MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Eastern New Mexico football team sent their 2019 seniors off on a high note after defeating the Co-GNAC Champions Western Oregon 35-27 Saturday night in its regular season finale, pushing the Hound to a 7-4 overall record.
Senior Paul Terry capped of his record-breaking season with four rushing touchdowns and 103 yards on the ground, finishing with 1,784 yards on the year. Senior Johnny Smith also turned in a highlight reel performance as he led the Hounds with 114 rushing yards on ten carries, averaging 11.3 yards per touch.
Eastern’s offenses started hot right from the kick off and chewed five minutes and fifteen seconds off the clock in their opening possesion as they mashed down the field on a 12 play, 77-yard drive, capped off by a one-yard dive up the middle from Terry. The drive looked to stall out at the Western 36-yard line as the Hounds were faced with a fourth-and-six early in the ball game. Head Coach Kelly Lee decided to keep his offense on the field as senior Wyatt Strand stepped up in the pocket and took a hit from the Wolves’ defense before completing a 17-yard pass to junior Justin Manyweather to keep the drive alive.
The Wolves responded with a long drive of their own to tie the ballgame at 7-7 the following possession. With 13:34 left in the second quarter a strong defensive stand by the Greyhound defense forced WOU to punt. Starting on their own 31-yard line, Eastern would need just one play to convert the drive into points. Strand faked a handoff and had junior Zachery Fields deep streaking past the double coverage and catching the ball mid-stride before taking it to the house to put the Hounds back up 14-7.
At the 7:31 mark in the second quarter the Hounds were forced to punt as senior Tyler Vargas sent the ball towards the awaiting WOU returner who failed to secure the ball and sent it tumbling to the turf. Junior Roope Henry was there to recover the ball at the Western Oregon 25-yard line to give the Green and Silver fantastic field position. Seven plays later Terry would carry the ball into the endzone to put the Hounds up by two touchdowns.
A couple big runs from the Wolves allowed the home team to drive down the field the next possession and were threating to score, getting the ball to the ENMU seven-yard line. Needing three yards and facing a fourth down conversion, Western decided against the field goal attempt and settled for a pass play. Junior Jamuari Bennett timed the snap perfectly and bull rushed past the opposing lineman and into the backfield before dragging the quarterback to ground for a 13-yard loss and forced the first turnover of the game.
Two plays later Smith took a handoff to the left and met a host of would-be tacklers before reversing field and raced down the sideline for 46-yards, deep into WOU territory. Terry would cap off the 80-yard drive two yards out to give Eastern a comfortable 28-7 advantage.
The Wolves tried to mount a response but with four seconds left in the half the Western quarterback threw and ill advised throw down the field that was intercepted by junior Lamontre Huval and returned 17-yards as the Hound would take a three possession lead into the locker room.
The home squad trimmed the deficit to 28-14 on the opening drive of the second half and seemed to find some momentum as their defense forced a three-and-out from the Hounds the next drive. Trailing by a pair of scores with possession on the ENMU 24, the Wolves attempted to convert on fourth and long before Huval was able to force the quarterback to get rid of the ball early and sent an incomplete pass to the feet of a WOU receiver.
15 plays and 76 yards later Terry would waltz into the endzone for his fourth touchdown which would ultimately be the difference maker in the contest. With 7:18 left in the game the Wolves came up short again on fourth down, this time just four yards outside of the ENMU endzone. Western’s quarterback dropped back to pass and threw the ball over the middle of the field before sophomore Ryan Moore was able to close the distance on his receiver and punch the ball away to keep the score at 35-21.
The Wolves were able to pull within one touchdown with less than a minute left in regulation but would fail to recover the onside kick the following play as the Hounds would hold on for a 35-27 victory.
Strand finished with 97 yards through the air on a three-for-six passing game with the long touchdown while his other two completions came on crucial third down conversions. The Logan, N.M. native also added 85 rushing yards.
Moore led the squad defensively with nine total tackles, four solo stops and a well-timed pass breakup. Claibourn tallied seven tackles and a sack while senior Troy Bethsold recorded three tackles and 1.5 sacks.
