CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M couldn't find an offensive rhythm on Saturday night as they fell on the road to the league-leading Central Washington Wildcats at Tomlinson Stadium in Ellensburg, Washington.
The Buffaloes marched down the field on their opening possession of the game before stalling in CWU territory as a missed 33-yard field goal kept the game scoreless. The Wildcats responded on their next drive as a 45-yard rush by Tyler Flanagan setup a 38-yard field goal by Josh Jones for the 3-0 advantage.
The Buffs answered back on their next drive as they marched 75-yards on 15 plays, a 16-yard completion on third and long to
Tory Simmons setup a three-yard touchdown pass from
Kanon Gibson to
Shakell Brown for the 7-3 lead. CWU retook the lead right before halftime as a 10-play drive was capped off by a 26-yard touchdown rush by Kennedy McGill for the 10-7 lead.
Central Washington took advantage of a turnover on downs by the Buffs to end the first half as a 43-yard pass with under 30 second remaining setup a 21-yard field goal by Jones as the Wildcats took a 13-7 lead into the locker room.
The start of the second half saw the Buffs force a turnover in the redzone as
Andrew Lauritzen fell on a fumble in the redzone but the WT offense couldn't capitalize as a punt gave the ball back to the Wildcats, CWU would march down the field to setup a 31-yard field goal by Jones to extend the lead to 16-7.
The Wildcats would add to their lead early in the fourth quarter as McGill found the endzone for the second time on the night with a two-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 30-7. The Buffs cut into the lead later in the quarter as a 75-yard drive was capped off by a
Kyle Brown 10-yard touchdown pass to
Tyrie Tipton to cut the lead to 30-14.
Gibson finished the night completing 9-of-19 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception while also carrying the ball 10 times for a team-high 52 yards.
Tyler Sweet caught four passes for a team-high 74 yards while
JT Cavender led the way defensively with 19 tackles (three solo) with three of those coming for a loss.
The Buffs close out their home schedule next Saturday night as they host the rival Angelo State Rams on Senior Night with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
