CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes took a lead with under two minutes remaining but an Eastern New Mexico touchdown with just 14 seconds remaining sent the Wagon Wheel back to the Land of Enchantment in a 24-21 Lone Star Conference contest at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium on Senior Night.
The teams traded punts on their first possessions of the games before the Greyhounds looked to take advantage of an interception deep inside of WT territory, but a missed 39-yard field goal that hit the upright kept the game scoreless. ENMU started off the second quarter with points as Cooper Hamilton connected on a 37-yard field goal to finish off a 10-play drive for the 3-0 lead.
The Buffs finally found their rhythm offensively on their next drive as they marched 75 yards in 11 plays finished off by a three-yard
Shakell Brown touchdown run for the 7-3 lead. The WT defense would force a punt by the Hounds on their next possession as the Buffs looked to turn that into more points but a missed field goal kept the score at 7-3 headed into the locker room.
WT made a big play on defense to open the second half as
Preston Steszewski picked off an ENMU pass as the Buffs marched 84 yards on eight plays finished off by a
Jarrod Compton 12-yard touchdown run for the 14-3 lead. The Hounds answered with a long drive of their own as they went 80 yards on 14 plays capped off by a Kiante Stoker two yard run to make it 14-10.
ENMU made another big stop on WT's next possession as a blocked punt setup a 33-yard drive as Kason Martin completed a one-yard touchdown pass to Asa Wondeh for the 17-14 lead. The Hounds made another big play on defense with their second interception of the night, the WT defense would make a stop of their own to keep the score at 17-14.
WT retook the lead late in the fourth quarter as
Nick Gerber found
Noah Bogardus from 16 yards out with just 1:39 on the clock, but the Hounds would respond on their next drive as Martin found Tyree Cherry on a 37-yard fade route down the sidelines for the 24-21 lead with just 14 seconds left for the victory.
Gerber finished the night completing 16-of-29 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown to go along with a pair of interceptions while also leading the way on the ground with 78 yards on 11 carries.
Brian Okoye ran the ball seven times for 53 yards while
Hunter Kaufman caught three passes for 58 yards.
Defensively,
Ty Dillon finished the game with 14 total tackles (10 solo) to go along with four pass breakups followed by
Daniel Ajayi with 10 and
Cole Oster with nine.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
14 – Seconds left on the clock when the Greyhounds took a three-point lead
17 – Seniors honored by the Buffs during a pregame ceremony
153 – Yards on the ground by WT in the first half
COMING UP
The Buffs close out the regular season on the road next weekend as they make the longest road trip in program history to Burnaby, British Columbia to take on the Simon Fraser Red Leafs with kickoff set for 8 p.m. CT. SFU dropped a 32-7 decision at Western Oregon on Saturday afternoon to fall to 0-8 overall.
