The No. 19 WTAMU Buffaloes traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to play the No. 10 Indianapolis Greyhounds at Key Stadium on Nov. 23 in the First Round of the 2013 NCAA Division II playoffs. The Buffs defeated the Greyhounds 27-14 in a solid victory to advance to the second round next week.
U-Indy started the scoring with 9:56 remaining in the first quarter on a 17-yard pass from Connor Barthel to Joe Bell to give them a 7-0 lead. WT would respond with a 20-yard touchdown pass from senior Dustin Vaughn to junior Anthony Johnson with 6:04 left in the first to tie the game 7-7.
The Buffs would take their first lead with 13:50 to play in the second quarter when Vaughn connected with senior Torrence Allen on a 24-yard pass to put WT in front 14-7. Senior Sergio Castillo, Jr. would kick a 26-yard field goal giving the Buffs a 17-7 halftime lead.
WT would increase their lead in the third on a 19-yard field goal by Castillo, making a 20-7 advantage for the Buffs with 6:41 remaining. The Greyhounds would climb back in the game on a Barthel 35-yard touchdown to Reese Horn, cutting the WT lead to 20-14 with 2:57 to play in the third. The Buffs would put the final nail in U-Indy’s coffin on a 12-yard touchdown from Vaughn to senior Jace Jackson with 0:12 to go in the third, making it 27-14.
WT outgained the Greyhounds 435-312 in total yards of offense in the game. U-Indy won the rushing battle over the Buffs 122-115. However, WT put up 320 passing yards compared to the Greyhounds’ 190 yards.
Vaughn had a tremendous day, completing 37-of-47 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Vaughn also became the Lone Star Conference’s leading touchdown passer as he passed Abilene Christian’s Billy Malone’s mark of 114. Vaughn finished the game 115 career touchdowns and 45 for this season.
Senior Aaron Harris ran the ball 13 times for 59 yards and sophomore Geremy Alridge ran it 10 times for 54 yards. Allen caught 15 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown while Jackson caught eight passes for 65 yards and one score.
The Buffs improved their record to 10-2 this season and advanced to play their second straight second round playoff game in the state of Ohio. The No. 6-seed WT will travel to Panther Field in Columbus, OH on Nov. 30 to play the No. 2-seed Ohio Dominican (10-0) at 12 p.m.
