CANYON, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Football (4-7, 4-5 LSC) had their season come to a close Saturday afternoon with a 51-14 loss to No. 8 Central Washington. WT gave up 385 yards on the ground with seven rushing scores.
WT received the ball first after the eighth ranked Wildcats deferred for the second half. The Buffaloes went three and out as a third down sack resulted in a punt. CWU would march down the field and be goal to go at first and seven.
Johnny Taylor III came up with a crucial strip sack that resulted in a 33-yard loss as the Wildcats landed on the ball at the 40-yard line. That sack by Taylor III would ultimately lead to CWU kicking and making a 45-yard field goal as they went up 3-0. That score would hold at the end of the first quarter as both defenses stalled out drives.
Moving into the second quarter, Central Washington struck twice within the first five minutes as they scored off a one-yard rush and then recovered a fumble on WT's first play of their ensuing drive. Already in the red zone, they again got goal to go and rushed in another one-yard score to go up 17-0. West Texas A&M's next drive was also a one-play fumble as the Wildcats again were in great field position. The Buffaloes defense would make a great stand as
Miles Hill and
Tyler Davis combined for a sack and
Phoenix Tusa would block a 45-yard field goal. The Buffs offense was unable to find a rhythm as they went three and out again. CWU used a 13-play drive with 85 yards of offense in five minutes and 12 seconds to extend their lead to 24-0. That score would hold going into the halftime break.
The start of the third quarter saw the Wildcats rush for a 47-yard touchdown on their first drive to go up 31-0. WT would get on the board as
Trace Clarkson took a slant route 73-yards to the house as he outran a pack of Wildcats for the score. CWU would add three more rushing scores as they held a 51-7 lead with 10:52 remaining in the game. WT would find their way into the red zone again where
Antoine Sullivan broke a pair of tackles as he found the end zone for 15-yards after catching a curl route. Those would be WT's final points of the game and of the season as the score would finalize at 51-14 in favor of the Wildcats.
Top Buffs
- Miles Hill totaled 21 tackles in the game (11 solo) while adding a half sack. His tackles were a career-high and the most in a single game by a Buffalo since Carter James had 21 tackles against Midwestern State in 2014. Hill ends the season with 114 tackles, the most by a Buffalo since Hayden Dennis (118.0) in 2019 and as the Lone Star Conference's (LSC) leading tackler.
- Trace Clarkson caught seven balls for 110 yards and a score. This was his seventh game with 7+ receptions, fifth with 100+ receiving yards, and seventh touchdown of the season. Clarkson ends the season with 1010 receiving yards to finish second in the LSC in that mark. He is the first Buff since Torrence Allen (1,272 in 2013) to have 1000+ receiving yards in a season.
- Johnny Taylor III made six tackles (two for loss) to go with his strip sack. Taylor III finishes the season with four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.
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