PORTALES, N.M. – It's time for head coach Tye Hiatt and ENMU football to take off to the Pacific Northwest for a matchup with new conference foe, Western Oregon.
 
Coming off its first win in LSC play, Eastern is looking to keep the momentum going against the conference's preseason No. 6 pick. Before the Hounds go toe-to-toe with the Wolves, take a look at the 4th & 1:
 
First Down – Winning Feels Good: 
The Greyhounds spent the first six weeks of action taking on arguably the toughest stretch of conference foes and traveling to face a Division I foe. The program's victory on Saturday essentially feels "good." However, the 42-14 victory over Simon Fraser is not the end and the Greyhounds are set to face four more conference games before the season finishes in November. The final haul begins Saturday with ENMU's battle with WOU set for 2:05 MT and livestreamed on the Lone Star Conference Network.
 
Second Down – Kason's Back:
A familiar face is back at quarterback for the Hounds in junior transfer Kason Martin. The Manvel, Texas native posted award worthy numbers against Simon Fraser Saturday night as he completed 21-of-30 passes for 274 yards and four TD's. He was coming back to the gridiron for the first time since the team's game at Texas A&M-Kingsville. After the game, Martin complimented the work of ENMU's offensive line and how they gave him the protection to find six different receivers over the course of the night.
 
Third Down – SSSSSSSacks:
Seven sacks. That is how many times SFU's quarterback was hit by the Greyhounds behind the line of scrimmage Saturday night. Eastern finished the game with nine total tackles for loss as the group held Simon Fraser to 196 yards of total offense, including just four rushing yards. The players recording at least half a sack include: Aseli Finau (1.0), Colten Madison (1.0), Cameron Santa Cruz (1.0), Christian Pierce (1.0), Kevin McCracken (1.0), James Apsey (0.5), Khalil Whitaker (0.5), Beau Burns (0.5), and Estevan Lowery (0.5). The Wolves have allowed 17 sacks this year.
 
Fourth Down – Attacking Anywhere:
Looking deeper into Western Oregon's offensive schemes, they score from anywhere and anyhow. The Wolves hold nine rushing TD's and eight through the air. Starting quarterback Gannon Winker has a 73-yard completion and has nine receivers with at least two catches this year, including Damon Hickok who has been successful 30 times for 538 yards. The running load is primarily supported by Omari Dixon-Land who has touched the ball 129 times for 627 yards and a team-leading four touchdowns. In a game earlier this season against Western New Mexico, he found a seam and sprinted 85-yards to setup his team with a 1st & goal attempt at the six-yard line.
 
&1 – Hounds Advantage:
The two teams have squared off twice in series history with both matchups coming in the last four years. In 2018, ENMU beat the Wolves 19-14 in a matchup that saw Kevin McCracken come up with four tackles. The following year, Eastern New Mexico took the long haul to Monmouth and came out with a 35-27 victory. In the win, Tafari Gomillion rushed for nine yards and had a tackle while Rapi Sotoa finished the night with four tackles.  The Greyhounds outgained WOU 277-to-142 in the 2019 edition of the series. Saturday's game will be the first with both teams as members of the LSC.