PORTALES, N.M. – Another victory, another tight win for the Greyhounds. That was the mantra for head coach
Kelley Lee and Eastern New Mexico in their 30-29 result at home Saturday afternoon against Western Oregon University.
Since 2016, the Hounds are now 17-3 in games decided by single digits.
"That's what our program is all about," said Lee when asked about the plethora of tight contests won by ENMU in the past.
The game play proved to be a tale of four quarters. From Eastern taking strong control of the game early over Western Oregon and eventually allowing the Wolves to take control of what ENMU does best – run the ball.
WOU outran the Greyhounds 373 to 255. Just last week, the Hounds found themselves forcing negative yardage against Sul Ross State and now saw two different rushers go 100+ against the defense.
"I am really proud of our guys," said Lee on the team after the contest. "I think there is a high-ceiling with this group still left to be shown."
The Greyhounds began the noon kickoff with the ball and they looked really smooth offensively. On the lone third down of the drive, fullback
Elijah Zeh took off to the races down the rightside of the field for 36 yards.
Just four plays later and
Ja'Calvin Newsom scored his first of two touchdowns on the day with a four-yard scamper to the left side.
With a 7-0 lead, ENMU's defense took to the field with 11:38 left in the opening frame. The Wolves earned a first down on a third and long play, but on the ensuing set of downs the Greyhounds forced a third down stop with a solo tackle from
Timothy Jones.
Both teams exchanged quick drives with Eastern going three-and-out and the Wolves throwing an interception caught by
Dedrick Moore aiding the Greyhounds to take control offensively with 5:20 in the period.
It didn't take long for
Kelley Lee's squad to increase their lead as
Trevion Butler exploded down the field on the first play of the drive and took it to the house for an 85-yard score.
Another set of three-and-outs set Western Oregon for a score of its own. Five rushes in a row was complimented with a 56-yard run for a touchdown and WOU successfully earned a two-point conversion for the game to go 14-8 in Eastern's favor.
The second quarter began with a 15-play drive for ENMU taking off 7:30 from the clock and setting up freshman
Kaden Bell with the 26-yard field goal make.
From that point on, Western Oregon took control of the game.
The Wolves scored 21 points over the final 3:43 in the game to head into the locker room with a 29-17 advantage.
"We challenged them at halftime," said Lee when asked about the momentum rolling into the second half of play. "It was a horrible second quarter and the style of play was not good."
Adjustments needed to be made as WOU looked like they found a way to take control of the game by rushing through the middle.
With the Wolves scoring on three-straight drives to end the half, having the ball to start the second half did not look ideal in ENMU's favor. However, A pair of tackles by
Trey Cain and
Timothy Jones on the drive forced WOU to punt at Eastern New Mexico's 38-yard line.
The first play on the ensuing drive for ENMU set them up for second and long. This forced two-straight pass attempts that fell short and put WOU in ideal field position near the 50-yard line.
After earning a first down on the following drive, WOU's drive was halted after a pair of incompletions and a tackle for loss by
Eric Williams.
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Eric Williams (21) celebrates with teammate Dedrick Moore (2) after a tackle
The Greyhounds started the ball on their own 15-yard line and began executing an "ENMU style" drive.
One of the key moments in the drive came on a 2nd and 19 play. Sophomore quarterback
Mario Sanchez found his tight end
Jace Martin for a 22-yard reception that saw Martin leap to gain extra yardage at the end of the play leading to a crucial first down on the play.
The Wolves forced ENMU with a 4th and 3 situation at the WOU 42-yard line. Down by 12 points with under four minutes to play in the third quarter put a decision in the hands of coach Lee. The fourth-year head coach decided to go for it and it paid off as
Ja'Calvin Newsom scored on that play. The Albuquerque native helped the team cut the deficit to 29-24 on his way to his first multitouchdown game as a Greyhound.
Western Oregon looked comfortable on the next drive as they marched down the field to the ENMU 29-yard line over 14 plays. After a two-yard pickup on first down, three straight incompletions forced a turnover on downs.
Talon Sanders and
Micah Lewis came up with clutch pass breakups on that set of downs.
The unfortunate aspect of that drive for ENMU was that it took lots of time off the clock.
With 11:52 left in the game, Eastern was forced off the field with a three-and-out. Once again, WOU moved the ball with small chunk plays developing over nine plays and gave the Hounds the ball with 5:35 remaining. The Wolves stopped the Greyhounds once again early in the drive and held the potential victory in their sight with 3:31 on the clock.
WOU held success rushing through the middle in the second quarter as they ran for 188 yards in the period. With the ball in their hands with 3:31 left, they went back to the run game and were stopped on three-straight one-yard carries. Making those stops for ENMU included
James Apsey and
Timothy Jones on an assisted tackle and
Estevan Lowery and
Eric Williams holding down with solo stops.
With the ball at their own 16-yard line, ENMU needed to find a way.
 "I felt like we had good matchups," said Lee when asked about the final drive. "We were able to create one-on-ones."
Mario Sanchez went to
Andre Jones five times with four of those caught on the six-play drive.
The drive was capped off with a 34-yard pass to Jones in the endzone and ENMU took the lead for the first time since the second quarter.
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ENMU attempted a two-point conversion and was unable to increase its lead.
This setup WOU with 1:01 to find a way to score.
A good kickoff return looked promising for the Wolves, but a holding penalty forced them to start the drive at their own 13-yard line. Defensive lineman
James Apsey for the drive going with a sack for a loss of seven yards. The following play, Apsey forced a quarterback hurry leading to an incompletion and WOU with the 3rd and 18 attempt.
The Wolves gave themselves an easier opportunity for a first down as they earned a 12-yard completion. On fourth down, ENMU made the stop as
Estevan Lowery added extra pressure to WOU's quarterback forcing an incompletion.
And at the simple motion of a kneel down in victory formation, the game belonged to the Greyhounds.
"The whole drive we were short and short and short," said
Mario Sanchez on the game-winning drive. "Then coach called all go's and Andre made a nice little quick move and he got vertical and it was all over."
The win improves ENMU to 3-0 (1-0 LSC). It is the first time since 2017 that Eastern New Mexico has won its conference opener.
The Greyhounds now hold a 3-1 series advantage over Western Oregon. ENMU is one of two teams in the conference undefeated. Texas A&M-Kingsville beat Western New Mexico on the road Saturday night.
Three players (
Timothy Jones,
Trey Cain, and
Colten Madison) had five solo tackles in the game.
Eric Williams posted two tackles for loss with seven total.
Sanchez finished 9-for-16 through the air for 129 yards. Jones caught five of those passes for 63 yards.
Butler nearly hit the century mark as he rushed for 98 yards on six carries. One of Butler's better lines includes two receptions for 19 yards, including a 14-yard reception on the team's game winning drive.
Elijah Zeh finished with 86 yards over 20 rush attempts.
The difference maker in the game came from penalties as Western Oregon committed 11 for 110 yards while ENMU was called for five penalties for 56 yards.
Despite losing the possession battle for a third-straight game, ENMU still found a way to come on the winning side.
Eastern New Mexico now gets set for a road conference tilt against Midwestern State on September 23. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. MT in Wichita Falls, Texas. The game will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.
