West Texas A&M (3-3, 3-1) vs. Eastern New Mexico (1-5, 1-3)
Date	Saturday, October 18th | 7:00 p.m.
Location	Canyon, Texas | Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium
Live Statistics	Link
Live Video	FloCollege (Pay-Per-View)
Radio	KGNCNewsNow.com | Listen Locally: 710 AM | 97.5 FM
Television	KFDA's NewsChannel 10 Too
Other Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M return to Lone Star Conference action on Saturday night as they welcome the rival Greyhounds of Eastern New Mexico to Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. during the 37th Wagon Wheel Game.
 
GAME SPONSOR
Saturday night's rivalry matchup against Eastern New Mexico is presented by Street Auto Group. BuffNation is encouraged to wear maroon.
 
WEEK 7 MATCHUPS
Week 7 will feature all 10 teams in action with five conference matchups all on Saturday. Nationally ranked UT Permian Basin travels to Monmouth, Oregon while Angelo State looks to snap a two-game losing skid as they host Midwestern State. Eastern New Mexico makes the short drive to Canyon while Sul Ross State battles Western New Mexico in Silver City with league-leading Central Washington hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville in Ellensburg.
 
SUL ROSS STATE REWIND
The Buffaloes scored 49 points in the first half on their way to a big 56-7 victory over the Sul Ross State Lobos in LSC action at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in front of a Homecoming crowd of 7,234 fans.
 
RJ Martinez posted an efficient performance, completing 19 of 22 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns, and added a rushing touchdown. Drew Zamar contributed with 71 receiving yards on two catches, including a touchdown reception. Trevin Edwards made an impact with 56 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions over three catches. On defense, Campbell Packebush led with five total tackles and recorded a sack.
 
STARTING FAST
The Buffaloes have scored points on their first possession of the game in five of the first six games this season, averaging 7.5 plays and 61.3 yards per opening possession. West Texas A&M has received the opening kickoff in each of their first six contests, averaging 2:17 of clock time per opening possession.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Buffaloes wrap up a three-game homestand that spanned four weeks on Saturday night against Eastern New Mexico. WT picked up LSC home wins over Western Oregon (35-7) and Sul Ross State (56-7) during the homestand.
 
ENMU HEAD COACH KELLEY LEE
Kelley Lee returned to Eastern New Mexico in January of 2023 for his second stint as the head coach in Portales. Lee holds an overall record of 32-32 for the Greyhounds. Lee led the Hounds to their first Division II bowl game victory against Southern Arkansas in the 2019 Heritage Bowl. 
 
Lee served as the ENMU offensive coordinator for five seasons under Josh Lynn before taking over the reins in Portales in 2017. From 2017-2020 as the program's head coach, he coached 50 All-LSC honorees and three All-Americans.
 
A LOOK AT THE GREYHOUNDS
Eastern New Mexico enters the weekend with an overall record of 1-5 with a 1-3 mark in Lone Star Conference action. 
 
The Hounds have lost their last two contests including a 21-18 home defeat at the hands of Western Oregon last Saturday in Portales. ENMU held a 10-0 lead going into the locker room for halftime before the Wolves responded with 21 second half points including 14 in the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds had 315 yards of total offense with 187 of them coming on the ground.
 
The Greyhounds have averaged 359.8 yards of total offense per game this season with the triple-option attack averaging 250.2 on the ground. ENMU has completed 37-of-68 passes for 658 yards and six touchdowns to go along with six interceptions. Eastern registers an average time of possession of 32:33 per game to rank 23rd nationally.
 
Chad Ragle has started six games under center for the Hounds this season, completing 31-of-59 passes for 566 yards and six touchdowns while also carrying the ball a team-leading 95 times for 382 yards and four scores. Gerry Gomez, a sophomore from Brownsville has caught a team-best 14 passes for 213 yards and three scores.
 
The ENMU offense features three players with at least 40 rushing attempts as Demarion Finch and Jarius Stewart have combined for 354 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Eastern New Mexico features the eighth best rushing attack in Division II football with 250.2 yards per game.
 
Aaron Warren leads the way defensively for the Greyhounds as the junior defensive back from Chicago has registered 53 total tackles (32 solo, 21 assisted) with 1.5 of them coming for a loss. Warren has broken up five passes and forced a fumble while registering his only interception of the season against Midwestern State on September 20th in Wichita Falls.
 
LSC NEWS & NOTES
With five weeks remaining in the regular season, only one Lone Star Conference football team is unbeaten in league play: No. 13 Central Washington (5-1, 5-0 LSC).
 
CWU went on the road to top No. 6 UT Permian Basin (5-1, 3-1 LSC) in a battle of LSC teams without a conference loss. Also in Week 6, Texas A&M-Kingsville beat No. 12 Angelo State for the first time since 2014. Midwestern State and Western Oregon also recorded league wins. West Texas A&M and Western New Mexico were idle. To read the recaps, click here.
 
