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Nov. 24, 2007

Final Stats

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Four turnovers and four rushing touchdowns from Northwest Missouri State's Xavier Omon derailed the National Championship hopes of the Buffaloes on Saturday, as the fourth-ranked West Texas A&M football team suffered a 56-28 defeat at the hands of the No. 5 Bearcats on a cold, cloudy day at Bearcat Stadium.

Despite the setback, the 2007 Buffs will go down in the WT record books as the team with the most wins in a season at 12 and having reached the highest national ranking, fourth in both the American Football Coaches Association poll and the d2football.com top 25, since the 1986 season. Additionally, the Buffs return much of their firepower on both sides of the ball as they will enter the 2008 season in search of an unprecedented fourth straight Lone Star Conference Championship and NCAA-II playoff appearance.

Junior quarterback Keith Null, who was forced to leave the game late in the third quarter with an injury, completed 36-of-53 passes for 360 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to junior wide out Charly Martin. Null, whose impressive season drew Harlon Hill award consideration, finishes the year with 41 touchdown passes and 4,134 passing yards to set new school records in both categories.

The opening drive of the game saw the Bearcats strike the first blow as the Northwest offense went to work at its own 26-yard line and proceeded to march the length of the field on 10 plays to register the first points of the afternoon as quarterback Josh Mathews found junior wide out Kendall Wright for a 29-yard score.

After a three-and-out by the Buffs during their first possession and a solid return by Wright into Buff territory set up the second Bearcat possession of the afternoon, a three-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Xavier Omon made the score 14-0.

The West Texas A&M offense finally came alive after going down by two scores, making their first appearance on the Northwest Missouri side of the 50-yard line on their third drive, which appeared to stall at the NWMSU 14-yard line. The Buffs and place kicker Jon Roberts took the field to line-up for a 31-yard field goal attempt, but head coach Don Carthel elected to take a gamble as holder Dale Davis took the snap an executed the fake with a rush that achieved the first down and ended just short of the Bearcat goal line. Two plays later it was junior Wayne McKinght who got the Buffs on the scoreboard, reaching pay dirt with a one-yard plunge.

Omon and the Bearcats made it a two-score game once again on their ensuing drive, as the Northwest running back leaped high over the mass of linemen into the end zone from one yard out to cap off a 10-play, 61-yard drive.

The Buffs appeared to be on the verge of putting more points on the scoreboard and closing to within one score as they drove down to the NW 12-yard line with just over five minutes to play. But like their fist scoring possession, the drive stalled deep in Bearcat territory and the WT coaching staff was forced with another fourth down decision. Once again, the Buffs decided against a field goal opportunity but did not get the same positive result as they did on the Davis fake earlier. This time, an errant Null pass found NWMSU's Aldwin Foster-Rettig, who made a leaping interception and returned the pick back all the way, 89 yards, to put Northwest up 28-8.

Another Null interception was the result of the next WT drive as he and junior receiver Seth Hayden crossed signals with a costly miscue on a passing route. Luckily for the Buffs, junior defensive back Arseel Shakoor returned the favor as he picked off a Northwest pass just two plays into the Bearcat drive.

Null shook off his earlier struggles during his next opportunity with the ball as he completed 4-of-5 passes to drive the Buffs 74 yards in five plays, taking only 58 seconds off the clock, to find Martin in the back of the end zone to slice the Bearcat lead to 28-14. But with 2:12 left in the half, Omon would again find the end zone, this time on a nine-yard scamper, to regain the three score advantage for Northwest.

The never-say-die Buffs were able to get the ball back with just over a minute and gather a little momentum prior to the intermission as Null engineered a 65-yard drive to put seven more points on the board by virtue of a 10-yard screen to Martin who weaved his way to the end zone for a second time.

The wild action continued to the final gun of the first half as Northwest lined up for a potential 52-yard field goal opportunity. However, a poor hold prevented the attempt from ever leaving the ground to send the teams to the locker room with the Bearcats leading 35-21.

After retaking the field after halftime and receiving the opening kick off, the Buffs were able surge down the field and put themselves in a position to cut even deeper into the Northwest lead. They could not cash in on the chance, however, as a 34-yard field goal attempt from Roberts fell short.

With the miss, the momentum once again swung to the home team as the Bearcats were able to drive deep into WT territory on a drive sparked by a 54-yard, third down completion to tight end Mike Peterson. Omon again was the finisher for the Bearcats as he got around the end to notch his fourth rush touchdown of the day from 13 yards out.

Things got worse for the Buffs on their next possession as a false start penalty brought up a long third down situation for WT, but Null appeared to get the Buffs out of it as he found tight end Kolo Kapanui, who rumbled 68 yards deep into Bearcat territory. The play, which appeared to give the Buffs the spark which they most desperately needed, was erased by a holding call on a WT lineman. On the following third down conversion from the WT seven-yard line, Null was sacked by Ike Urum-Eke and fumbled in the end zone. Making matters worse, Urum-Eke was able to jump on the loose ball to extend the Northwest lead to 49-21.

Junior Brandon Swain, who has been one of the most pleasant surprises for WT this season, put an exclamation point on his incredible season as he reached the end zone for the first time as a Buff with 8:22 remaining in the contest. After linebacker Jared Brock was able to get to NW quarterback Joel Osborn and hit his arm as he was attempting to pass, the ball floated down into the waiting arms of Swain who raced 18 yards to the end zone.

After Null was injured, redshirt freshman Taylor Harris entered the game and completed 5-of-11 passes for 39 yards, but also suffered an injury and was replaced by Matt McIntyre, who completed 1-of-5 passes. All-in-all, WT quarterbacks attempted 69 passes on the day to set a NCAA Division II record for pass attempts in a playoff game and falling just one short of the WT school record.

Swain, who ranks in the top five nationally in sacks (14), tackles for loss (24.5) and forced fumbles (5), is a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, which is given annually to Division II's top lineman.

The Bearcats, last season's national runner-up, move on to the playoffs' third round where they will take on the winner of the Abilene Christian/Chadron State contest.