Game Recap: Football |  | Jose Montoya

GREYHOUNDS BEAT FUTURE LSC OPPONENT, 51-12, ON THE ROAD

ALPINE, Texas – Eastern New Mexico showed out in a dominant 51-12 win over future Lone Star Conference foe Sul Ross State Saturday afternoon.

“We wanted to make them earn their yards,” said head coach Kelley Lee on the matchup after the victory. “Our defensive line made them one dimensional by reducing the running game and our safeties played really well.”

One dimensional is quite accurate as SRSU rushed for negative yardage. The number? -15.

ENMU’s explosive day in southwest Texas didn’t get off to the best start as the Lobos scored the contest’s first points.

SRSU opened the day with an eight-play touchdown scoring drive. From that point on, the game was all in the Greyhounds control.

The Lobos missed the ensuing point after attempt and held a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes.

At that point, the Greyhounds began to ground and pound. A 68-yard 18-play drive saw the Hounds take nine minutes off the clock and earn a 7-6 lead on the first of two rushing scores for quarterback Mario Sanchez.

Freshman Kaden Bell extended the Greyhounds lead midway through the second quarter as he connected on a 40-yard field goal.

Backup quarterback Rashad Carter came into the game later in the second quarter and brought some speed and explosiveness to the Greyhounds. On the first play of the drive, he connected with Andre Jones for a 42-yard passing play in the middle of the field. Five plays later and Jonathan Watson helped the Hounds increase the advantage to 17-6.

With Sanchez back under center in the closing seconds of the period, he tossed his best ball of the season to Jones for a 32-yard catch and score. ENMU went into the locker room with the 24-6 lead.

For a second straight game, Eastern New Mexico held a sizable lead going into the intermission. Last week the lead was 21 and ENMU managed to scrape by with a two-point win. This week, the lead was 18 and the Hounds did not want to see another game come down to the wire despite a large score differential.

Junior Jonathan Watson showed why he is one of the top options for Kelley Lee as he began the third quarter with a 71-yard dash to the four-yard line. A couple plays later and Elijah Zeh scored his first touchdown as a Hound.

Sul Ross State ended up scoring on their next drive, but that proved to be the only sign of success offensively for the rest of the day for the Lobos. In fact, the Greyhounds forced a third unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt over the first two games of the season. Up 31-12, ENMU continued to make it difficult for the future conference foe to find a way to cut into the deficit.

Mario Sanchez scored his second touchdown of the day late in the third quarter. The rush marks Sanchez as the first Hound to run for five or more touchdowns in a season since 2019.

After scoring all four touchdowns on the ground a week ago, ENMU’s scoring sequence looked a little different as Sanchez connected with Michael Molio’o through the air on a 13-yard pass to take a 45-12 lead.

In the closing minutes, Carter looked to have a 25+ yard carry, but pitched it to teammate Nicholas Harper at midfield. Harper followed his blockers and went into the endzone for the final touchdown of the game.

Sanchez threw 4-for-7 for 70 yards and two TD’s. He added 11 yards on the ground and a pair of scores.

Watson only rushed eight times and had 110 yards on the ground.

Defensively, four players had four or more tackles – Eric Williams (6), Timothy Jones (4), Talon Sanders (4), and DJ Moore (4). The Greyhounds posted three sacks on the afternoon.

Freshman Kaden Bell was 6-of-7 on PAT attempts in addition to his 40-yard field goal make.

The win improves Eastern New Mexico to 2-0 for the first time since 2019 and takes them into the first conference contest of the season against Western Oregon. The game against the Wolves is set for September 16 at 12 p.m. The game will be a White Out and recognize the men and women who serve in the United States military.