Thursday, November 02, 2017

WEST LIBERTY, WV —Johnny Smith sprinted for 13 of his career-best 173 yards early in the second quarter, for his first of three touchdowns. The score gave the Eastern New Mexico University football team the lead for good, en-route to a 45-24 win over West Liberty at West Family Stadium.

Beyond the Box Score

• Eastern's 498 rushing yards are believed to be the sixth-highest total in team history
• Smith's first 100-yard game came less than one week after he rushed for a career-best 93 yards against Texas A&M-Kingsville
• Wyatt Strand notched his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and his first since he had 135 against UT Permian Basin
• Russell Montoya's 54-yard touchdown was the longest catch of his career
• Eastern's 8-1 start is its best since opening the 1987 season at 9-1
• With his eighth win, Head Coach Kelley Lee has tied Howard White for 11thin career victories at ENMU and is one shy of tying Greyhound legend, B.B. Lees for tenth
• Kamal Cass increased his career rushing total to 4,025 and is approaching Tom Manley's record of 4,202

 
The Key Plays

• On the fifth play of the game, Wyatt Strand found Russell Montoya for a 54-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead
• West Liberty's Chris Morris followed with a 23-yard field goal
• The Hilltoppers took a 10-7 lead on Luke O'Connor's 41-yard pass to Osman Kargbo
• Smith's 17-yard sprint in the second quarter gave ENMU the lead for good
• Strand capped a 10-play, 56-yard drive with a one-yard plunge
• Smith exploded for a 55-yard touchdown run on ENMU's second offensive play of the second half for a 28-10 lead
• Late in the quarter, Bailey Hale connected on a 46-yard field goal
• O'Connor tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass with 3:44 left in the third quarter
• In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Strand capped a nine-play drive with a 39-yard touchdown to put ENMU ahead 38-17
• Savion Johnson had a three-yard touchdown run for West Liberty with 6:49 remaining
• Smith found the endzone one more time on an 18-yard run with 2:22 left

 
In the Numbers

• Eastern rushed for a season-high 498 yards (573 total offense), just days after setting 482 as the season high against Texas A&M-Kingsville (532 total offense)
• Wyatt Strand rushed for 113 yards and two scores
• Kamal Cass and D'Maujeric Tucker combined for 170 yards
• Josh Miller registered a sack for the defense
• Toby Amadi paced ENMU with seven tackles

Up Next

• The Eastern New Mexico University football team will put its six-game win streak on the line against Midwestern State, next Saturday
• The Hounds will host the game at Al Whitehead Field at Greyhound Stadium at 7 p.m. MT
• The contest will be sponsored by Big Valley