Buffaloes Romp Over RiverHawks

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. --  Senior night turned into a night of horrors for Northeastern State as West Texas A&M routed the RiverHawks 66-23 in a Lone Star Conference crossover clash at Doc Wadley Stadium on Saturday night.

The RiverHawks could not contain the West Texas passing attack as the Buffaloes riddled the Northeastern State secondary for 464 yards and added another 165 on the ground for 629 yards on total offense.

West Texas quarterbacks Taylor Harris and Tanner Marsh combined on 38-of-49 passes and 6 touchdown tosses in the victory. They were intercepted twice.

The Buffaloes' Tyson Williams was West Texas leading receiver with 9 grabs for 86 yards and a TD for 33 yards. But it was Brittan Golden who did the most damage on seven catches for 178 yards. He had three that went for touchdowns covering 3, 48 and 40 yards.

Fleming led West Texas' rushing attack with 110 yards and three touchdowns on runs of 2, 25 and 3 yards. West Texas finished with 165 yards rushing.

West Texas entered the red zone six times in the game and scored on all six. They were 11-of-14 on third down conversions.

Northeastern State finished with just 259 yards in total offense, as quarterbacks Kenny Davis, Pat Cook and Jarett Beal connected on 21-of-37 tosses and three TD tosses. Ben Randle grabbed TD tosses of 29 and 19 yards in the second and third quarters. Trey McVay caught an 18-yard TD toss in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

The RiverHawks had just 33 yards rushing in the game, with LaRon Elmer leading the way with 24 yards. Ed Victorian was Northeastern State's leading receiver with 76 yards on seven receptions, while Randle,  McVay and Jarett Beal had three each.

The loss dropped Northeastern State to 2-8 for the season as the RiverHawks return to North Division play next Saturday against Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Kickoff is 2 p.m. The Buffaloes are now 5-5 for the year.

Northeastern led only one time in the ball game and that was 3-0 when Jared Homer booted a 41-yard field goal on the RiverHawks first possession of the game with 12:19 left in the first quarter. From that point on it was all West Texas as the Buffaloes rolled off 28 unanswered points for a 28-3 lead midway the second quarter.

West Texas led 19-10 at the half and increased its margin to 52-10 after three quarters of play.