The West Texas A&M Buffaloes led by 10 points with just two minutes left to play before the Falcons of UT Permian Basin stormed back for a 41-40 overtime victory in Lone Star Conference action at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland, Texas.
The Buffs took advantage of a special teams mistake early in the game as TJ Moore Jr. blocked a Falcon punt with Tory Simmons scooping up the ball and returning it for a touchdown for the 7-0 lead. The Falcons responded on their next drive with a march down the field capped off by a 38-yard field goal from Rafael Vargas.
The teams traded punts before the Buffs added to their lead with a four-yard strike by Kanon Gibson to Kris Sims for the 14-3 lead. The WT defense came up big again heading into the second half as Ty Dillon forced a fumble recovered near the sideline by Preston Steszewski to head into the locker room with the Buffs leading 14-3.
The WT defense made a big play again as Freddie Simmons picked off a Falcon pass that setup a 59-yard drive with Preston Gregg hitting a 49-yard field goal for the 17-3 lead. The UTPB offense responded as they went on a 75-yard drive with Kenny Hrnciar finding Ben Patterson from 19-yards out to cut the lead to 17-10.
The Buffaloes answered as they went 77-yards on 11 plays as Kanon Gibson found Isaiah Smallwood out of the backfield from nine yards out to make it 24-10. UTPB answered back with scoring drive of their own as Hrnciar found Jeremiah Cooley from 24-yards out to make it 24-17.
WT responded again with an 85-yard drive highlighted by 22-yard field goal by Gregg to extend the lead to 27-17. The Falcons answered back as they marched 75 yards capped off by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Hrnciar to Deon Cook to make it 27-24.
The Buffs would add to their lead on the next Buffalo possession as Gibson called his own number from 74-yards out as the freshman found his way to the endzone for the 34-24 lead. The Falcons wouldn't go down without a fight as they marched down the field to setup a Vargas 35-yard field goal to make it 34-27.
The Falcons made a big special teams play to recover an onside kick to setup a 52-yard drive capped off by a Hrnciar one-yard dive with just 16 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
WT won the toss in overtime and elected to play defense first, the Falcons converted a fourth a long to setup a Hrnciar one-yard touchdown along with a PAT to make it 41-35. The Buffs responded on their offensive possession as Gibson found Kenneath Redd Jr. from five yards out, WT decided to roll the dice and attempt a two-point conversion attempt that was unsuccessful as the Buffs fell 41-40.
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