November 20th, 2025 4:00am
Week 11 Recap
The LSC saved some of its absolute best for its last week, with two Game of the Year candidates. First, West Texas A&M trailed most of the way against Angelo State but a wild last 5 minutes gave the Buffaloes the win with 6 seconds left. Not to be outdone, Central Washington won the LSC championship on the game’s final play after trailing Western Oregon the entire game. Also, Texas A&M-Kingsville pulled away from Eastern New Mexico in the second half and Midwestern State and Texas-Permian Basin both put up over 70 or more points in routs.
Now, about last week:
Midwestern State wins at Western New Mexico 70-23
This one was simple – MSU scored the game’s first 34 points before WNMU got their first points, and the homestanding Mustangs were never in contention. Sean Jastrab threw for 356 yards and 4 touchdowns in three quarters, and then Canyon Evans threw for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone. Cedonyae Lott caught 11 passes for an astronomical 284 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Case Peacock caught 6 passes for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns. For WNMU, Connor Ackerley didn’t play much and was replaced early by Eli Wehbey, who did throw for 264 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, both of which were converted to MSU touchdowns. Davey Morales caught 6 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. In the end, it was 259 points given up by WNMU in their season-ending 4-game losing streak. Oof.
Midwestern State improves to 3-6 and Western New Mexico falls to 2-9.
Texas A&M-Kingsville wins at Eastern New Mexico 45-28
The first half saw TAMUK and MU even at 7 after one quarter, followed by a defense-optional second quarter where ENMU scored on dual 75-yard touchdown plays – 1 run and 1 pass. TAMUK was having an even easier time scoring and held a 24-21 halftime lead. The Javelinas dominated most of the second half, pulling away from the Greyhounds to a 45-21 lead when TAMUK quarterback Jack Turner scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, the third TAMUK touchdown of the second half. ENMU scored the game’s final points on a 4-yard touchdown run by William Reynolds with 1:52 left in the game, and TAMUK ran out the clock after the ENMU onside kick was recovered by the Javelinas. Turner had another solid game, completing 31 of 40 passes for 363 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Turner finished the regular season third in the country with 3420 passing yards. TAMUK’s Kevin Holmes Jr. led all receivers with 13 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown. ENMU’s Demarion Finch led all rushers with 126 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
Texas A&M-Kingsville improves to 5-6 and Eastern New Mexico falls to 3-8.
#6 Central Washington wins at #20 Western Oregon 19-17
Western Oregon had it. Even with Central Washington scratching and clawing to get back into contention, they had it. When the Wolves dropped 7 defenders into pass coverage with 4 seconds left, they had it. When a 3-man line with a spy managed to rush Kennedy McGill out of the pocket, they had it.
But they didn’t have it.
WOU had four of the CWU receivers blanketed in coverage, ensuring McGill would be foolish throwing the ball anywhere near them. Maybe for a split second as McGill was beginning to feel the WOU pass rush, he thought, “maybe I can run it”, but it was 13 yards and the WOU defense had seen it all day. But as McGill started to run to his right, the short receiver, Logan Brady, left uncovered as he was nowhere near the goal line, began to follow the play with McGill and drift into the end zone, where he found himself all alone in the far right corner. WOU had 14-0 and 17-3 leads, but CWU just kept going forward and while it wasn’t pretty, the Wildcats got it done at literally the last possible moment.
McGill once again did what McGill does, running for 93 yards and throwing for 157 yards and a combined 2 touchdowns, but it really was the CWU defense who came up big to give him the opportunity at the end. Down 14-0, the CWU defense held WOU to 90 total yards and a field goal in the second half, while CWU scored all 19 of their points in the second half, scoring on 4 of their 6 second-half possessions and on 3 of their last 4 possessions. Jordan McCarty did all he could, throwing for 132 yards and rushing for 64 yards, but he only completed 5 passes the entire game and he, along with the whole WOU offense, struggled against the CWU defense in the second half. The loss unfortunately overshadows the best defensive effort of the season by WOU, holding the powerful CWU ground attack to a season-low 145 yards. It was, sadly, that final pass play that serves as the Wolves’ nightmare fuel.
Central Washington improves to 10-1 and Western Oregon falls to 8-3.
