The West Texas A&M Buffalos season went from bad to worse on Saturday in Portales, New Mexico. WT took an early 13-7 lead before Eastern New Mexico scored 21 unanswered points on their way to a 35-27 victory in the 35th Wagon Wheel Game during Lone Star Conference action at Greyhound Field.
With the loss, WT remains near the basement of the Lone Star Conference standings with a 2-6 record. Overall, the Buffs are 3-7 on the season.
The Buffaloes started out the scoring on their first drive of the game as a 14-play drive was capped off by a 35-yard Preston Gregg field goal for the early 3-0 lead. The WT defense forced a three-and-out on the first Greyhound possession that setup a 90-yard drive as Ashton Dubose found Tyler Sweet from 19 yards out to make it 10-0.
The Hounds responded as they took advantage of a penalty on fourth and short to keep the drive alive as Mario Sanchez found the endzone from one yard out to cut the lead to 10-7. WT would add to their lead on the next possession as a 34-yard completion from Weston Eget to Tyrie Tipton setup a 32-yard Gregg field goal at 13-7.
The teams would trade punts before interceptions on back-to-back plays as Ty Dillon picked off Sanchez to give the Buffs the ball but a pick by Matthew Quartieri stopped the Buffalo momentum to send the teams into the locker room with WT leading 13-7.
ENMU marched down the field 75-yards on nine plays during their first drive of the second half as a 45-yard completion on third and long setup a two-yard keeper by Sanchez to give the Hounds a 14-13 lead. The Buffs couldn't move the chains on their next possession as a Seth Ford punt setup a 55-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Andre Jones to extend the lead to 21-13.
The start of the fourth quarter saw the Hounds add to their lead as Sanchez called his own number and found the endzone from three yards out to make it 28-13. WT would show some life on their next drive as a 19-yard Eget completion to Kenneath Redd Jr. setup a two-yard keeper by Dubose to cut the lead to 28-20.
The teams traded punts again before the Hounds put the game away with an 84- yard drive capped off by a 20-yard touchdown by Jonathan Watson for the 35-20 lead. WT wouldn't go down without a fight as Eget found Redd down the sideline from 16 yards out to cut the score to 35-27. The Buffalo defense would make a fourth-down stop in the redzone late in the game to give WT a chance with just 17 seconds remaining but the Buffs ran out of time, 35-27.
Eget finished the night completing 15-of-26 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception, Dubose completed 3-of-4 passes for 24 yards and a score while carrying the ball six times for 16 yards and a score. Tipton registered a team-high 45 yards on a pair of carries to go along with four catches for 82 yards.
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