West Texas A&M hopes to keep momentum going in 2022 football season
The West Texas A&M football team closed the 2021 season in strong form, winning their final three games and five of their last six to finish 7-4 on the season. They added an exclamation point on that streak with a 52-9 victory over Bethel College to close the year.
As the Buffs head to McKinney for Lone Star Conference media day, they should be focusing on building off that positive momentum.
Members of all 10 teams in the conference will be in attendance Thursday for LSC media day. The LSC Digital Network will stream the event at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com starting at 12 p.m. CST.
For the Buffaloes, head coach Hunter Hughes will be in attendance as he enters his sixth season at the helm. Hughes is 27-23 overall since arriving in Canyon, finishing second in the Lone Star Conference this past season.
Hughes will be joined in McKinney by linebacker JT Cavender and running back Jarrod Compton. Cavender, a sophomore, is coming off of a 108-tackle season while Compton rushed for 628 yards and four touchdowns last year. Both will be key to any success the Buffs end up having in 2022.
While he won't be in McKinney this week, Nick Gerber will be back as the starting quarterback for year four. The senior tossed 14 touchdowns to nine interceptions last season for a career high 2,029 yards while rushing for six scores as well.
In addition to their quarterback and top rusher, the Buffs will also have their top receiver back as Noah Bogardus returns for his senior year. Bogardus hauled in 38 catches for 689 yard and four touchdowns in 2021 and will help keep continuity on offense.
While Cavender will lead the way on defense, WT will also have their sack leader back for his sophomore campaign in Michael Smith. Smith had 4.5 sacks last season in addition to 29 tackles on the defensive line.
The Buffs will still have some big holes to fill , including at defensive back. Leader Tobias Harris (six interceptions in 2021) is gone after transferring to Old Dominion and will need to be replaced, along with some other key positions.
It's still too early to know which freshman will step up to play a big role for the Buffs this year. However, they did add a few local names to the roster in defensive backs L'Travion Brown (Tascosa) and Brayden Klafka (Spearman). There's also a host of redshirt freshmen from area schools hoping to make an impact this year.
The LSC football season is set to kick off Thursday, September 1. Central Washington, Simon Fraser, and Western Oregon have all joined the conference this season. The Buffs will play their first game Saturday, September 3 against Western Colorado in Canyon.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: West Texas A&M hopes to keep momentum going in 2022 football season
