Saturday, September 9, 2017

SILVER CITY, NM —Hayden Hill and Zach Johnson each made six tackles and forced fumbles to lead a defensive charge by the Eastern New Mexico University football team (2-0; LSC 1-0) which forced five turnovers in Saturday’s Lone Star Conference game. The effort led to 17 points on five turnovers for a 37-34 win over Western New Mexico University (0-2; LSC 0-1) at Altamirano Field.

The Eastern New Mexico University football team will return to action next Saturday, when they visit third-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT. The Lions will host William Jewell this evening.

Inside the Series

  • The victory was Eastern’s 40th over Western New Mexico and improved the Hounds to 40-15-2 in the overall series
  • ENMU has won its last 13 games in the series, which includes six straight road games
  • The Greyhounds are now 17-9-2 on the road in the series with WNMU

The Key Plays

  • An attempted on-side kick set ENMU up at the Mustang 40-yard line to start the game
  • Eastern’s first play was a 33-yard run by Strand
  • Three plays later, Johnny Smith gave ENMU the lead
  • WNMU’s Tyler Butler forced a fumble which he returned 85 yards for the game-tying score
  • Hardin intercepted WNMU’s Javia Hall at the ENMU 43-yard line
  • D’Maujeric Tucker capped the ensuing eight-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown run
  • Hill forced a Hall fumble and recovered at the Greyhound 47-yard line
  • The turnover led to a 32-yard field goal by Bailey Hale to give Eastern a 17-7 lead
  • Late in the opening half, Page intercepted Hall at the Greyhound 23-yard line
  • Hall found D’Angelo Bowie for a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the half to pull WNMU within 17-14
  • The Mustangs opened the second half with a 10-play drive and took a 21-17 lead when Hall found Evan Beebe from 29 yards out on fourth-and-12
  • ENMU answered with a 13-play drive, capped by a one-yard plunge from Cass for a 24-21 lead
  • Hall responded with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Sean North but Desmond Blue blocked the PAT as WNMU took a 27-24 lead
  • Josh Miller forced a Mustang fumble at the Greyhound 35-yard line, recovered by Zach Johnson
  • A 59-yard spring by Tayshaun Gary set up a nine-yard touchdown from Cass to give Eastern a 31-27 lead
  • Early in the fourth quarter, WNMU’s Dominic Barry and Tariq Myricks converged to stop an ENMU fourth-and-one attempt at the Mustang seven-yard line
  • After Dante Urrea thwarted a WNMU fourth-down pass, ENMU capped an 11-play, 83 yard drive with a one-yard sneak from Strand
  • Leo Marin blocked the PAT to hold Eastern’s lead to 37-27 with 1:36 left in the game
  • Hall found Elijah Jones with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left
  • Eastern recovered WNMU’s fourth attempt at an on-sides kick and ran out the clock for the win

In the Numbers

  • The Mustangs attempted four on-sides kicks in the game, all recovered by Eastern
  • The Greyhounds dominated time of possession and held the ball for 35:05 of play
  • Eastern won thee turnover battle by a 5-1 margin
  • ENMU scored on six-of-eight trips to the red zone
  • ENMU outgained the Mustangs on the ground by a 380-59 yard margin
  • WNMU, the nation’s third-leading passing game finished with 418 yards through the air after being limited to 84 in the first half
  • Western limited quarterback Wyatt Strand to 37 passing yards, but the sophomore rushed for 68 yards and ENMU’s final touchdown
  • Kamal Cass rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns
  • The Mustangs had three turnovers in Greyhound territory, in addition to a turnover on downs
  • Deion Page and Brad Hardin had ENMU’s firsts interceptions of the game

Beyond the Box Score

  • The win marks the third time in the last four seasons the Hounds have won their first two games of the season
  • WNMU entered the game as the nation’s third-most prolific passing offense
  • Eastern’s 17 points off turnovers are their most since scoring 21 points in the same fashion at Bacone on October 10, 2015
  • The last time ENMU forced five turnovers came at Angelo State, September 24, 2016
  • Tayshaun Gary‘s 113 rushing yards marked his second 100-yard outing against the Mustangs
  • Desmond Blue‘s interception today marked the second straight time he had one against WNMU

PLAYERS MENTIONED