Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—Generations of Panhandle State alumni gathered on a hot and steamy Saturday afternoon inside No Man's Land Stadium at Carl Wooten Field for a Homecoming matchup between the Aggies and the Buffs of West Texas A&M.

While the heat did not hinder the strong Aggie spirit that was present throughout the day, including a Homecoming parade through campus and a festive pre-game tailgate, it also had little effect on the Aggies' opponents who took a 28-point victory back to Amarillo after defeating the Aggies 42-14.

The Aggies were outscored in three of the four quarters, but looked to be the more successful team on the stats sheet. Panhandle finished with more total yards of offense (396-389) and had one of their best rushing performances in the past three games with 157 yards on the ground. What hurt the Aggies were the yards they gave up on special teams, as WT averaged over 35 yards per return on kickoff and 14 yards per return on punts; Panhandle totaled 82 yards on five kickoff returns and had zero punt returns in the game.

Coach Russell Gaskamp commented on the weakness of the special teams' unit after the game, "We got our butts kicked on special teams; they beat us well over 100 yards with several big returns. Statistically we won the game, but that type of hidden yardage killed us."

It looked as though the Aggies were ready to compete after running back Rod Moore broke out with a 33-yard rush; followed by two complete passes by Shane Truelove to put Panhandle in a 1st-and goal situation on their opening drive of the game. But, a fumble on the one-yard line turned the ball over leaving the Aggies at a loss in their first scoring opportunity. On the Buffs' first series the Aggie defense held them inside their own territory and a big sack by Kameron Lyons forced the first punt of the game. Xavier Jones helped put the Aggies past midfield on the ensuing possession, but heavy pressure from the WT defense brought out the Panhandle punt unit. On the next drive, the Buffs put together an 11-play series that went 92 yards into the Aggie end zone. The first quarter ended with West Texas on the board 7-0.

Panhandle held possession into the second quarter and Truelove completed three passes for 34 yards including the touchdown pass to tight end J.B. Frontz that tied the game; Frontz's scoring reception was also set up with the help of 21 yards on the ground by X. Jones. A 70-yard kickoff return by the Buffs, then put the opponent in prime position for another WT touchdown; starting with the ball on the OPSU 30 the Buffs took five plays to pull ahead 14-7 with eleven minutes still left in the half. The Aggies were shut down on a three-and –out stop on the next series, and the Buffs took a 33-yard return on the following kickoff and then proceeded to move the chains all the way back into Aggie territory for another TD.  Panhandle was held to another three-and-out possession, and West Texas came back looking for another score. Knocking on the Aggies' door again with under three minutes remaining in the half, the Buff's attempted a field goal, which was blocked by Keandre Johnson and recovered by Marcus McCants on the OPSU 14-yard line. The Aggies battled through 12 plays as the half ticked down, and were within field goal range on 3rd-and-goal, but the kick attempt was unsuccessful; the score remained 21-7 going into halftime.

At the break, although down by points on the scoreboard, the Aggies were leading offensively 256 yards to 207 yards of total offense by the Buffs; Panhandle held the upper-hand in both rushing (90-61 yards) and passing yardage in the first half (166-156 yards). On the first series of the second half, the Aggie defense forced a fumble on third down forcing the Buff's to punt for the second time in the game. The Aggies drew up a fake punt play on their next drive which would not convert, giving WT great field position on the OPSU35 to prompt another touchdown for the Buffaloes (. 28-7) was looking at another three-and-out series when Jacob Test's 24-yard punt was fumbled inside the WT 30-yardline and recovered Panhandle's Chad Ellis on the WT 25. Truelove was sacked for a loss of ten yards on the next play, and a holding play on the Aggie o-line on the two-yard line later in the series, looked to play in favor of the visitors. But Truelove connected with a 12-yard pass to receiver Steven White, Jr. on 2nd-and-goal and the Aggies got back on the board, but still down by double-digits (28-14).

West Texas kept the ball moving into the fourth quarter and scored their fifth touchdown of the day on a 15-play 77-yard drive. A deflated Aggie offense then took the field were held to eight yards on a four-play series where they wen t for the conversion on 4th-and-2, but turned the ball over on downs at their own 31-yard line. You could almost feel the shift in mood on the following possession when WT earned a quick trip to the end zone for the game's final touchdown. Freshman quarterback D.J. Scott came in for Truelove to play out the rest of the quarter; Scott suffered two sacks and one interception, but was able to fire off two complete passes including an on-target, 12-yard reception by Dorion Barnett that kept the play going on a 4th-and-8 instance. The Buffs stuck to the run for the remainder of the fourth quarter to run out the clock for the 42-14 victory Homecoming spoiler on Carl Wooten Field.

Panhandle saw a dramatic drop in offensive production in the second half gaining only 67 yards in rushing and 73 yards in passing. While held to only 36 yards on the ground, the Buffs notched another 146 yards off the pass in the last half of the game. Coach Gaskamp attributes the loss to a lack of consistency and mental errors saying, "We just didn't make plays when they needed to be made. We had some good opportunities, but then made mistakes that held us back." Gaskamp continued, "We can't have a holding call on the two-yard line and fumbles in the red zone. It's pretty simple…their guys went and made catches and plays and we didn't. Missed opportunities in the red zone really hurt us."

The Aggies' leading offensive performers were junior WR Devyn Williams with five catches for 78 yards and Steven White, Jr. who had four receptions for 53 yards and one TD. West Texas' big tight end Junior Pomee had a big day, gathering 124 yards receiving with 11 catches for four touchdowns. Xavier Jones finished the day with 61 yards passing to lead the game on ten carries, while WT's Devon Payne totaled 60 yards on 15 carries. Leading the Aggie defense were Marcus Jones, Dharius Timmons and Jawan Purifoy who combined for 23 tackles; Jones led the game with eight solos. The Buffs' leading tacklers were Chazz Slatinsky and Daelin Young who each had five solos for six tackles apiece. Lyons had the Aggies' lone sack in the game, and the Buffs boasted five sacks and 13 pass breakups on Panhandle.

This week the Aggies will travel to Odessa, Texas to take on Texas Permian Basin Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. where they look to snap a five-game losing streak. Aggie fans can start planning their pre-game tailgate for the next home game on Oct. 29 when Panhandle State plays host to Tarleton; the Little Aggies Cheer Camp will also take place on the 29th and registration information is available online at opsuaggies.com.