WT is leading the league in total offense at 485 yards per game, followed by WNMU (452.8) and TAMUK (451.2). CWU is scoring a league-high 47.7 points per game.
 
UTPB has the conference's top-rated defense, allowing just 309.8 yards per game. CWU is next at 344.7 yards per game then WT (348.5). Opponents are scoring just 17.8 points per game against UTPB, which leads the league.
 
UTPB is the least penalized team in the league, averaging just 40.3 yards per game. CWU is next at 47.8.
 
THE SERIES
The rivalry series that dates back to 1945 is all tied up at 19-19. This weekend marks the 37th edition of the Wagon Wheel game with that series tied at 18-18. The Greyhounds are 11-10 during games played in Canyon including a 24-21 victory back on November 5, 2022 during their only game at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
 
HEAD COACH JOSH LYNN
Josh Lynn is now in his third season at the helm of the West Texas A&M Football program after being named the 29th head coach in WT history. Lynn, widely regarded as one of the nation's up-and-coming head coaches, came to Canyon following six seasons at the University of Nebraska-Kearney where he led the Lopers to an overall record of 35-25 including a run to the Second Round of the 2021 NCAA Playoffs.
 
NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINE
WT Football welcomes four new faces to the full-time coaching staff as Justin Bane was named the new Offensive Coordinator for the Buffs. Mike Bethea will work with the linebackers while Adrian Duncan (running backs) and Cole McDowell (tight ends) also joined the offensive staff. Justin Richter was promoted to Defensive Coordinator in January following two seasons as the defensive backs/co-special team coordinator for the Buffs.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Buffaloes have been tabbed sixth in the 2025 LSC Preseason Poll announced during the league's annual Media Day in McKinney, Texas.
 
Defending LSC champion Angelo State claimed 23 of the possible 30 first place votes for a total of 292 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Central Washington (four first place, 257), UT Permian Basin (two first place, 229), Texas A&M-Kingsville (one first place, 211), West Texas A&M (157), Midwestern State (139), Eastern New Mexico (88), Western New Mexico (53), Sul Ross State (51).
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday night's contest will be broadcasted on FloCollege. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August of 2024 for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history. Fans have two different subscription options: $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year ($8.99/month). Additionally, those who use an .edu email address from an LSC member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price of $9.99 per month or $71.88 per year ($5.99/month). 
 
BACK ON THE AIRWAVES
West Texas A&M Athletics announces the return of radio broadcasts for the 2025-26 campaign. 
 
Members of Buff Nation will now be able to listen to Kent Johnson, Lucas Kinsey and Brice Sheets in partnership with Alpha Media. Football pregame begins 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Thursday night's broadcast is available online (GoBuffsGo.com / KGNCNewsNow.com) as well as locally in the Texas Panhandle on 710 AM and 97.5 FM.
 
ON THIS DAY
The Buffs are 4-7 all-time on games played on October 18th.
 
1947 - Midwestern State - W, 38-0
1952 - at Arizona State - L, 48-14
1958 - Trinity - L, 35-7
1969 - at Colorado State - L, 27-7
1975 - Drake - W, 24-6
1980 - at Drake - L, 27-21
1986 - at Howard Payne - W, 31-7
1997 - at Texas A&M-Commerce - L, 21-14
2003 - at Texas A&M-Commerce - W, 30-17
2008 - Abilene Christian - L, 52-35
2014 - at Texas A&M-Commerce - L, 48-2
 
ALL ABOUT THE WHEEL
The 37th Wagon Wheel game takes place on Saturday night at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in Canyon. ENMU joined the Lone Star Conference in 1984 followed by then West Texas State in 1986.
 
The Wagon Wheel game was born in 1986 as ENMU Campus Union Director Dallan Sanders and then Greyhound football coach Don Carthel discussed creating a rivalry series. Two wagon wheels were donated as the traveling trophy, one by the Ranch at Dora New Mexico and the other by WTSU Board or Regents member and former Buff Tom Christian.
 
There have only been two meetings between the two universities outside of the Wagon Wheel Game. The first in 1945 as West Texas State Teachers College defeated Eastern New Mexico College, 57-6. The other came in 2014 as ENMU defeated the Buffs, 55-45 during the LSC Playoffs.
 
JOSH LYNN AND THE WAGON WHEEL
WT head football coach Josh Lynn will take part in his 15th Wagon Wheel game on Saturday night. Lynn was a standout tight end at Eastern New Mexico from 1997-2000 where he went 3-1 in the game followed by a 2-1 record as an assistant at ENMU. Lynn took over the helm in Portales from 2012-16 where he was 3-2 against the Buffs followed by a 1-1 mark as the WT head coach the past two campaigns.