The West Texas A&M Buffaloes (4-4, 3-3) defeated the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds (6-4, 3-3) by a score of 52-42 to give the Wagon Wheel back to the Buffaloes for the first time in three years. The win also marks number 499 for the Buffaloes. The win was achieved through a season best offensive day for the Buffs, who put up 528 total yards and found the offensive consistency they’ve lacked thus far in the season.

Sophomore quarterback Ethan Brinkley had a career day. Brinkley went 18 of 25 for 387 yards passing, and also tossed three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Xavier Amey also had a big game, racking up 242 yards on just seven receptions. He also accounted for two touchdowns on the day. Brinkley spoke on the importance of Amey in the game.

“I hit him a couple times on big plays,” Brinkley said. “It’s always fun to just throw the ball up and watch a guy like that go up and do what he does best and just snatch the ball out of the air. It’s fun to watch.”

Brinkley also said that practicing hard and running through the plays constantly are what has led to the Buffs’ offensive success as of late.

“It’s just constantly going to work at practice,” Brinkley said. “You know, we run our plays hundreds of times. As far as hitting them on Saturday, credit goes to my receivers. I just throw it up and give them a chance to go get it and they made heck of some plays.”

Head Coach Mike Nesbitt commented on the team’s win against the Greyhounds and how impressed he was when they bounced back from some tough breaks in the ball game.

“I was really happy,” Nesbitt said. “When they go up by seven, our guys answer, and they kept playing, and they just keep fighting. It was neat to see when we look at their character. Every practice there’d be 115 players out on the field 15 minutes early. We don’t have to tell anyone to hurry or anything like that, and that was before we had a winning record. That’s some good character and that’s what they showed in the fourth quarter.”

The Buffs now have a chance to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State on Nov. 7. They look to improve to 5-4 on the season and more importantly earn win number 500 for the program. Nesbitt said it was extremely important to this squad that they had the chance to earn the win.

“I think it’s really big,” Nesbitt said. “I talked to the seniors about that they set themselves up to be the team that go that 500^th win, and even more than that, you get a chance to be 5-4, and play a team that you’ll play in conference play next year.”

Oklahoma Panhandle State is 5-3 on the season. They will be a member of the Lone Star Conference beginning next season, but has already played against some LSC competition, going 1-2 with losses to Angelo State and Tarleton State.