(RV) West Texas A&M (7-4) vs. Arkansas Tech (7-4)
Date	Saturday, December 6th | 12:00 p.m.
Location	Corsicana, Texas | Community National Bank & Trust Stadium
Live Statistics	Link
Live Video	YouTube
Radio	KGNCNewsNow.com | Listen Locally: 710 AM | 97.5 FM
Other Links	Game Notes | Tickets

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M concluded their 2025 campaign on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Corsicana, Texas to take part in the 2025 Heritage Bowl Powered by Riot. The Buffs battle Arkansas Tech with kickoff set for 12:00 p.m. at Community National Bank & Trust Stadium.
 
ANGELO STATE REWIND
West Texas A&M overcame a 20-point third quarter deficit as a blocked field goal with less than two minutes remaining setup a last second touchdown grab by Zach Phipps to give the Buffs a wild 45-44 Lone Star Conference victory on Senior Night over the Angelo State Rams at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in Canyon.
 
SETTING A NEW STANDARD
West Texas A&M enters the Heritage Bowl riding a three-game winning streak. The seven victories during the 2025 campaign is the most by the Buffs since the 2021 season and the seven Lone Star Conference victories is the most since 2012.
 
STARTING FAST
The Buffaloes have scored points on their first possession of the game in seven of the 11 games this season, averaging 5.3 plays and 48.7 yards per opening possession. West Texas A&M has received the opening kickoff in 10 of the first 11 contests, averaging 1:39 of clock time per opening possession.
 
THEN THERE WERE TWO
The Lone Star Conference features two remaining football teams with postseason games this weekend. The league received two selections into the NCAA Playoffs, LSC Champion Central Washington dropped a first-round home game to Western Colorado while UT Permian Basin claimed their first ever playoff win at CSU Pueblo. The Falcons kept their season alive last week with a 21-15 win in Gunnison to advance to the third round against #2 Harding this Saturday in Searcy, Arkansas. West Texas A&M became the sixth LSC institution selected to the Heritage Bowl. 
 
LET'S GO BOWLING
West Texas A&M is making their seventh bowl game appearance and the first since 2011. The Heritage Bowl Powered by Riot (formerly the Corsicana Bowl, Heritage Bowl, and Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl) is an annual Division II Post-Season Collegiate Football Game held in Corsicana, Texas. Established in 2017, the game is played each year the first Saturday in December. The two participating teams will consist of schools competing in the Lone Star Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association and/or the Great American Conference.
 
ATU HEAD COACH ROY THOMPSON
Roy Thompson is in his first season as head football at Arkansas Tech after being announced as the program's 18th head coach all-time on December 10, 2024. Thompson has led the Wonder Boys to the program's first postseason bowl appearance since 2017. 
 
Thompson came to Arkansas Tech from Ouachita Baptist where he spent 12 seasons on staff. During eight seasons since his return to Ouachita in 2016 as the co-defensive coordinator, Thompson built the Tigers' defensive unit into one of the top units not only in the Great American Conference (GAC), but in all of DII. Thompson was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2024.
 
Out of the eight seasons played with Thompson on staff, Ouachita won the GAC championship five times and reached the NCAA playoffs each of those seasons as well. Of those five conference titles, three saw the Tigers go unbeaten in the regular season. Prior to his time at Ouachita, Thompson spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California.
 
A 2006 graduate of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, Thompson began his collegiate coaching career the following fall as the defensive line coach at Highland Community College before returning to his alma mater as the defensive line/linebackers coach for the 2008-2009 seasons. Thompson's next stop brought him to Ouachita for his first stint as he was the defensive line and linebackers coach from 2009-2012.
 
A LOOK AT THE WONDER BOYS
Arkansas Tech finished the regular season with an overall record of 7-4 with an identical mark in Great American Conference action. ATU went 4-2 at Thone Stadium in Russellville while going 3-1 during road games this season.
 
The regular season finale featured a tall task for the Wonder Boys as they battled the 2024 National Runner-Up and 2025 GAC Regular Season Champion Bison of Harding back on November 15th in Russellville. Arkansas Tech trailed just 17-7 at the half before the high-powered rushing attack by the Bison took over and finished the game with 569 yards of total offense in a 47-13 win.
 
The game saw ATU freshman running back Bryson Roland surpass the 1,000 yard mark on the season to become the first Wonder Boy to reach the plateau since 2015. The Waco product has carried the ball 158 times this season for 1,054 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per rush and 95.8 yards per game. Roland was named First Team All-GAC as well as the league's Freshman of the Year as he is 18th nationally in rushing yards and 15th in yards per carry.
 
Jack Dawson leads the balanced offensive attack for ATU as the Arlington native has completed 75-of-139 passes for 1,050 yard and 12 touchdowns with three interceptions. Dawson has appeared in eight games this season, also carrying the ball 35 times for 68 net yards and a pair of scores.
 
