SAN ANGELO – The fourth-ranked Angelo State Rams got the offense going in the second half, defeating West Texas A&M 34-14 at LeGrand Stadium at 1st Community Credit Union Field.
According to Angelo Sports, with the win the Rams improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Lone Star Conference play while the Buffs drop to 2-2, 0-2 LSC.
Offense was hard to come by for both teams in the first half. After a punt by the Rams on their first possession, they moved the ball 74 yards before settling for a 21-yard field goal by Asa Fuller.
Moments later, a muffed punt by the Buffs gave ASU the ball in the redzone but the Rams were unable to get in the endzone, hitting another field goal by Fuller, this time from 29 yards.
ASU forced four-straight punts by WT before the Buffs found their first points of the night, scoring on a 25-yard run by quarterback Nick Gerber to make it 7-6 with 8:22 to play in the half.
Turnovers were an issue for ASU in the first half, throwing one interception before losing a fumble deep in WT's territory to keep the Buffs ahead at the break.
In the second half, the Rams got things going in their first drive, going 65 yards on nine plays, capped off by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Zach Bronkhorst to Kyle Bradford. Bronkhorst finished 23-of-39 passing for 279 yards and a touchdown while Rasheen Green and Noah Massey led the receivers with 67 and 56 yards respectively.
ASU held strong to begin the third quarter, forcing back-to-back punts by the Buffs. K'Hari Watson and Eric Rascoe led the defense with eight tackles each while four Rams picked up a sack.
The Rams extended their lead later in the third as Nate Omayebu III broke the endzone with a two-yard run to make it 20-7 in favor of ASU. Omayebu finished with 97 yards rushing on 19 attempts with an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
At the start of the fourth quarter, WT kept things close, moving the ball down the field before scoring on a two-yard run to cut the lead to six points.
ASU quickly answered back with a touchdown as Kason Philips broke out a 24-yard run up the middle to make it 27-14 with 6:47 to play. Philips collected 78 yards on the day, averaging 13 yards a touch on the night.
With less than two minutes to play, Andrew Pitts intercepted the Buffs, returning it 89 yards for a touchdown to extend ASU's lead. It is the second defensive touchdown for Pitts in two weeks.
The Rams will go back on the road next week as they travel to Western Oregon for an LSC contest on Saturday, Oct. 1.
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