PORTALES, N.M. – It's a little chilly in the high plains. That means one thing… Chile Season. Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico square off for the Chile Bowl on Saturday, October 25 at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. Before the in-state rivalry, please take a look at the 4th & 1 Preview:
First Down – New Chances: Eastern New Mexico football is coming off a 43-14 Wagon Wheel loss. The Greyhounds ran for 200 total yards in the game and added 112 through the air. Freshman
Demarion Finch had one of his best collegiate outings with 129 yards and two scores.
Gerry Gomez had an impressive nine catches for 64 yards.
Matthew Quartieri led the team with nine tackles and had an interception towards the end of the opening half. The loss moves the Hounds to a 1-6 (1-4 LSC) record.
Second Down – Roast the Chile: Greyhound football is set to play in the Chile Bowl against fellow LSC foe Western New Mexico. The two in-state programs have played for the trophy since 2018. ENMU is 4-0 when the game is played in October and are 0-2 when the matchup is played in November. Eastern is 1-1 in rivalry games played at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. WNMU is allowing 54.0 points per game this season. Under the guidance of head coach Billy Hickman, the Mustangs have allowed 21 or more points in every game.
Third Down – Land of Enchantment: Eastern New Mexico has 27 student-athletes from the state of New Mexico and Western has 15. Three of ENMU's seven leading tackles are from the Land of Enchantment. Those players include
Matthew Quartieri (Raton),
Dylan Quartieri (Raton) and
DJ Moore (Carlsbad). Another notable New Mexican is two-time all-conference long snapper
Dillon Hein (Las Cruces). Offensive lineman
Nathan Jim (Gallup),
Julian Holland (Las Cruces), and
Christian Griego (Los Lunas) have aided ENMU to become the conference's second leading rushing team. WNMU has four players from Albuquerque and three from Rio Rancho.
Fourth Down – Anybody Can Rush: ENMU football has one of the best rushing games in the nation averaging 251.0 yards per game. The Greyhounds have six players with 100+ rushing yards and 10 total student-athletes with 10 or more total rushes. Quarterback
Chad Ragle leads the conference with 110 attempts. Ragle has a team-high 384 rushing yards with four touchdowns.
Demarion Finch has only played in five games this season, but has been a major component in the rushing attack with 79 carries and 310 total yards. He leads the Hounds with five touchdowns as he is averaging one per game appearance.
Jarius Stewart has done well on the ground with 205 rushing yards over five contests.
&1 – Homecoming Salute: Eastern New Mexico will celebrate Homecoming during Saturday's game. The Hounds are looking for their first Homecoming win since 2021 when they beat Lincoln (Calif.). ENMU is going to introduce the king and queen during the game. Eastern last hosted Western for Homecoming in 2018 with the Hounds running away with a 55-9 victory. The matchup was also the first ever Chile Bowl game. Eastern dominated with 457 rushing yards and 113 passing yards. Some festivities to look forward to during the day with the volleyball match, parade, tailgating, and football game.
