West Texas A&M has averaged more than 10 wins over the last five football seasons, having done so with a large contingent of players from the Panhandle and South Plains.

The Buffaloes added even more local flavor on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period.

Four area players — Coronado offensive lineman Gerald Barker, Plainview defensive end Jacob Hinojos, Frenship offensive lineman Jordan Nichols and Lubbock High receiver Nathan Slaughter — accepted scholarship offers from West Texas A&M. Four other players from Lubbock County signed with the Buffs as preferred walk-ons.

“Without a doubt, we like to hang on to everything in the Panhandle and South Plains that we feel like can help us win championships here — and keep somebody from coming in and getting in our territory,” said West Texas A&M head coach Don Carthel, a Friona native. “We’ve done really well three years in a row now, in the Lubbock area in particular, at getting the ones we really wanted.”

Several of the new Buffaloes said they were attracted to West Texas A&M because of its cozy atmosphere, likable coaches and proximity to home. They also said they like the Buffs’ prolific spread offense, which ranked 14th in NCAA Division II last year in total yards per game, and their winning tradition.

“West Texas A&M is the perfect school for me,” said the 5-foot-10, 168-pound Slaughter, the leading receiver in District 2-5A last season. “The offense fits my strengths, the school, the environment, it just feels like home.”

Slaughter said it’s a bonus that one of his best friends will be joining him in Canyon. Kellen Hearn, a 6-3, 200-pound receiver from Lubbock High, signed with the Buffs as a preferred walk-on and will be Slaughter’s roommate next year.

“We’re real good friends — we’re like brothers — so it makes it a lot easier,” Hearn said of the transition from high school to college. “We’ll have fun.”

Barker is headed to West Texas A&M along with Coronado teammate William Chiodo, another walk-on who plays defensive tackle, but Barker might be spending more time with his longtime friend from Frenship. He and Nichols, a three-year starter for the Tigers, plan to live together as freshmen.

Two offensive standouts from Shallowater also will be continuing their careers with the Buffs. Dual-threat quarterback Logan Powell and deep-threat receiver Desmond Wright, who both were first-team selections on The Avalanche-Journal’s All-South Plains Class 2A Team, signed with West Texas A&M as preferred walk-ons.

“We’ve kind of considered ourselves a duo since eighth grade,” Powell said. “For us to have the opportunity to go to (college) together, it’s going to be great.”

West Texas A&M wasn’t the only Division II school to secure talent from the South Plains. Seminole defensive lineman Daniel Allen and Sudan offensive lineman Rhett Sain signed with Eastern New Mexico, one of the Buffs’ Lone Star Conference rivals, while Sudan’s B.J. Davis signed with Angelo State as an athlete.

Another Westerner, Ty Brantley, also will play college ball. The speedy defensive back signed with New Mexico Military Institute, a two-year school in Roswell, N.M.

Brantley said the opportunity to play at the collegiate level is a dream come true, and it’s not something he thought was possible until a breakout senior season.

“I didn’t really do much my junior year, so I didn’t have really high expectations for myself,” he said. “But as the season went on, I got better and better and figured maybe somebody was going to come get me. Somebody did, and I’m happy.”

DIVISION I
Monterey
Richard Abbe, 6-4, 297, OL: North Texas
New Deal
Stephen Bryant, 6-4, 215, TE: TCU
NON-DIVISION I
Lubbock High
Nathan Slaughter, 5-10, 168, WR: West Texas A&M
Kellen Hearn, 6-3, 200, WR: West Texas A&M*
Ty Brantley, 5-11, 155, DB: New Mexico Military
Coronado
Gerald Barker, 6-3, 278, OL: West Texas A&M
William Chiodo, 6-2, 292, DL: West Texas A&M*
Frenship
Jordan Nichols, 6-3, 250, OL: West Texas A&M
Plainview
Jacob Hinojos, 6-1, 215, OLB/DE: West Texas A&M
Shallowater
Logan Powell, 6-0, 180, QB: West Texas A&M*
Desmond Wright, 6-2, 200, WR: West Texas A&M*
Sudan
B.J. Davis, 6-7, 215, TE/LB: Angelo State
Rhett Sain, 6-5, 265, OL: Eastern New Mexico
Seminole
Daniel Allen, 6-1, 240, DL: Eastern New Mexico

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