CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M started off their 2024 season with a victory on Thursday night as they produced 522 yards of offense including 383 on the ground in a 42-21 Lone Star Conference victory over the Sul Ross State Lobos at Jackson Field in Alpine, Texas.
 
The two teams traded empty possession in the first quarter as the Buffs marched down the field on their opening drive before stalling out inside the redzone for a turnover on fourth down. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle with no points on the board.
 
The Buffs found their rhythm offensively to start the second quarter as they converted on fourth down from the three-yard line on a Sean Johnson pass to Shea Whiting for the 7-0 lead. The Buffalo defense came up big on the next SRSU drive as Campbell Packebush jumped on a loose football to setup a five-yard rushing score by Johnson to make it 14-0.
 
WT added to their lead on their next offensive possession as they went 63 yards on seven plays capped off by a three-yard touchdown by Tre'Jon Henderson for the 21-0 lead. The Lobos got on the board later in the quarter as they connected on a 50-yard pass down the sidelines to Andrew Martinez to make it 21-7 headed into the locker room.
 
The Lobos made a big defensive play to start the second half as a Buffalo fumble was returned 82 yards for a score to make it 28-14. Sul Ross cut into the WT lead again as a 12-play drive was capped off by a Vicente Luevano one-yard catch at 28-21.
 
The Buffs responded again on their next drive as Johnson broke free for a 50-yard touchdown rush to make it 34-21. WT's defense forced another turnover on the ensuing SRSU drive as Coryon Francis picked off a Lobos pass to setup a 45-yard drive finished off by a Johnson five-yard for the 42-21 win.
 
Johnson finished the night completing 20-of-26 passes for a touchdown along with an interception while carrying the ball 14 times for 167 yards and four touchdowns. Henderson chipped in 84 yards on the ground with a score while Zorian Stanton caught five passes for 51 yards.
 
Defensively, senior JT Cavender registered eight tackles (five solo) with a sack and a forced fumble followed by David deMenezes and Cade Cox with four tackles each. 
 
The Buffs hit the road again next week as they travel to Golden, Colorado to take on the reigning Regional Champion Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. at Marv Kay Stadium on Thursday night.