West Texas A&M wins at home against Angelo State 45-44
Like WOU had in their game, Angelo State led pretty much the entire way after WT scored the first points of the game. Fueled by freshman quarterback Ayden Arp (189 passing yards, 144 rushing yards, and 3 total touchdowns) and running back Isreal Kaloso (133 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns), ASU led 27-7 in the second quarter and 37-17 in the third quarter. But then the Buffaloes’ offense warmed up. Starting with a 10-yard Martinez touchdown run, WT scored touchdowns on 4 of their final 5 drives of the game, with all 4 drives between 72 and 75 yards. Even still, despite WT stampeding back, ASU had a chance to put WT down a by potentially insurmountable 9 points, but Paden Maass’ 39-yard field goal try was blocked by Jamel Acosta-Lewis and WT took over at their own 26-yard line with 1:55 left in the game. From there, RJ Martinez, in his final college game, took 10 plays to drive WT down to ASU 1-yard line. From there, Zach Phipps caught a fade route in the left corner of the end zone and touched his toe down in bounds before the rest of his foot came down out of bounds (that’s how I saw it, and all I will say is that my eye doctor doesn’t tell me what my eyesight is anymore, so I’m saying it was a toe touch), tying the game at 44 with 6 seconds left. Drew Cox gave WT its first lead since they were up 7-0, and Zeek Freeman’s desperate run on the kickoff return still left ASU 50 yards short of salvaging the win.
Martinez was brilliant once again for WT, throwing for 424 yards on 35 of 54 passes, 5 touchdowns, and an interception. Martinez finished the regular season with a nation’s-best 3715 passing yards. Whoever runs the WT offense next has a high bar to meet. Sean Johnson had his best game in the WT uniform, catching 14 passes for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns. For Angelo State, the cupboard is definitely not bare for the future with Arp and Kaloso leading the way in their first starts in ASU uniforms.
West Texas A&M improves to 7-4 and Angelo State falls to 6-5.
#13 Texas-Permian Basin wins at Sul Ross State 74-10
I sure hope that if anyone associated with either team is reading these articles, please don’t take offense, but this one felt like it took forever and a day to end. UTPB scored and got 2-point conversions on their first two drives to finish the first quarter with a 16-7 lead, and then the stampede went on from there. UTPB scored another 16 points in the second quarter, was up 46-10 after the third quarter, and then the second- and third-teamers kept pouring it on the undermanned Lobos with a 28-0 fourth quarter. Kanon Gibson threw for 296 yards and 5 touchdowns and was one of four Falcons to complete passes. Four Falcons had more than 50 receiving yards and Kory Harris led with 74 rushing yards. For Sul Ross State, Kye Callicoatte completed just 13 of 31 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. Yamil Oaxaca led all receivers with 164 receiving yards on 6 catches.
Texas-Permian Basin improves to 9-2 and Sul Ross State falls to 0-11.
LSC Final 2025 Regular Season Standings
School | LSC | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
Central Washington | 9-0 | 10-1 | |
Western Oregon | 7-2 | 8-3 | |
Texas-Permian Basin | 7-2 | 9-2 | |
West Texas A&M | 7-2 | 7-4 | |
Angelo State | 4-5 | 6-5 | |
Texas A&M-Kingsville | 4-5 | 5-6 | |
Eastern New Mexico | 3-6 | 3-8 | |
Midwestern State | 3-6 | 3-8 | |
Western New Mexico | 1-8 | 2-9 | |
Sul Ross State | 0-9 | 0-11 | |
Central Washington wins the LSC Championship, and Western Oregon finishes second with a win over UTPB. I will have other end-of-season observations (like season recaps and Kelley Lee’s ouster at ENMU) when the LSC season is finally over, whenever that may be.
Playoff Watch
So let it be written, so let it be done.
- Yul Brynner, The Ten Commandments
With the regular season now over, the Selection Committee has spoken. These are the final seeded positions and the Super Region 4 playoff matchups for Round 1:
Focusing on the LSC:
I honestly thought WOU was going to get in the playoffs either with or over UTPB due to the head-to-head win by WOU over UTPB. However, it seems that the selection committee took UTPB’s higher number of Division 2 wins as the deciding factor in selecting the Falcons. I hate that WOU led their game last week for all but one second and they ended up with nothing from it after having such a surprising season.
