Riding a three game winning streak by dumping McMurry on Homecoming, the West Texas A&M Buffalo football team has a challenge looming on the horizon. That challenge is in the form of Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern Mustangs come Oct. 11 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.
“They’re playing good second quarters and good fourth quarters,” Head Coach Mike Nesbitt said, speaking of the upcoming opponent. “They know how to recoup and recover after a bad first quarter and they’re playing great, lights out football in the fourth quarter and finishing people off.”
In the victory over the McMurry, the West Texas A&M offense clicked on all cylinders. Junior quarterback Preston Rabb has finally hit his stride, having a field day with 302 yards passing, four touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown to cruise past the Warhawks.
“I feel like [Rabb] looks more comfortable,” junior wide receiver Dimitri Donald said. “We just have to make some plays, try to get into a rhythm and make things easier for him.”
Lending Rabb a helping hand was junior running back Geremy Alridge-Mitchell, who racked up 117 yards on the ground and senior wide receiver Anthony Johnson had five receptions for 130 yards, including a huge 64 yard pitch and catch in the second quarter against McMurry.
“We’re getting a lot of mileage out of [Alridge-Mitchell] right now, he’s playing great for us,” Nesbitt said of his running back, who had attained his third straight game with 100 plus rushing yards.
Midwestern (3-1, 2-1 LSC), who dropped a hard fought game against Angelo State, wields a balanced attack of its own – led by running back Dante Taylor, quarterback Jake Glover and wide receiver Statron Jones.
In the loss against the Rams, Taylor was able to accumulate 159 yards on 19 carries while Glover went 21-41 and two touchdowns. However, Glover was picked off twice and sacked five times. Jones had six catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns for the Mustangs.
On defense, the Buffs had been locking down opponents in the second half – allowing only six points in their last three victories.
“We still have that bitter taste in our mouth,” Will Toliver Defensive back,said “It’s a big game, they don’t like us and we really don’t like them too much. It’s going to be a good one.”
The Buffs and Mustangs are set to continue their heated rivalry with a 7 p.m. game time.