CANYON. Texas – The Buffaloes made the final home game for 33 seniors a special one on Saturday night as they dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball in a 17-12 Lone Star Conference victory over the Mustangs of Midwestern State at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in Canyon.
 
The first quarter saw both teams struggle to find a rhythm offensively as the Buffs and Mustangs combined for just 141 yards of total offense in the first 15 minutes of action, WT reached the red zone once in the quarter but a missed field goal kept the game scoreless.
 
The Buffs got on the scoreboard in the second quarter as a Kanon Gibson completion to Brennan Ray on fourth down kept the drive alive to setup a Cason Polivoda 23-yard field goal for the 3-0 lead. The West Texas defense continued to impress as they forced the fifth punt of the night for the Mustangs, the Buffs turned the possession into points as Gibson connected with Zorian Stanton from 43 yards out for the 10-0 lead headed into the locker room.
 
WT added to their lead to start the second half as a fourth down conversion by Tre'Jon Henderson kept the drive alive to setup three-yard touchdown pass from Gibson to Ray for the 17-0 lead. MSU answered later in the quarter as they got on the scoreboard with a Joseph Carlson 40-yard field goal to make it 17-3.
 
The Mustangs looked to swing the momentum late in the third quarter as Larry Donnell intercepted a Gibson pass to give MSU the ball back headed to the fourth. Midwestern took advantage of defensive penalties as Carlson connected on a 25-yard field goal to make it 17-6.
 
Midwestern State wouldn't go down without a fight as they took advantage of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Buffs following a third down stop that kept possession with the Mustangs, Cam Manahan kept the Mustangs out of the endzone with three straight incomplete passes on fade routes followed by a missed field goal to keep the score at 17-6.
 
WT punted the ball away with just over two minutes left as the Mustangs put together a drive capped off by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Knebel to Justin White but the Buffs would stop a two-point conversion try to make it 17-12. Midwestern State's onside attempt was recovered by Dru Jones as the Buffs took a knee to end the game, 17-12.
 
Gibson finished the night completing 13-of-25 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns with an interception while also carrying the ball 11 times for 71 yards. Tre'Jon Henderson had 24 carries for 110 yards with Joseph adding 48 yards on the ground. Stanton grabbed three passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.
 
Defensively, JT Cavender put on a show in his final game in Canyon as the senior registered 10 tackles (three solo) with one coming for a loss to run his career tackle total to 341. Zach Schlager registered eight tackles of his own (three solo) including a sack and a hurry while Joshua Beaird had four tackles.
 
The Buffs close out the season next Saturday night as they travel to San Angelo, Texas to battle the Lone Star Conference Champion Rams of Angelo State with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. at LeGrand Stadium at 1^st Community Credit Union Field. ASU claimed their second league crown in three years on Saturday with a 38-16 road win at Western Oregon.