CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M earned a 43-14 Wagon Wheel victory over Eastern New Mexico Saturday night.
"We did not start fast," said head coach
Kelley Lee. "We did not convert on our chances early and it hurt us tonight."
One play. That is all is took for West Texas A&M to find the endzone against the visiting Greyhounds. After a fair kick return to start the night's action, WT showed why they are one of the top five passing offenses in the nation as quarterback RJ Martinez found Drew Zamar for a 66-yard passing score.
Martinez continued to show why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the conference as he finished the night throwing 26-for-43 for 424 yards and five touchdowns. In total, 10 different Buffs caught a pass. Zamar finished with three catches for 99 yards. Backup quarterback Sean Johnson added three receptions for 68 yards. Zach Phipps and Jayden Hibbler had two receiving scores each for the program.
Eastern New Mexico utilized both quarterbacks in the offensive attack.
Chad Ragle started the game going 8-for-13 for 72 yards. He ended up throwing one interception and gained just two yards rushing.
Jarius Stewart was 4-for-7 for 40 yards through the air. He added 42 yards rushing.
One of the highlights offensively for ENMU was a 129-yard outing for freshman
Demarion Finch. He scored two touchdowns and now leads the program with five total. Veteran
Gerry Gomez caught nine passes for 64 yards.
Defensively,
Matthew Quartieri led the way for ENMU with nine tackles and an interception. The pick came late in the second quarter as WT was trying to tack on another score just before half. Both
Aaron Warren and
Aaron Acosta-Lewis had seven tackles. Eastern finished with four tackles for loss in the game.
Malachi Hannah recorded two of those.
Ryan Travis had a busy night and handled it well. He punted seven times for an average of 40.1 yards per attempt. Travis made both of his point after attempts.
The Wagon Wheel series now moves to 19-18 in favor of the Buffs.
Eastern New Mexico will now prepare for Western New Mexico who comes into Portales for Homecoming Week. The Chile Bowl is played annually among the two schools. WNMU is coming off a narrow win over Sul Ross State.