However, UTPB did win 9 games and won against a solid (but not as good as last year) Central Oklahoma team. Congratulations to Kris McCullough for making the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and getting UTPB to a postseason game in all three seasons as head coach. The Falcons will have a very tough game at a CSU-Pueblo team that beat UTPB last year and was originally scheduled to play this year.
Central Washington and Western Colorado must be completely and totally sick of seeing each other in the playoffs. The trilogy will be complete this week when WCU finally travels to CWU after hosting the Wildcats the previous two seasons.
Playoff First Round Preview
In the first round of the Super Region 4 playoffs, LSC Champion Central Washington gets another shot at Western Colorado, and they finally get that shot in their building in CWU’s third playoff appearance in the past four seasons. Texas-Permian Basin gets a rematch of last year’s loss at CSU-Pueblo in what is their third straight postseason appearance.
All games are on Saturday, November 22. All game times are in the Central time zone.
Texas-Permian Basin at CSU-Pueblo, 2:00 PM
Records: Texas-Permian Basin 9-2 (7-2 LSC), CSU-Pueblo 10-1 (9-0 RMAC, RMAC regular season champions)
Series History: CSU-Pueblo leads 1-0
Last meeting: 2024 (CSU-Pueblo won 40-23)
Team Statistics
Texas-Permian Basin:
Points per game – 39 for; 18 against
Yards per game – 469 for (141 rushing, 328 passing); 301 against (141 rushing, 160 passing)
Turnovers – 12 committed; 16 caused
Sacks – 29 caused; 24 allowed
Time of Possession – 31:51 for; 28:09 against
Third Down Conversions – 46% for; 32% against
Field Goals – 10-16 for (long of 50 yards); 4-6 against
CSU-Pueblo:
Points per game – 40 for; 19 against
Yards per game – 453 for (151 rushing, 302 passing); 310 against (122 rushing, 188 passing)
Turnovers – 17 committed; 26 caused
Sacks – 29 caused; 16 allowed
Time of Possession – 28:16 for; 31:40 against
Third Down Conversions – 46% for; 34% against
Field Goals – 16-21 for (long of 60 yards); 6-15 against
Top Players
Texas-Permian Basin:
QB Kanon Gibson – 225/371 passes for 2981 yards, 25 TD, 7 INT; 125 carries for 374 yards, 8 TD
RB Kory Harris – 126 carries for 550 yards, 9 TD; 15 catches for 185 yards
WR TJ McKenzie – 39 catches for 593 yards, 6 TD
WR Ben Patterson – 23 catches for 567 yards, 5 TD
WR Traylen Suel – 42 catches for 478 yards, 5 TD
LB Tristan Exline – 104 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 INT
LB McKyle So’oto – 42 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT
DL Jacob Humphrey – 25 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks
DB Jamarion Ravenell – 18 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 3 INT, 6 passes broken up
DB Jayden Plater – 14 tackles, 3 INT, 3 passes broken up
CSU-Pueblo:
QB Roman Fuller – 257/419 passes for 3222 yards, 30 TD, 6 INT
RB Kiahn Martinez – 127 carries for 539 yards, 6 TD; 10 catches for 81 yards
RB Russell Patton – 84 carries for 484 yards, 6 TD; 15 catches for 77 yards
RB Devin Cross – 68 carries for 400 yards, 3 TD; 8 catches for 70 yards
WR Reggie Retzlaff – 68 catches for 922 yards, 15 TD
WR Marcellus Honeycutt Jr. – 28 catches for 552 yards, 6 TD
WR Zack Rakowsky – 46 catches for 548 yards, 1 TD
LB Torrie Bryson – 71 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 INT, 3 passes broken up
DT Kaleb Manning – 39 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks
DB Peyton Shaw – 45 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 5 INT, 5 passes broken up
DB Dre’Monti Jackson – 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sacks, 3 INT, 3 passes broken up
UTPB regained some of their offensive swagger this season with the arrival of West Texas A&M transfer quarterback Kanon Gibson, who gave the Falcons the true dual-threat quarterback they didn’t have last year. Kory Harris didn’t gain as many yards on the ground as he did in 2024, but it was mainly due to Gibson handling more of the rushing responsibilities. The Falcon offense is deep and talented, with not only Gibson and Harris, but a receiving corps led by TJ McKenzie and Ben Patterson. With those weapons, UTPB can grind out drives or hit the big play at any time. On defense, linebacker Tristan Exline is the LSC’s top defensive player, and you don’t have to do anything to find him on the field – if you have the ball, he will find you. CSU-Pueblo players may have him in their nightmares if he has a typical day of around 10 tackles, with a bunch of those tackles in the backfield.
