Saturday, October 4, 2014
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS — In need of their first Lone Star Conference win of the season, the Eastern New Mexico University football team had its work cut out for them, with a trip to Kingsville, Texas, a place that they had never defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville. After quarterback
Jeremy Buurma (R-Jr., Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces HS) dove into the end zone late in the first quarter, the Greyhounds (3-2; LSC 1-2) cruised to a 31-0 win over the Javelinas (1-4; LSC 0-3), in Lone Star Conference action, Saturday night at Javelina Field.
Since the initial meeting between the teams in 1985, Texas A&M-Kingsville won all 14 meetings on their home field, until today, by an average margin of 36.6-17.6 points per game. The Hounds held a 14-7 lead at Texas A&M-Kingsville on October 27, 2007 and a 7-0 lead on October 31, 1999. Since at least the 1999 season, those were the largest leads Eastern has held on the road against the Javelinas, until today. Prior to today's contest, the fewest points the Javelinas had scored in a game against ENMU was seven, on October 28, 2000, at Greyhound Stadium. The Greyhounds' last shutout was a 52-0 decision at Oklahoma Panhandle State, on November 10, 2007. ENMU has not shutout a LSC opponent since September 10, 2005, when posted a 28-0 decision at Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Texas A&M-Kingsville took the opening kickoff and drove to the Greyhound five-yard line and set up for a potential go-ahead field goal. Senior defensive back
Kevin Reaves (Albuquerque, N.M./Manzano HS/NMMI) sprinted through the line and blocked Max Lehnig's 32-yard attempt, to set Eastern up at its own 20-yard line. The Greyhounds ran the ball 14 times for 80 yards on the ensuing drive, which was capped by Buurma's one-yard touchdown with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
The Hounds tacked on an eight-yard touchdown run from
E'lon Spight (Sr., FB, St. Louis, Mo. / Hazelwood East HS / Grossmont College) and a 75-yard scoring reception from
Jacob Johnson (R-Sr., WR, Idalou, Texas/Idalou HS) to take a 21-0 lead into the locker room. After a scoreless third quarter,
D'Maujeric Tucker (So., RB, Lubbock, Texas/Frenship HS) capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run, while
Mitchell Cox (So., PK, Kent./Wash./Kentwood Senior HS) hit a 39-yard field goal with 27 seconds left, for the final margin.
Eastern's defense dominated play and limited the Javelinas to five or fewer plays on 10 of their 13 possessions in the game. The Hounds held a 290-50 yard edge in the running game and got interceptions from the duo of
Benjamin Pedro-Langford (Sr., LB, Pago Pago American Samoa/Kanona Falls HS/NMMI) and
Seth Bailey (R-Sr., LB, Texico, N.M./Texico HS).
Elliot Peters (R-So., OLB, Mesepa, American Samoa/Marist HS) made a team-high 2.5 tackles for a loss. ENMU finished the game with 420 yards of total offense and limited the Javelinas to 278. Spight rushed for 78 yards, while Tucker and Buurma ran for 64 and 52 yards respectively. Johnson caught four passes for 115 yards. Cox had three of his four punts downed inside the Javelina 20-yard line. In addition to the interception, Pedro-Langford made a team-high 10 tackles with two for a loss. Texas A&M-Kingsville quarterback Alex Rios passed for 146 yards.
Next Saturday, the Eastern New Mexico University football team will visit McMurry University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT.
NOTES Jacob Johnson's 75-yard reception in the second quarter was the longest catch in his career, surpassing his 69-yard reception at New Mexico Highlands, earlier this season
Johnson has six 100-yard receiving days, with three coming this season. Two of those games have taken place at Javelina Field
The Greyhound defense has held four of its five opponents to 50 or fewer rushing yards
The second quarter of tonight's game marked the third time an opponent controlled the time of possession in a quarter against ENMU (2Q vs NM Highlands and 4Q vs Midwestern State)
