9/11/2019 | Football

PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico football team will compete in their first road contest of 2019 this Saturday night at Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo.

Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. as the Greyhounds will look to start off the season 2-0 for the second time in the last three seasons. Saturday night’s contest will be the second of two road games for the Hounds and will serve as the final non-conference tune-up before they kick off Lone Star Conference play.

AND WE`RE OFF AND RUNNING

Eastern New Mexico kicked off it’s 83rd season of football with the program’s 400th win last Saturday night against Missouri S&T by a final score of 35-28. Senior Paul Terry rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries to highlight an Eastern backfield that totaled 472 yards on the ground and pushed the Greyhound offense to 503 total yards.

The Greyhounds avenged a 31-14 loss at the hands of Missouri S&T last season in the first game of the season and moved to 1-0 for the fourth time in the last 10 years.

Saturday night’s win over a team that finished last season with a record of 10-2 and qualified for a postseason bowl game helped the Hounds receive one vote in the AFCA National Polls entering the second week of play in Division II football.

Eastern will now hit the road for two critical road contests against two traditional powers in Division II football in Colorado Mesa and Texas A&M-Commerce over the next two weeks. Colorado Mesa received 12 votes in the latest national poll while Texas A&M-Commerce moved up one spot in the national rankings to no. 12 following an 83-0 win over Seleccion Nuevo Leon.

The Greyhounds strong showing in week one is a relief for the Eastern faithful as the Lone Star Conference as a whole looked as quality as ever with just two teams suffering losses over the course of the opening weekend of play. Tarleton State and Midwestern state both knocked off FCS opponents and Angelo State and West Texas A&M each entered the receiving votes category alongside Eastern New Mexico.

THE NATION`S BEST

It took head coach Kelley Lee and company exactly one week to regain the Hound’s position as the nation’s premier rushing attack. Eastern New Mexico posted the highest rushing total in week one across the nation in Division II football, outgaining the next closest team by 78 yards. Eight different Greyhounds recorded a carry against the Miners while Terry alongside fellow senior Johnny Smith both recorded 100-yard rushing games. Smith carried the ball for 103 yards and recorded the fourth rushing score of the game for the Hounds.

The Hound’s success on the ground consistently put quarterback Wyatt Strand and company in manageable third-down situations in which they converted at a nation’s best 76.5 percent. Eastern converted 13-of-17 attempts on third down throughout the game, the best conversion percentage for any team across the nation in Division II football.

LOOKING AHEAD

As will inevitably be the message in the locker room all week for the Greyhounds, Eastern still has alot of work to do in the coming weeks if they hope to continue to move up in the national and conference rankings, beginning this week in their first road contest of 2019. The Greyhounds will head to Grand Junction, Colo. for a meeting with Colorado Mesa, a program that has won seven or more games in each of the last four years. The Mavericks opened week one with a 37-33 win over the South Dakota School of Mines and will welcome Eastern New Mexico to Stocker Stadium for their first home contest of the 2019 season.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS

The Mavericks opened up the 2019 campaign last week with a pair of sophomores in quarterback Hayden Bollinger and running back Isaac Maestas leading the way on offense. Colorado Mesa totaled 525 yards, but required an interception in their own end zone with just six seconds remaining in the contest to secure a 37-33 win over the South Dakota School of Mines.

Mesa found themselves down 13-3 after the opening quarter of play, but rattled off 20 points in the second quarter alone to narrow the halftime deficit to 27-23. Both defenses settled in throughout the second half as the team’s combined for just 20 points in the final 30 minutes of play after combining for 50 in the first half.

The Mavericks were selected to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Preseason Poll and had two players in receiver Peter Anderson and safety Darian Turner named “Players to Watch” on their respective sides of the football. Anderson lived up to the preseason hype and recorded six receptions for 193 yards and two touchdowns against the South Dakota School of Mines after setting school records last season with 67 catches for 1,344 yards.

Linebacker Greyson Matalus and defensive lineman Mason Newton each recorded 10 tackles and two tackles for a loss last Saturday to lead the way for the Maverick defense. Colorado Mesa also forced five turnovers throughout the contest and surrendered a total of 417 yards throughout the game.

HISTORY WITH THE MAVERICKS

Eastern New Mexico and Colorado Mesa have met two times historically, both times in which the Mavericks have gotten the better of the Greyhounds. Colorado Mesa entered last year’s contest ranked no. 25 in the country and jumped out to an early 31-0 halftime lead over Eastern. The Greyhounds showed absolutely no quit despite the large deficit and outscored the Mavericks 21-3 in the second half.

The two program’s have met just one time prior in the lone game in Grand Junction, Colo. with Mesa getting the better of Eastern by a final score of 35-9.

TERRY IS JUST TERRIFIC

Terry began his 2019 campaign a year removed from receiving Second Team Don Hansen All-American honors with a career night against the Miners last Saturday night. The Amarillo, Texas native recorded career highs in carries (31), rushing yards (189) and rushing touchdown’s (3).

Terry’s best effort last season came against week two’s opponent in Colorado Mesa in which he rushed for a season-high 145 yards and a touchdown in the effort. Terry has now rushed for the sixth most yards since 1998 with 1,826 yards for his career and has been responsible for 18 total touchdowns.

WELL THAT`S NEW

Much of the same routine was put in place to secure the win last week against Missouri S&T, run the ball well and control the clock, but there were some themes that stood out as unusual when comparing last week’s contest to the rest of the time the program has been under the direction of Kelley Lee.

One thing that remained the same is that the Greyhounds have continued to win at an astonishing rate when putting the first points on the board. Eastern New Mexico is now 12-1 under head coach Kelley Lee when they are the first team to score, a trend that continued in the Hound’s win over Missouri S&T.

