WTAMU football beats up Eastern New Mexico to reclaim Wagon Wheel

On the back of a huge second quarter, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes were able to earn a second straight win but more importantly reclaim the Wagon Wheel from Eastern New Mexico for the first time in three years after a lopsided 42-24 road win at the Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium in Portales, N.M.

It’s the first win for the Buffs in this 36th meeting since 2021 and also gives WTAMU a second consecutive win improving to 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the Lone Star Conference.

It’s also the first win on this side of the rivalry for WTAMU head coach Josh Lynn, who is an ENMU graduate and has beaten WTAMU in this game when he was the head coach of the Greyhound program.

“It means a lot to me to win it on this side of the rivalry,” Lynn said. “I’ve won plenty on other side when I was at Eastern, but this is special as well because it was here at WTAMU. It feels a little different to win it on this side, but it’s always great to win the Wagon Wheel. Eastern is my Alma mater and a special place but this win ranks up there.”

ENMU (2-5, 0-5 in LSC) had complete control leading 17-6 with 10:44 left in the second quarter. From that point forward, the Buffs took over scoring 22 unanswered points to close the half.

The Buffs offense caught fire with a 22-yard touchdown run from Jamaal Johnson cutting the deficit 17-14. After forcing a turnover, WTAMU went on top for good on a quarterback Kanon Gibson 13-yard scamper as the Buffs went on top 21-17 at the six minute mark of the second.

To give 36-yard toss down the sideline to Tucker Swoboda for the 28-17 advantage going into the break.

The second half was more of the same as the Buffs dominated the final 24 minutes.

The WTAMU offense has posted 40-plus points for a second week in a row. The Buffs offense racked up 465 total yards with 264 of those on the ground. Gibson was 14-of-21 for 200 yards passing and a touchdown. Gibson added 54 yards rushing with two more score.

For a second straight outing, WTAMU running back Tre’jon Henderson fed off his offensive line toting the rock 21 times for 173 yards with a pair of scores.

“I thought we had great balance,” Lynn said. “I like what Kanon is doing and we’re getting Tre’Jon the ball and he’s showing you what he can do. The offensive line is playing well, and everyone is doing their jobs.”

The Buff defense clamped down after giving up an early 17 points to the Greyhounds. The defense didn’t allow another point with ENMU’s final touchdown coming on a pick-six in the fourth quarter.

WTAMU limited a very good Greyhound run attack to 320 total yards. Senior linebacker JT Cavender led the Buffs with 15 tackles and a sack. Cavender’s cohort, Zach Schlager was in on 11 tackles.

“It was complete football win for us,” Lynn said. ENMU is great at the triple option. I feel the defense made a proper adjustment early and we were able to stop them. I was happy with how we responded all afternoon. This was a huge win.”

WTAMU returns home to take on UT Permian Basin in a conference game at 7 p.m. Oct. 26.