KINGSVILLE-No. 7 nationally-ranked West Texas A&M University jumped to  an early second quarter lead and never looked back as the Buffaloes easily handled Texas A&M Univeristy-Kingsvile, 51-31, in a Lone Star Conference South Division matchup, Saturday, in Javelina Stadium.

            The teams combined for more than 1,000 total yards and were penalized a combined 30 times for 291 yards in a game that featured a little bit of every thing, including a prolific passing  performance by West Texas A&M quarterback Dalton Bell. The Canyon senior completed 32 of 48 passes for 473 yards and four touchdowns.

            WTAMU improved to 5-0 for the season as it won its LSC South opener. The Javelinas fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in LSC South play.

Jareko Taylor led the Javelinas with two touchdowns as he caught five passes for 137 yards. “We’re getting better. We’re a young team,” Taylor said. “We took what we could on offense and that was a good call by our quarterback.”

West Texas A&M scored twice in the second period and took a 14-7 lead at halftime.

            Ramon Perry scored on a 17-yard pass from Bell for the first score. Kolo Kapanui added another score on a 22-yard pass from Bell with 3:47 left in the second quarter. Luis Villagomez  kicked both extra points.

            TAMUK responded late in the second period as freshman quarterback Jeremy Heatley combined with Jareko Taylor on a 75-yard scoring pass play. Scott Schlebach’s extra point cut the lead to seven at 14-7. Taylor would also score on a 28-yard pass play in the third period.

            With 8:24 to play in the third quarter Shaun Scott-Jones caught a 5-yard pass from Bell for a 21-7 WTAMU lead midway the third period. Belll would also hit Maurice White on an 80-yard scoring pass play and with 45 second left in the third period to give the Buffaloes a 28-10 lead. Schlebach had kicked a 39-yard field goal earlier for the Javelinas. Taylor’s second TD cut the margin to 28-17, but the Buffaloes were going to go into overdrive.

            WTAMU scored 24 points in the final period to put the game away in spite of the Javelinas scoring the last points of the game on a 4-yard run by Heatley with 17 seconds left in the game. Bell added a 1-yard run for a TD while Mark Ford scored on an 8-yard run and Cheyenne Smith broke for a 54-yard score for the Buffaloes. Villagomez added a 27-yard field goal.

            TAMUK also had a 2-yard scoring run by Raymorris Miller in the fourth period.

            WTAMU had 659 total yards and TAMUK rambled for 370.