For CSU-Pueblo, you know how in horror movies they have to kill the villain at least three times to make sure they’re really dead, and sometimes they’re still not really dead? That’s how the ThunderWolves have been the last three weeks. Down late each week, only to storm back and take the game in the end. Quarterback Roman Fuller leads the offense and is fourth in the country with 3221 passing yards. Like Gibson, Fuller has quite a strong group of receivers. Reggie Retzlaff is one of the country’s top wide receivers, and along with Marcellus Honeycutt Jr., the Pueblo passing game is very hard to stop. Pueblo is no slouch on the ground as well, with three running backs gaining more than 400 yards on the season. The ThunderWolves defense has a bit of LSC (more specifically Midwestern State) flavor, with Kaleb Manning and the Shaw brothers (Peyton and Jaylen) all contributing. Manning leads in sacks and Peyton Shaw leads in interceptions. CSU-Pueblo is also among the nation’s leaders with 17 interceptions.
The thing that would concern me if I was a CSU-Pueblo fan is exactly the high-wire act that they’ve been pulling off that’s now going on three straight weeks. Not only do they not want to do this in the playoffs when the teams are better and the stakes are higher, but especially against a team like UTPB. If UTPB gets a chance to throw the hammer down, they’re going to do it. No team in the LSC goes from a 10-point lead to a 30-point lead faster than the Falcons. That being said, the ThunderWolves have too many weapons to be blown out by anyone, as shown by their only loss coming to Fort Hays State by one point. UTPB needs to avoid a late-game meltdown like they suffered at the hands of CWU, which was driven by CWU playing keep-away to the tune of a 38:15 time of possession.
The game is pretty much a toss-up, but I do believe that at some point a team that has been living dangerously like CSU-Pueblo will eventually have it catch up with them. Let’s say Exline ends it with a fourth-down tackle to keep the ThunderWolves out of field goal range and preserve a Falcon win. Texas-Permian Basin by a field goal.
Western Colorado at #2 Central Washington, 3:00 PM
Records: Western Colorado 9-2 (7-2 RMAC), Central Washington 10-1 (9-0 LSC, LSC regular season champions)
Series History: Series tied 1-1
Last meeting: 2024 (Western Colorado won 28-21 in the Super Region 4 First Round)
Team Statistics
Western Colorado:
Points per game – 39 for; 17 against
Yards per game – 427 for (155 rushing, 272 passing); 308 against (94 rushing, 215 passing)
Turnovers – 12 committed; 15 caused
Sacks – 35 caused; 18 allowed
Time of Possession – 30:41 for; 29:12 against
Third Down Conversions – 42% for; 35% against
Field Goals – 5-14 for (long of 53 yards); 9-13 against
Central Washington:
Points per game – 45 for; 18 against
Yards per game – 422 for (277 rushing, 145 passing); 323 against (88 rushing, 235 passing)
Turnovers – 9 committed; 22 caused
Sacks – 34 caused; 10 allowed
Time of Possession – 34:03 for; 25:57 against
Third Down Conversions – 44% for; 28% against
Field Goals – 12-14 for (long of 49 yards); 4-7 against
Top Players
Western Colorado:
QB Drew Nash – 193/317 passes for 2641 yards, 30 TD, 4 INT; 105 carries for 463 yards, 7 TD
RB Bailey Quinn – 100 carries for 463 yards, 10 TD; 21 receptions for 284 yards, 3 TD
WR Caden Measner – 49 catches for 652 yards, 8 TD
WR DJ Allen Jr. – 25 catches for 511 yards, 6 TD
WR Ramon Ruiz – 30 catches for 392 yards, 3 TD
LB Ian Loomis – 95 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 INT, 2 passes broken up
LB Cameron Cooper - 68 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5 sack, 1 INT, 2 passes broken up
LB Kade Musser – 58 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 5 sacks
DL Drew Johnson – 27 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 1 pass broken up
DL Ricky Freymond – 39 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 INT
Central Washington:
QB Kennedy McGill – 98/185 passes for 1379 yards, 17 TD, 5 INT; 143 carries for 981 yards, 17 TD
RB Justice Taylor – 134 carries for 759 yards, 8 TD; 4 catches for 23 yards, 1 TD
