ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville football team could not overcome four turnovers and 11 penalties in a 42-21 loss to West Texas A&M on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium as the final game of the Lone Star Football Festival. (box score)

The miscues began early for the fifth-ranked Javelinas (2-1, 0-1). An offsides penalty on the defense kept the Buffs (1-1, 1-0) first drive of the game alive and they later capitalized with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Vaughan to Lance Ratliff just 3:30 into the game.

The Javelina offense was not much better in the early going as they were intercepted twice in their first four possessions. Both times the interceptions came on the West Texas end of the field and stopping potential scoring drives.

Trailing 13-0, the Javelina defense was able to slow down the Buffalo offense for the rest of the half. Unfortunately, the WT defense was able to put seven points on the board when Zane Farris sacked Nate Poppell (Spring/Spring HS) forcing a fumble that Kevin McCluskey returned 18 yards for a touchdown.

The Javelinas were able to get on the board at the end of the first half when they took advantage of a Buffalo mistake. A Javelina punt bounced off a West Texas A&M player and Patrick LaFleur (Cypress Woods/Cypress Woods HS) recovered it at the 20-yard line. Two plays later, Daniel Ramirez (Sinton/Sinton HS) connected with Robert Armstrong (Cuero/Cuero HS) for a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-7 at the half.

The Buffs scored on their first drive of the second half on a Vaughan 43-yard pass down the middle to Jeremy Watson with 10:54 left in the third quarter.

A nice kick return by Jonathan Woodson (Missouri City/Marshall HS) gave the Javelinas great field position, but the drive stalled inside the red zone and the team did not convert on fourth down from the 18-yard line.

Poppell returned to the field with 7:55 left in the third quarter after missing three series with an injury. He promptly drove the Hoggies 62 yards in five plays. He connected with Christian Taylor (Houston/Westfield HS) on a 45-yard scoring pass, the first of his career with 5:10 left in the third.

The Javelina defense came up strong and forced a three-and-out by the Buffs. Four plays later Poppell hit Armstrong from 20 yards out for his second touchdown pass in less than five minutes. Matt Stoll’s (College Station/A&M Consolidated HS) connected on the extra point to make it a 28-21 game with 39 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Buffs responded on their next play from scrimmage. Vaughan hit Torrence Allen on a stutter and go move that ended with a 61-yard touchdown pass.

The Javelinas would get into the red zone on two more occasions, but each time the Buffalo defense kept them from scoring. The Buffs tacked on a final touchdown with 3:39 remaining in the game on a 2-yard Khiry Robinson run.

The Javelinas outgained the Buffalos 437-421 and had five more first downs, but it could not overcome the discrepancy in turnovers. Poppell passed for a career high 306 yards on 26-of-42 passing including two touchdowns and two interceptions. Woodson was his favorite target with eight catches for 51 yards while Armstrong had seven catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns giving him a team-high six on the season. Taylor, Sherman Batiste (Fort Bend/Marshall HS) and Randall Toney (Hendersonville, TN/Station Camp HS) each had three catches.

The Javelinas rushed for a season low 102 yards on the ground. Woodson led the way with 59 yards on 14 carries while Toney added 24 yards on four carries. Woodson finished the game with 178 all-purpose yards.
The Javelina defense was led by cornerback Kerry Wheatfall (Navasota/Navasota HS) who had six solo tackles and eight in all. Jeremy Aguilar (Los Angeles, CA/Roosevelt HS) added four tackles, a tackle for loss and two pass breakups.

In his first career start at quarterback, Vaughan went 24-of-41 for 384 yards and three touchdowns. Brittan Golden led the team with seven catches for 131 yards. Watson added 54 yards and a touchdown and Allen had 64 yards and a touchdown. Robinson led the rushing attack with 24 yards and a score.

The Buffalo defense had three sacks and seven tackles for loss. They forced three fumbles and had three interceptions. Curtis Jefferson had seven tackles, a forced fumble, interception and two pass breakups. McCluskey had seven tackles, including his fumble recovery for a touchdown. Anthony Scott led the team with eight tackles and a tackle for loss.

This was the first loss for the Javelinas against a non-ranked opponent since October 13, 2007 when they lost 21-17 against East Central.

The Javelinas are back in action on September at 8 p.m. at Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State.
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