McKINNEY, TEXAS – The Eastern New Mexico football team has been selected to finish fourth in the 2019 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll as voted upon by coaches and representatives across the league.

Tarleton State was selected to finish first in the poll with 217 votes as the defending Lone Star Conference Champions while Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce were selected to finish second and third just ahead of Eastern New Mexico. Eastern received 130 total votes, eight votes more than Angelo State and 11 more than arch-rival West Texas A&M.

Midwestern State wide receiver Juwan Johnson was selected as the 2019 Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year while UT Permian Basin linebacker Chris Hoad received 2019 Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The Greyhounds finished in a tie for fourth place with a conference record of 4-4 with both Angelo State and West Texas A&M in 2018 and will return 14 total starters in 2019 including a trio of seasoned returnees in quarterback Wyatt Strand, fullback Paul Terry and linebacker Noah Sweitzer. Eastern New Mexico has finished in at least a tie for fourth or better in every season since 2015 in the Lone Star Conference and will begin their 83^rd season of football beginning in 2019.

Eastern will face off with the same 11 opponents in 2019 as the 2018 regular season schedule presented with non-conference foes Missouri S&T, Colorado Mesa and Western Oregon as well as the traditional eight Lone Star Conference games for the year. The Greyhounds will get their season started against Missouri S&T on Sept. 7^th inside Greyhound Stadium at 6 p.m.