ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Football Team will stampede into Lone Star Conference action this Saturday as they travel to Canyon, Texas to corral the West Texas A&M University Buffaloes this Saturday, Sept. 21 in Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
WATCH ($): HERE
LIVE STATS: HERE
TICKETS: HERE
 
LAST WEEK
 
The Wildcats earned their first victory of the season last weekend defeating Colorado Mesa 28-12 in Grand Junction, Colo.
 
The Mavericks took the lead with 9:25 left in the first quarter as Aiden Taylor ran in the 10-yard touchdown paired with a failed two-point conversion saw CMU with the 6-0 lead. With 13:46 left in the second quarter, Sullivan Moon put the Mavs up 9-0 with a 20-yard field goal. The 'Cats found the endzone when Kennedy McGill ran in a three-yard touchdown with 7:51 left in the second quarter paired with a Quinton Pacheco point after touchdown saw the Mavs lead cut to 9-7. The 'Cats took the lead on a Darius Morrison 35-yard pass to Darrien Gaines with Pacheco converting the PAT to send CWU up 14-9 at halftime. McGill continued the CWU scoring streak on a second three-yard run with Pacheco making the PAT to put the 'Cats up 21-9 with 2:47 left in the third quarter. Tyler Flanagan added his name to the scoring sheet rushing in a two-yard touchdown with Pacheco making the PAT to make it 28-9 with 12:00 left in the game. Colorado Mesa saw Moon convert a 35-yard field goal with 8:54 left in the game to conclude the scoring.
 
McGill finished the day throwing 7/13 for 116 yards and one interception and ran for 53 yards and two rushing touchdowns while Morrison had the 35-yard touchdown throw. Flanagan and Cam Daniels led the rushing attack with each sprinting for 78-yards with Flanagan rushing in one touchdown. Marcus Cook led the receiving corps with two receptions for 59 yards while Morrison had three receptions for 47 yards and Gaines had one 35-yard reception and touchdown.
 
Chase Coalson was the only 'Cat in double-digits in tackles with 11, adding a half tackle for loss. Tanner Volk finished with eight tackles, a half tackle for loss, and one pass breakup while Brycen Indell added six tackles, a half tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. Chase Loidhamer and Kuma Scanlan each added a sack with Loidhamer finishing with two tackles for loss and Scanlan adding one and a half. Jaylen Clay had three pass breakups while Wahi Emmsley added one and Isaac Clark recovered the fumble forced by Indell. Dan Stewart finished the game with three punts for 129 yards and a 56-yard punt as his longest. Flanagan returned one kickoff for 11 yards while Pacheco finished with five kickoffs for 286 yards and converted all four PAT attempts.
 
ABOUT THE BUFFS
 
West Texas A&M is 1-2 and 1-0 in LSC play on the season after opening their season with a 42-21 victory over LSC newcomer Sul Ross State on the road. The Buffs then fell 41-13 at fifth-ranked Colorado School of Mines before falling last weekend 26-17 to 15th-ranked Western Colorado in their home opener.
 
"We have to handle the travel, come out with energy which I don't think was a problem last week we just had some unfortunate events happen to start the game," CWU Head Football Coach Chris Fisk said. We have to come out with great energy, we have to execute right off the bat, and we just have to come out and play our game at the start of the game."
 
WTAMU is currently being outscored by their opponents 24 to 29.33 points per game. The Buffs have found success on the ground rushing for 559 yards scoring seven rushing touchdowns compared to the 551 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. The Buffs are outgaining their opponents 1,110 yards to their opponents 1,078 yards.
 
Sean Johnson has been commanding the Buffs offense completing 57 of his 90 passes for three touchdowns and three interceptions. He is averaging 183.67 passing yards per game. He is also leading the ground attack for WTAMU rushing for 276 yards and six touchdowns on 37 attempts. Tre'jon Henderson is behind Johnson with 149 rushing yards and one touchdown on 38 attempts. Zorian Stanton has been the favorite target of Johnson's by a decent margin as he's accumulated 285 yards and two receiving touchdowns on 16 receptions.
 
"You certainly need to know where he is at all times on the field (in regards to Johnson)," Fisk said. "Not only is a great threat with his legs, but he can throw the ball too. He's really kind of the whole package as a quarterback so we'll have to have an eye on him at all times to know where he's at. Hopefully, we'll be able to contain him, not just in the run game, but in the scramble when quarterbacks like him can be most dangerous. They also have a lot of very good skill players and Johnson drives that whole thing. They're also very very very good up front, they have a great offensive line that does a great job."
 
JT Cavender has once again been a leader on the Buffs defense with 24 tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hurry, and one forced fumble to his name. Zach Schlager is another name to watch with 18 tackles, one and a half tackles for loss, and one quarterback hurry to his name. Hayden Jansky leads WT with one and a half sacks and is tied with Josh Beaird with two quarterback hurries. Cam Manahan and Javin Cash each have logged an interception this season while Preston Steszewski, Ty Dillon, and Manahan lead WT with two pass breakups each.
 
"They have a really good defense, they have a couple of guys that really stick out," Fisk said. "JT Cavender was the freshman of the year as a freshman I believe, so it's hard to think he's a senior now. He's a very very good linebacker for them. They also have a transfer in Zach Schlager who came from Nebraska-Kearney, you can see their roster is riddled with guys who transferred from Nebraska-Kearney who loved playing for Coach Lynn, and if you spend any time around Coach Lynn you'll understand why guys would want to transfer and continue to play under Coach Lynn. Defensively, those two guys are the rock of the defense, those two middle linebackers, similar to what they were a year ago. We'll have our hands full with all these great players that they throw out there against us."
 
James Ingham has 14 punts on the season for 549 yards with two landing inside the opponents 20-yard line and has a season-high 59-yard punt. Preston Gregg is 0/1 on field goal attempts while Cason Polivoda is 1/3 with his only successful field goal coming at 36-yards. Gregg also has kicked off 14 times for 913 yards with 12 landing back in the opponents endzone for a touchback. Tucker Swoboda has returned three punts for 20 yards while Stanton has returned seven kickoffs for 173 yards including a 66-yard kick return.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will have their first home game after spending the final eight games on the road including last season when they faced West Texas A&M for homecoming last October 21, 2023. The crimson and black will welcome the Western New Mexico Mustangs (2-1, 0-1 LSC) for the home opener in Ellensburg with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff time on Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium.