yards to the Greyhounds 6-yard line. Gerber would connect with Juwan McCall on the first play of the drive for the senior's fourth receiving touchdown of the season to make it 28-0.
ENMU would march down into the red zone on the following possession but were denied any points as Tobias Harris recorded his second interception of the season at the 2-yard line. The Greyhounds would get on the board in the final two minutes of the first half on a 3-yard run from Johnny Smith on fourth-and-goal.
A blocked punt on their first drive of the second half put the Buffs in a tough situation but the defense came up big with another fourth down stop at the goal line. Following another WT punt, the Greyhounds were on the move again until Frank Honang forced his team-leading fourth fumble of the year. ENMU's Paul Terry bounced to the outside but was run down by the senior linebacker who popped the ball loose that was recovered at the edge of the sideline by Keimone Davis at the 4-yardl line.
Gerber and the Buffs would proceed to put the game out of reach with a 10-play, 96-yard drive capped off with the redshirt sophomore's second rushing touchdown of the game. J. Johnson ran for 15 yards on the opening three plays of the drive before Gerber connected with Mitchell for 41 yards on third-and-16 to put WT in ENMU territory. Carter IV busted off runs of 20 and six yards before Gerber made it 35-7 with a run up the middle.
The Buffs would force another fumble on the Greyhounds next possession with Mike Jones putting the hit on ENMU's Terry and Dillon Mata jumping on the loose ball. With the game in hand, ENMU would score their second touchdown of the game in the final minute on a 10-yard run from Wyatt Strand.
Gerber finished the game with 133 yards passing and two touchdowns after completing 14-of-27 passes while rushing for 16 yards and two scores. Carter IV ran for a team-high 91 yards on 15 carries while J. Johnson has 42 yards on 11 carries. Mitchell had a game-high 71 yards and a touchdown on four receptions.
Jones, Dennis and Josiah Pennington finished the game with 10 tackles a piece with Jones finishing with a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss. Foreman also had a career-day for the Buffs with eight tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
WT returns to the friendly confines of Buffalo Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2, to host No. 23 Texas A&M-Commerce on ESPN 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