The Hounds also continued to prove unbeatable when entering the fourth quarter with a lead under coach Lee. Eastern is now 13-0 when leading following three quarters of play. The Hounds are also 7-2 under Lee in games decided by 10 points or less, illustrating that Lee and company are comfortable in late game situations.

What proved to be unusual regarding Saturday night’s win over Missouri S&T was the fact that the Greyhounds pulled out the victory despite falling behind after the first quarter. Eastern has been 10-0 under Lee when leading after the opening quarter, but were previously 2-7 when holding an early advantage. That changed for the better on Saturday night as Eastern pulled off the win despite falling behind 14-7 after one quarter of action.

NEW FACES

Multiple new faces found their way onto the field for Eastern New Mexico in week one, including three extremely talented transfers that lived up to the hype generated around their names during fall camp.

Juniors Lamontre Huval and Vicen’te Walker were all over the field defensively for the Hounds, leading the way with 12 and seven tackles respectively. Huval, a transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, recorded five solo tackles and assisted on seven other stops to serve as a solid compliment in week one to fellow linebacker Noah Sweitzer. Walker, a transfer from Eastern Arizona College, solidified a key area of need for Eastern New Mexico from his safety position with multiple tackles and a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter.

Junior Vili Fisiiahi and redshirt freshman Hunter St. John also saw their first action in a Greyhound uniform on the offensive line. Fisiiahi, a transfer from Fresno City College, will provide a physical presence for the Greyhounds while St. John, who redshirted last season, provides an athletic tackle option to compliment all-conference returner Isaiah Callahan.

Junior Zachery Fields also made his presence felt on the offensive side of the ball from his receiver position with a leaping touchdown in the back of the end zone against the Miners. Fields, a transfer from Chaffey College, provides a much-needed weapon on the outside for Wyatt Strand, who failed to record a passing touchdown to anybody but running back Johnny Smith last season. Fields’ 6’4 frame and excellent deep-threat ability adds a new dimension to the already potent Ground Strike attack.

THE SHERIFF IS BACK IN TOWN

Quarterback Wyatt Strand has now started 33 straight games for Eastern New Mexico and continues to operate the Ground Strike offense at a high level. Strand rushed for 77 yards on 17 attempts and also tossed the aforementioned touchdown pass to Fields from 15 yards out early in the second quarter.

Strand has now rushed for the third most rushing yards since 1998 for the Greyhounds, upping his total to 2,084 for his career. The Logan, N.M. native also ranks fourth since 1998 with 4,824 total yards of offense and has now accounted for 46 touchdowns throughout his career.

REVENGE TOUR 2019

With the same opponents on the 2019 slate, it was clear from the first kick on Saturday night that the results of last season did not sit well with the Hounds. The Greyhounds played a physical brand of football and the emotion of righting some of the wrongs, especially in the early season, were clearly eveident with the Hounds.

Eastern New Mexico will now have a chance to take down two quality opponents on the road and exact revenge on two teams in which the Hounds started out very slow before coming back strong in the second half last year at home.

ITS ALL ACADEMIC

On top of being one of the top performing schools in the conference, the Eastern New Mexico football team has been the top program in the Lone Star Conference academically, posting the highest GPA of all football programs in the league in five of the last six years.

The Hounds placed the most athletes out of all the programs in the Lone Star on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the spring semester with 35 members making the list.

HOUNDS FOOTBALL HISTORY

In the 82 seasons of ENMU Football, the Hounds have compiled a 400-399-21 (.503) record in 819 total games. Since joining the NCAA in 1984, the Hounds have a 178-179-4 (.496) record in 359 total games. The Hounds have won eight or more games nine times in program history and have posted 25 seasons of seven or more wins. ENMU has won a school-record nine games two times (1957 & 1987).

Since joining the NCAA in 1984, ENMU has won seven or more games in 11 seasons and posted six seasons of eight or more wins, with the most recent coming in 2017. ENMU has won or shared two LSC Championships in school history with the last coming in 2013.

THE HOUNDS ON THE ROAD

Eastern New Mexico is 7-5 in road games in Lee’s tenure, including two wins against LSC rival West Texas A&M. Since 2015, the Hounds are 13-10 when playing in true road games and 0-3 in neutral site games in that span.

THE HOUNDS IN LSC PLAY

The Hounds finished 4-4 in conference play in 2018 and placed in a tie for fourth in the league standings. By finishing .500 in conference play on the season, it marked the the fourth consecutive year that the Greyhounds finished with a record of .500 or better in conference play, which includes a 6-2 mark and a third place finish during the 2017 campaign.

Tarleton State won the league title with a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play and finished 12-1 overall. Texas A&M-Commerce placed second in the league with a 7-1 record while Midwestern State finished third at 6-2.

UNDER LEE

Eastern New Mexico head coach Kelley Lee has a record of 14-8 during the Lee era. Through two seasons, Lee holds a perfect 3-0 record in trophy games. Last season, the Hounds won the inaugural Chile Bowl game at home against Western New Mexico by a score of 55-9. The Hounds followed it up with their third straight Wagon Wheel game win over West Texas A&M, pitching a 28-0 shutout over the Buffs in Canyon.

In Lee’s first season in 2017, the Hounds won eight games, which was the most since the 2002 season. The eight wins tied the most in ENMU history by a first year head coach.

KEEPING THEM UNDER 20

The Hounds have been unstoppable when limiting opponents to 20 or fewer points under Lee, as Eastern went 5-0 last season when holding the opposition to 20 or less. Eastern now holds an 8-0 record over the competition when holding them to 20 points or less in the last two seasons.