CANYON, Texas – The Central Washington University football team dropped its second game in as many weeks as the team fell on the road Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats fell 48-41 in a non-conference bout at West Texas A&M.
 
The Buffaloes (4-1) used a 20-point first quarter to grab a 34-10 lead going into halftime. They maintained the sizable lead for much of the afternoon but a fourth 24-7 quarter rally from the Wildcats (1-4) made things tough for the home team who barely escaped with a seven-point win.

"It was a tale of two halves for us tonight. Similar to other games this season we play really well in some quarters and other times we struggle. In that first half we left our defense out to dry despite what the score said," CWU Head Coach Chris Fisk said. 
 
WT got on the board in the first 46 seconds of the opening frame. Jordan Johnson punched in an 18-yard run to go up 6-0 after the failed extra point. The Buffs scored quickly after Canon Racanelli was intercepted on the second play of the Wildcats opening drive.
 
The Wildcats cut their deficit to three early on with a 36-yard field goal make from Gavin Todd. His score capped off a nine play, 54-yard drive that took 3:58. The Wildcats trailed 6-3 with 10:09 to play in the first quarter.
 
CWU managed to pick off WT quarterback Nick Gerber thanks to the efforts of Tyren Sams. The Wildcats tried to capitalize on the ensuing drive, but Todd missed his first field goal attempt of the season, this one from 32 yards out.
 
The Buffs ensuing drive resulted in a touchdown with the help a four play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a score in just 1:02. Jarrod Compton capped the drive with a 44-yard touchdown run. The Buffs led 13-3 and added one more score right as the first quarter ended.
 
On the Wildcats final drive of the opening quarter they were forced to punt from their own 30, but the Patrick Hegarty attempt was blocked and the Buffs recovered it in the end zone. Donevin Manuel was the WT player who got the block and the recovery to make it a 20-3 game.
 
WT forced CWU to punt on it first drive of the second and once again answered on the ensuing drive. Duke Carter IV answered for the Buffs with a one-yard scamper to make it a 27-3 lead with 10:18 to play in the first half.
 
The Wildcats countered on their next drive as they scored their first touchdown of the game. Racanelli hit Tony Archie in stride for a 13-yard score to cut the game to 27-10 after the PAT make.
 
WT answered on the next possession to keep a comfortable distance from CWU. Gerber capped off an eight play, 46-yard drive that resulted in another touchdown with a nine-yard strike to Semaj Mitchell. The score jumped to 34-10 and remained that going into halftime.
 
The score grew to 41-10 for the Buffs with 8:06 to play in the third. Gerber found Juwan McCall in stride for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Following the PAT, the Buffs held a commanding 41-10 lead.
 
Christian Moore, who came in midway through the second quarter, was able to lead the Wildcats down the field on the following drive to cut the score to 41-17. He hit Archie for his second touchdown of the game with a 26-yard pass.
 
The score remained 41-17 in favor of Buffs going into the fourth. The Wildcats offense surged in the fourth outscoring the Buffs 24-7 to bring the final to 48-41.

"We came out the second half and really found a rhythm on both sides of the ball but again it just wasn't enough," Coach Fisk said. "We have to get better about it as coaches so that our guys are more prepared going forward."
 
CWU got its scoring surge started early on in the fourth with the help of a drive that started late in the third. Moore threw his second touchdown of the day when he hit Michael Roots for a 41-yard score. Roots then converted on the two-point try to cut the score to 41-25.
 
WT's lone touchdown of the game came on the very next possession as Compton ran in from 14 yards out to push the lead to 48-25. The Wildcats then outscored the Buffs 21-0 to nearly pull off the comeback win on the road.
 
The Wildcats punted on their next drive but forced the Buffs' offense to take a field goal attempt from 47 yards out on their ensuing drive. The kick fell short and kept the game at 48-25. Moore and the offense hoped to capitalize but he was picked off on the first play of the possession.
 
Following another punt by WT, CWU drove 59 yards in just three plays to cut their deficit to 16 points with 3:44 on the clock. Moore found Mykel Campbell for his first touchdown of the year when he caught a pass for the 26-yard strike.
 
CWU's defense found a rhythm and forced WT to punt once more. The offense rewarded them once more as Moore threw touchdown No. 3 of the day thanks to a 55-yard deep play to Tyson Rainwater. Roots tried to convert the two-point try but failed and the Wildcats trailed 48-38.
 
Hegarty then went for an onside kick with 1:42 on the clock and the Wildcats were able to recover the ball thanks to Tevin Gray securing the kick. Moore then drove the offense from their own 47 to the WT 16 before a penalty forced them to kick a field goal.
 
Todd nailed the attempt from 40 yards out and cut the score to its final of 48-41. The Wildcats tried to recover another onside kick but were unsuccessful. WT recovered the ball with 11 seconds to play in regulation and took the knee to run out the clock and secure the win.
 
Moore finished with 339 yards through the air to go along with four touchdowns on 18-31 passing.

"Christian [Moore] did a great for us today coming off the bench. He's a guy who's been on a bit of a carousel for us at quarterback," Coach Fisk said. "He handled things well and really was a spark for us in the second half and helped us get back into the game late."

Roots totaled 207 yards rushing on 21 attempts. Rainwater had a career day pulling in six receptions for 116 yards and one touchdown. Roots had 84 receiving yards on three grabs to total 291 yards of offense. Archie had two touchdown receptions to go along with 76 receiving yards and six total grabs.
 
Daeon Hudson led the defensive unit for CWU with 12 total tackles and six were on his own merit. He also has two tackles for loss. Cody O'Connell and Jeremiah Vasquez each had eight total tackles in the game, respectively. Marcus Schimmelfennig had two pass breakups on the day and made three solo tackles. Sams pulled in one interception that he returned for 30 yards.
 
The Wildcats are back home next weekend for Homecoming when they host the Azusa Pacific Cougars. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. PT inside Tomlinson Stadium.