Jared Long is the go-to target on the outside for the Wonder Boys, registering 29 catches for 477 yards and five touchdowns. The senior from Columbus, Mississippi has 51 career receptions during his two seasons in Russellville with 836 yards and eight scores.
 
Two-time GAC First Team selection Israel Whitmore leads the way defensively for the Wonder Boys as the senior Ackerman, Mississippi has registered 8.0 tackles for lost yardage, 2.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries to go along with 38.0 total tackles, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
 
THE SERIES
Saturday afternoon will mark the first ever meeting on the gridiron between the Buffaloes and Wonder Boys. 
 
WEST TEXAS A&M vs. ARKANSAS TECH
West Texas A&M is 3-5 during all-time matchups against Arkansas Tech spanning four sports. One of those meetings came during the NCAA Postseason as the Wonder Boys topped the Buffs in men's basketball in Wichita Falls in 2012.
 
Women's Basketball - 11/21/1998 - ATU, 77-51
Volleyball - 8/31/2002 - WT, 3-0
Volleyball - 9/12/2003 - WT, 3-0 
Softball - 2/20/2009 - WT, 2-1
Men's Basketball - 11/20/2009 - ATU, 78-63
Women's Basketball - 11/29/2010 - ATU, 75-63
Men's Basketball - 3/10/2012 - ATU, 79-68 (NCAA Regional Quarterfinals)
Softball - 2/3/2019 - ATU, 5-3
 
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.
 
BUFFALO FOOTBALL BOWL HISTORY
1950 – Sun Bowl – vs. Cincinnati (W, 14-13)
1956 – Tangerine Bowl – vs. Southern Mississippi (W, 20-13)
1962 – Sun Bowl – vs. Ohio (W, 15-14)
1967 – Junior Rose Bowl – vs. Cal State-Northridge (W, 35-13)
2009 – Kanza Bowl – vs. Nebraska-Omaha (W, 31-25)
2011 – Kanza Bowl – vs. Central Missouri (W, 26-7)
 
LSC POSTSEASON AWARDS
West Texas A&M placed 17 student-athletes on the 2025 All-Lone Star Conference Football Teams announced by the league's offices in Richardson, Texas. RJ Martinez was named the Offensive Back of the Year while Zach Phipps earned Newcomer of the Year accolades.
 
Phipps was joined on the All-LSC First Team by Kanyon Ives, Sean Johnson, Jamel Acosta-Lewis and James Ingham. The All-LSC Second Team featured Martinez, Trevin Edwards and Ashton Reynolds. Nine Buffaloes claimed Honorable Mention accolades: Easton Fulton, Spencer Henslee, Drew Zamar, Jayden Hibbler, C'ing Blanton, Sosa Sokimi, Cam Manahan, Miles Hill and Stone Dean.
 
Edwards and Acosta-Lewis were also honored for their efforts in the classroom as members of the LSC All-Academic Team. Central Washington quarterback Kennedy McGill was tabbed the league's Academic Player of the Year.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's Heritage Bowl Powered by Riot will be streamed on YouTube. Fans can visit the Heritage Bowl YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/@HeritageBowl.
 
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.
 
AIRING IT OUT
The new-look West Texas A&M offense has put up impressive numbers during the 2025 campaign. Senior quarterback RJ Martinez has completed 283-of-431 passes for 3,715 yards and 33 touchdowns. That is the most passing yards and touchdowns by a WT quarterback since Harlon Hill runner-up Dustin Vaughan in 2013 (4,148 yards - 53 touchdowns).
 
DECEMBER FOOTBALL
Saturday will mark the first ever game played by the Buffs on December 6th. West Texas A&M is 6-3 during games played in the month of December.
 
12/4/1948 - at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - W, 21-13
12/1/1956 - vs. Southern Mississippi - W, 20-13
12/2/1961 - at Texas Tech - L, 16-14
12/31/1962 - vs. Ohio - W, 15-14
12/2/1967 - vs. Cal State-Northridge - W, 35-13
12/5/2009 - vs. Nebraska-Omaha - W, 31-25
12/1/2012 - at CSU Pueblo - W, 34-16
12/8/2012 - at Winston-Salem State - L, 41-18
12/7/2013 - at Grand Valley State - L, 35-28
 
HARLON HILL NOMINEE
West Texas A&M senior quarterback RJ Martinez is one of 36 nominees for the 2025 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II College Football Player of the Year.
 
A total of eight nominees hail from Super Region 1, eight from Super Region 2, eight from Super Region 3 and 12 from Super Region 4. The group of 36 candidates includes 16 quarterbacks, 10 running backs, three wide receivers, three linebackers, a defensive linemen, a safety, a tight end and a punter/kicker.
 
The sports information directors at the 159 NCAA Division II football-playing institutions nominated and voted on the award. The 36 initial candidates were placed on regional ballots and the top two players from each of the four NCAA regions advanced to the national ballot.