PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico keeps the Wagon Wheel where it belongs with a 35-27 win over West Texas A&M.

"It's a typical Wagon Wheel," said head coach Kelley Lee after the game. "I'm super proud for our seniors. Defense got a couple three-and-outs and that was the game."

The Greyhounds trailed 10-0 after the first fifteen minutes of play and reversed the state of the game from there.

A 54-yard pass from Mario Sanchez to Andre Jones setup the Hounds inside the redzone and seconds later Eastern New Mexico scored their first touchdown of the day. Sanchez punched it in from two-yards out for his first of three rushing scores.

WT tacked on a field goal to continue their offense run. In total, the program scored in each of their first three drives. Despite lengthy drives, both teams were halted offensively for the remainder of the half. The runs included a pair of interceptions traded on back-to-back plays.

The second half proved to be much different.

ENMU didn't waste time taking the lead as a nine-play drive allowed Sanchez to run into the endzone and score. One of the key moments of the drive came on third down and long when Sanchez found Jones for a 45-yard reception.

From there, Eastern New Mexico controlled the game.

A Buffalo three-and-out led to ENMU taking a 21-13 lead on a 55-yard completion from Sanchez to (you guessed it) Andre Jones.

Yet again, another three-and-out to the visitors gave the Greyhounds a prime opportunity to extend the advantage. The ten-play drive began with a 36-yard rush from Trevion Butler and capped off with Sanchez's third rushing touchdown of the day.

It only took nine plays for WT to cut the ENMU advantage, 28-20. With the ball with 10:52 remaining, Eastern New Mexico needed to keep the clock running. They managed to earn one first down, but punted the ball away with 7:52.

The Greyhound defense forced three straight pass incompletions, including a pair of pass breakups from Talon Sanders and Micah Lewis.

Eastern proved to be the team with "The Wheel" in sight as they drove down over five plays using runs from Sanchez (53 yards) and Jonathan Watson (20 yards) to punch in the final touchdown for ENMU.

The Buffalos ended up scoring another touchdown, but it didn't matter as Eastern New Mexico earned the Wagon Wheel for a second-straight season.

"There is no feeling like running up that hill," said senior Sam Piotraschke after the win. "We own this rivalry."

The statement is true as ENMU now holds a 18-17 advantage in the Wagon Wheel series.

"This feeling is indescribable," said freshman Elijah Zeh on his first Wagon Wheel game. "Nothing compares to this."

Sanchez finished the game 5-for-10 through the air for 164 yards and a score. He ran for the century mark for the second-straight game rushing 20 times for 118 yards and three scores. It is his second game this season with three rushing TD's.

""We knew what the atmosphere was going to be like," said Sanchez when asked about the game afterwards. "This team is really resilient."

Jones caught four passes for 162 yards and a score. Coming into Saturday's game he led the Lone Star Conference in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

"It's all about hard work," said redshirt-freshman Andre Jones after the win. "This means a lot to the team and I'm proud of all of my brothers."

Kelley Lee improves to 3-1 in Wagon Wheel games and takes his team into a matchup with Western New Mexico next Saturday in Silver City.