7/28/2022 | Football
McKINNEY, Texas- The Eastern New Mexico football team was picked to finish eighth in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll as voted upon by coaches and representatives across the league. The annual preseason poll was announced Thursday at the LSC Football Media Day held at McKinney ISD Stadium.
Angelo State topped the ten-team poll, accumulating 257 votes and 15 first place votes. Just behind the Rams, reigning LSC champions Midwestern State finished second with nine first place votes and 236 total points. Lone Star Conference newcomers, Central Washington snagged third place with 207 points, with West Texas A&M following in fourth place with 198 points and one first place vote.
UT Permian Basin picked up two first place votes and 150 points for fifth place, as the Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville settled for sixth place with 143 points. Western Oregon, joining the LSC as a football affiliate member from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), slotted in seventh place with 108 points.
The Greyhounds landed in eighth place (97 points), Western New Mexico finish in ninth place (57 points), and newest football affiliate Simon Fraser rounded out the poll (32 points).
Angelo State’s Nathaniel Omayebu III was named the LSC Football Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while the West Texas A&M’s JT Cavender was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2021, the Greyhounds posted a 3-7 season. Eastern returns 64 student-athletes in total, with 15 starters coming back. Notable key returners include sophomore’s Howard Russell and Cameron Santa Cruz. Both student-athletes picked up 2021 LSC Honorable Mentions accolades in their rookie campaigns.
The Hounds begin their 85th season of football in 2022. ENMU will face 11 opponents this season, with five home contests. In addition to squaring off with nine conference foes, the Greyhounds will take on Division I Tarleton State. This will be the first time Eastern play the Texans since their transition to Division I.
ENMU begins its season against in-state rival New Mexico Highlands on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Sanchez Family Stadium at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
