PORTALES, N.M. – No. 11 Central Washington came into Saturday night's matchup with Eastern New Mexico as the number two team in the nation in time of possession. The Wildcats are masterminds in controlling the game's tempo offensively, and they proved so in a win over the Greyhounds, 44-28.

"We have to stick together," said head coach Kelley Lee after the game. "We have to be six inches better on every play."

The story of this game came down to possession. Central Washington ran 72 plays compared to 43 for Eastern New Mexico.

CWU proved to extend drives by converting on third and fourth down opportunities. The Wildcats finished 8-of-13 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Both conversions came on touchdown scoring drives for the visitors.

"There were a lot of third downs where they made the play by six inches," said Lee on the Wildcats extending drives. "We have to start winning those six inches."

The Greyhounds started the Homecoming game on a strong note. They received the opening kick and Chad Ragle returned it to the home 45-yard line. Quarterback Mario Sanchez orchestrated a ten play, 55-yard drive. The sequence took 4:47 off the clock, however, that would be the lengthiest drive timewise for ENMU the rest of the game.

Central Washington got the ball at the 15-yard line for their first drive of the game. They managed to run 15 plays for 46 yards taking the game to three minutes remaining in the first period. ENMU forced CWU to punt the ball away and came out on offense. The drive did not last long as the Wildcats forced the Hounds to their first of four drives that went three-and-out.

Eastern finished the first quarter with a 7-0 advantage, but the lead did not hold as CWU scored touchdowns on two-straight drives. The Greyhounds managed to tie the game with 1:35 left in the half on a nine-yard carry from Sanchez. The score was the Denver City, Texas native's second rushing touchdown of the night and his fifth-career game with two or more scores on the ground.

The Wildcats managed to run an effective offensive possession with a four-play 65-yard drive taking just 34 seconds off the clock. CWU did end up getting another possession after forcing a three-and-out but missed the field goal attempt as the clock expired. The visitors led 21-14 at the break.

Central Washington took the reigns of the game with the first possession of the second half. They began the third quarter with a 13-play 75-yard touchdown scoring drive that took nine minutes off the clock. CWU converted on two third downs during the sequence.

ENMU fumbled the ball on the next drive setting up the only turnover in the game and a chance for the visiting team to take a 34-14 lead with 1:19 remaining in the quarter.

The next drive brought some energy to the Eastern New Mexico sideline as Mario Sanchez connected with Jeremiah Moore for a 78-yard passing touchdown. Despite the explosive play from the Greyhounds, CWU managed to score an additional ten points.

Sanchez did throw another touchdown pass. This time it went to Gerry Gomez who hauled in the 32-yard pass. The game ended with CWU going into victory formation and heading back to Ellensburg, Wash. with a 44-28 win.

Mario Sanchez (81) and Ja'Calvin Newsom (65) led the Hounds on the ground. Sanchez finished 3-of-5 through the air.

Defensively, four players had seven or more tackles. Leading the way was Matthew Quartieri (11), Zerrian Meander (9), Colby Russ (7), and Salofi Aumoeualego (7). Eastern also posted four tackles for loss.

Next week Eastern New Mexico makes the trek to Monmouth, Ore. for a 2:05 p.m. MT kickoff versus Western Oregon. The Wolves come into the game after three-straight wins to begin Lone Star Conference play.