RB Ryder Bumgarner – 74 carries for 463 yards, 5 TD; 8 catches for 93 yards, 1 TD
WR Jalen Grable – 21 catches for 341 yards, 3 TD
WR Mason Juergens – 11 catches for 283 yards, 5 TD
LB Chase Coalson – 68 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 INT, 6 passes broken up
LB Brett McCalla – 61 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 INT, 2 passes broken up
DL Tyler King – 41 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 12 sacks
DL Edward Mikaio – 37 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 7 sacks
DB Mika Roberson – 13 tackles, 4 INT, 7 passes broken up
DB King Williams – 26 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 3 INT, 10 passes broken up
Central Washington is the LSC’s boa constrictor. They squeeze and squeeze until there is no life left in you, and then they crush you. The Wildcats aren’t an option-based team like Harding or ENMU, but they still want to grind out drives on the ground and bleed the clock just the same. Just look at what they dd to UTPB – The Falcons couldn’t win because they didn’t have the ball. Quarterback Kennedy McGill is the engine that drives the CWU power running game, leading the Wildcats in rushing yards along with being the top rushing quarterback in the country with 981 yards. McGill doesn’t throw the ball much, but he has been efficient when asked, connecting for 17 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. CWU will lean heavily on their veteran offensive line, which has yet to fail them this season. On defense, defensive linemen Tyler King and Edward Mikaio look to get to the quarterback early and often, combining for 19 sacks. While the defensive backfield has been somewhat susceptible to the pass, CWU had made up for it with 16 interceptions.
Western Colorado is two field goals away from having a claim to the region’s top seed, losing to CSU-Pueblo and Chadron State on game-ending field goals. In both games, the Mountaineers got out to big early leads (14-0 against Chadron State and 21-0 against CSU-Pueblo) only to lose those leads and ultimately the games. Amazingly in both games, WCU dominated in time of possession (35:05 against Chadron and 37:10 against Pueblo) but improbably lost the Pueblo game even though they didn’t turn the ball over. The Mountaineers are led by dual-threat quarterback Drew Nash, who (like McGill) leads his team in both rushing and passing yards. Caden Measner leads a deep receiving crew with 652 yards and 8 touchdowns. On defense, WCU is tied for the nation’s lead in tackles for loss with 96, so they are in the backfield a lot. Star defender Ricky Freymond is still around, and his numbers are down from last year, but don’t let that fool you – this is a deep defense with plenty of ways to set teams up in second- and third-and-long and is certainly the best defense CWU has faced since the Montana game.
Like the UTPB/Pueblo game, this one is pretty much a toss-up. I think this game comes down to which team’s defense is in the backfield more. Both teams want to put pressure on the ball carrier and the quarterback, and the team that can do more of that will have the advantage. This is particularly critical for CWU, as Nash can extend plays with his legs to either run it himself or make back-breaking completions downfield. This is quite different compared to McGill, who is far more likely to run when he’s out of the pocket. For a possible comparison for CWU, I am looking at the CWU/UTPB game, where CWU’s defense kept UTPB’s Nash-like quarterback Kanon Gibson in the pocket, bottled up the UTPB running game, and made a game-sealing interception. I can see something like that happening again, with David Weber winning it for CWU with a late field goal. Central Washington by a field goal.
Finally, in non-playoff news, West Texas A&M has accepted an invitation to participate in the Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, TX against Arkansas Tech of the GAC. The game will be held at noon Central time on December 6, 2025 and for the purpose of being comprehensive, there will be a preview and recap when that game is held.