PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico football beat Simon Fraser, 42-14, in the two institution's first meeting.

ENMU's defense showed smart play early on as they forced a three-and-out in the Red Leafs' opening possession. Eastern spent the next 12 plays and 5:47 on the clock developing its offensive attack culminating in an 11-yard grad by Greg Thomas from starting quarterback Kason Martin.

The North Texas transfer guided the Greyhounds with 274 yards through the air and four touchdowns.

"We just got rolling pretty good. The offensive line was blocking great," said Martin. "It was really good to get back there tonight."

After the lengthy score, the Hounds were on the scoreboard again, 18 seconds later, as Caden Ochoa picked up a fumble and returned it 12 yards to the endzone.

This marked two consecutive games where Ochoa returned a ball for a score – both coming in the opening quarter of the ball game.

Simon Fraser did not let the Greyhounds continue their dominance on defense as the Red Leafs used eight minutes of game clock and a 4th & 11 conversion to put them on the scoreboard.

Martin and the Hounds did not stop on the brakes on the ensuing drive as he led a six-play drive resulting in a 20-yard scoring grab from Bryzai White.

One of the key plays during the drive came from a pass to D'Angelo Biggs as he took a wheel route and caught the ball for a 38-yard gain.

"That first wheel route to D'Angelo (Biggs) was awesome," said Martin. "As soon as he cut it out there I just threw it out there. That was a third-down conversion too."

ENMU kept going full throttle against SFU and added another score off a three-play drive, including a touchdown catch from Asa Wondeh from 45-yards. The grab was just his first on the night.

Head coach Tye Hiatt maintained good clock management as he called a timeout late in the second quarter to give his team enough time to march down the field for another score in the endzone. This time, Isaiah Tate punched it in with a two-yard run before the half ended. The starting running back hit the century mark for the second week in a row.

"It was great seeing our offense click on all cylinders," said Tate. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help my team get a win."

Both teams trade one touchdown in the second half as the Greyhounds began running the ball and keeping the clock moving for the last 30 minutes of the ball game.

Eastern's final score came in the fourth quarter as Martin hit Wondeh from one-yard out to close the game out, 42-14.

The Hounds stayed perfect inside the redzone as they scored during all four trips inside the 20-yard line tonight.

ENMU's defense recorded a dominating seven sacks and kept the Red Leafs to 196 yards on total offense, including four rushing yards through 25 attempts.

"It's really nice to finally win and play really well on all three phases," said Hiatt. "I thought it was our most complete football game."

Martin found six receivers, including six connections to Tyree Cherry. The wideout finished the game with 75 yards receiving.

"TC, he was balling," said Martin. "He took a big work load tonight."

The victory brings ENMU to 2-5 (1-4) on the season and sets them up for a matchup with Western Oregon next Saturday. The game will be livestreamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.