An onside kick recovery with 1:22 remaining in the game by #5 Midwestern State allowed them to escape Greyhound Stadium with a 31-23 victory over the Greyhounds.
Eastern New Mexico (1-4, 1-2 LSC) put together a 19 play, 42-yard drive that took 6:42 off the clock in the fourth quarter that was capped off with a 44-yard field goal make from kicker Tyler Vargas to narrow the score to 21-13. The Hounds then attempted the onside kick that was eventually recovered by Midwestern State (5-0, 3-0) to seal the 31-23 victory.
The Hounds totaled 319 yards rushing on 68 attempts and held the Mustangs scoreless in the fourth quarter to give themselves a chance to take down the second consecutive top-five nationally ranked opponent that visited Greyhound Stadium. Junior Johnny Smith led the way with 90 yards on 15 carries while fellow tailback Tayshaun Gary scored both touchdowns for the Hounds on 55 yards total yards.
Both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives of the game to remain all-squared at 7-7 following the first quarter of action. Gary capped off the opening drive for Eastern with a six-yard touchdown run at the 4:31 mark.
Sophomore Dante Urrea forced a fumble on a fourth-down sack at the Eastern 30-yard line on the ensuing Mustang possession that was picked up by Eastern’s Kennedy Tulimasealii and returned 39 yards to the Midwestern State 31-yard line. That huge change of momentum allowed Vargas to connect on one of his three made field goal makes for the evening to put the Hounds ahead 10-7 at the 13:36 mark of the second quarter.
Urrea finished with a team-high 11 tackles and the previously mentioned sack and forced fumble to continue his stellar play for Eastern after being named the Lone Star Conference’s player of the week for his performance last week at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Vargas tacked on another field goal make, this time from 30 yards out, at the 8:23 mark of the second quarter following a quick three-and-out for the Mustangs offense to extend that advantage to 13-7. Midwestern quarterback Layton Rabb connected with Kylan Harrison on the following possession to regain the lead for Midwestern at 14-13.
Midwestern’s Jaron Imbriani converted on a 46-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the half to establish a 17-13 lead in favor of the Mustangs.
The Hounds opened up the second half of play with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off with Gary’s second touchdown of the evening, this time from eight yard out, to put the lead back into the hands of Eastern New Mexico. That lead wouldn’t maintain for long however as Rabb connected with Juwan Johnson at the 7:51 mark of the third quarter from 49 yards out to flip the advantage once again.
Midwestern added to that lead just four minutes later after a stalled drive by the Hounds at the 2:17 mark with a five-yard rush from Justin Jones that moved the score to 31-20. Eastern’s 19-play drive to run the clock down to 1:22 remaining gave them the opportunity to regain possession down eight point after the Vargas field goal, but ultimately couldn’t complete the onside kick recovery.
Quarterback Wyatt Strand completed 9-of-12 pass attempts for 67 yards and added 64 yards on the ground on 20 carries as well. Junior Paul Terry recorded 64 yards on 11 carries on a night in which the Hounds averaged 4.7 yards per rush.
Smith led the Hounds with 21 receiving yards on his lone catch of the night while senior Sanchez Lofton caught two passes for 20 yards.
The Hounds will hit the road for next week’s match-up with #25 Tarleton State for a game scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
