The Eastern New Mexico football team took home their third Wagon Wheel in a row and shutout West Texas A&M by a final score of 28-0.
That 28-0 victory is the first time the Hounds have shut out the Buffs since a 56-0 victory on back Nov. 11th, 1992. Eastern New Mexico outgained West Texas by a final total of 489-to-134 and surrendered just eight first downs the entire contest to the Buffs.
Eastern New Mexico took full control of the game throughout the opening half, rolling up 298 total yards while limiting the Buffs to just 67 yards. The Hounds found the end zone on two of their first three drives and didn’t allow a West Texas A&M first down in the second quarter.
Junior Paul Terry led the way for a Hounds rushing attack that totaled 440 yards throughout the game with 134 yards on 21 carries. Fellow back Johnny Smith had 82 yards on 11 attempts and also recorded his fifth receiving touchdown of the season and his third in as many games.
Sophomore Jeremiah Burke capped off the opening Greyhound offensive possession with a 13-yard rushing touchdown that finished off an eight play, 69-yard drive that took just 2:42 off the clock. The Hounds added to their lead with a five-yard score at the 2:04 mark by redshirt freshman Kazyan Martin of the opening quarter to jump out to a 14-0 lead.
The Hounds defense was tremendous in the second quarter and allowed just six total yards in the second quarter. The Buffs were awarded solid field position on their first three drives in the quarter, but couldn’t generate any sort of offense despite starting on the Eastern side of the field twice and on their own 47-yard line on the other drive.
Sophomore Noah Sweitzer continued to excel on the defensive side of the ball for the Hounds with 10 total tackles, 2.5 for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Senior Charles Countee finished second on the team with six tackles while junior Xavier Jackson recorded two sacks on the night.
Head coach Kelley Lee broke out the trickery for the third week in a row as receiver Roel Sanchez connected with Smith for a 38-yard passing touchdown to extend the advantage to 21-0 with 2:11 remaining in the half, which would hold until the halftime break.
Eastern New Mexico continued that defensive pressure into the second half and forced the seventh West Texas A&M punt of the game on the first drive of the half. The Hounds took over and drove 44 yards on nine plays before being stopped on a controversial spot on a Terry rush on 4th-and-1.
That quick shift in momentum was short lived as Eastern forced their fourth three-and-out of the game on the ensuing possession. The Buffs were once again awarded solid field position after a blocked punt that was downed at the Eastern 26-yard line, but couldn’t pick up a first down to capitalize on the special teams effort.
Quarterback Wyatt Strand continued to pile on the points for Eastern, capping off a 17 play, 74-yard drive to start off the fourth quarter and brought the score to 28-0 before Sweitzer put the exclamation point on a dominant performance with a forced fumble and recovery that gave the Hounds possession of the ball for the remainder of the game.
Eastern New Mexico will take the Wheel back to Portales from Canyon for the second year in a row after defeating the Buffs on their home field a year ago before turning their attention to next week’s match-up with UT-Permian Basin at 7 p.m. inside Greyhound Stadium.
