PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico football team secured a 35-28 victory over Missouri S&T on Saturday night inside Greyhound Stadium.
The Greyhounds pieced together a 75-yard, 15-play drive that milked 8:33 off the clock in the fourth quarter to jump ahead for the final time, 35-28, thanks to a six-yard rushing touchdown from senior Johnny Smith in a game that saw five lead changes and over 680 yards rushing between the two teams. The Miners regained possession with 4:43 remaining on the clock and drove all the way down to the Eastern New Mexico 31-yard line, but committed a costly turnover as junior Vicen’te Walker picked off an errant pass at the Eastern nine-yard line and effectively ended the Miners chance at a comeback.
Eastern accumulated 472 yards on the ground, the program’s highest rushing total in a single game since Oct. 28th, 2017 in which they rolled up 482 yards against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Senior Paul Terry served as a catalyst for the Greyhound rushing attack, posting career highs in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns with 189 yards on 31 carries and three scores.
Terry proved to be especially effective throughout the night on third down as the Hounds converted 13-of-17 attempts and maintained possession for 36:06 of the game. No drive proved as important as the aforementioned drive midway through the final quarter, with Terry shouldering the load with seven carries on that possession alone to help push the Greyhounds ahead.
Smith also topped 100 yards for Eastern New Mexico with 103 yards on just 10 attempts and scored what ended up standing as the winning touchdown with 4:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Both offenses found success throughout the game as Eastern New Mexico finished the contest with 503 total yards while Missouri S&T managed 411 on their own, but the relentless Greyhound rushing attack allowed the Greyhounds to keep the Miner offense off the field in the late stages of the game. That ball control set the stage for the Hound defense to create a turnover when it mattered most and helped support a Greyhound offense that failed to cross midfield just once until the final possession of the game.
Junior Lamontre Huval finished the night with a team-high 12 total tackles while Walker and junior Roope Henry finished the evening with seven and six tackles.
The victory avenges a 31-14 defeat for the Greyhounds last season at the expense of Missouri S&T, and showcased a wide array of offensive weapons for head coach Kelley Lee. Eight different Hounds recorded carries on the night and junior Zachery Fields recorded the first touchdown reception of his Greyhound career to finish the night with 20 yards on two receptions and a score.
That touchdown reception at the 12:08 mark of the second quarter evened the game up at 14-14 after Missouri S&T produced back-to-back scoring drives to finish the opening quarter of action. Eastern forced a quick three-and-out on the ensuing Miner position and recovered a fumbled punt inside the Miner 25-yard line with 9:15 remaining in the half.
That quick change of possession was short-lived as quarterback Wyatt Strand saw his pass on the very next drive end up in Miners hands with his lone turnover of the contest. Missouri S&T turned that mistake into points, but Strand and company showed resiliency and marched down the field on their next possession to even the score back up at 21-21 heading into the halftime break.
Strand finished the evening with 77 yards on 17 carries and completed 3-of-6 passes through the air and a score.
Terry found the endzone for the third time at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter to give Eastern their first lead since the early stages of the game. An early fourth quarter score for the Miners proved to be not enough as the Greyhound offense pieced together the winning drive and brought home the first victory of the 2019 season.
The Greyhounds will now hit the road for back-to-back weeks, starting with a non-conference match-up in Grand Junction, Colo. against Colorado Mesa next Saturday at 7 p.m.
