CANYON, Texas -- Midwestern State's woes in the panhandle continued Saturday night at Buffalo Stadium.
West Texas A&M sent the Mustangs to their sixth-straight loss in Canyon by a score of 17-12.
It was the fourth-straight loss for Midwestern State which fell to 3-7 on the season and 2-6 in Lone Star Conference play.
The Mustangs scored the final 12 points of the game and scrambled back to within five points when
Andrew Knebel hit
Justin White, Jr. on a 13-yard fade with 1:38 to play.
The Buffs (5-5, 5-3 LSC) rolled out to a 17-0 lead early in the third quarter on the strength of two Kanon Gibson touchdown passes. The first came on a 43-yard strike to Zorian Stanton with 1:20 to play in the first half. Then, Gibson hit Brennan Ray on a 3-yard hookup to cap a 12-play, 74-yard drive to open the second half.
Midwestern State, which was limited to 255 yards of total offense, fought back with a pair of field goals by
Joseph Carlson from 40 and 25 yards in the second half before scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Senior
Quincy Darnell led the Mustangs' defensive effort with a season-high 12 tackles, while senior
Larry Donnell made 10 tackles and made his third interception of the season.
Knebel completed 15-of-37 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown, while
Demonte Greene made nine catches for 119 yards.
Junior
Jalen March rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries to lead the MSU ground attack.
Gibson completed 13-of-25 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, while Trejon Henderson rushed for 110 yards on 24 carries to lead the Buffs.
Former MSU All-America safety Marqui Christian highlighted the Mustangs' previous win in Canyon in 2012 with an 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown on an errant punt snap with 55 seconds to play to give MSU a 52-48 win. The victory also gave the Mustangs a share of the LSC title.
Midwestern State closes the regular season Saturday in the annual Military Appreciation Game against Western New Mexico at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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-- MSUMustangs.com --