PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico football are winners of two-straight after a 40-34 victory over Lone Star Conference foe Sul Ross State. It took until the final play of the game to decide a winner with the Greyhounds holding the Lobos two yards short of a game tying touchdown.

"I thought offensively we did a good job with keeping the ball and holding onto time of possession," said head coach Kelley Lee after the win. "You have to give them credit for doing some things differently and executing well. We had a lot of chances to make plays defensively and didn't. Glad we made the one at the end."

Sul Ross State started off the night by scoring first in the contest on a drive that featured a fourth down conversion and a 43 yard rush from quarterback Kye Callicoatte to setup the Lobos touchdown on a five yard rush from Jose Trevino. Callicoatte finished with 302 yards passing and 96 yards rushing. Trevino ran for 87 yards and had three touchdowns.

The Lobos continued their positive start by forcing a Greyhound turnover on ENMU's first possession. Eastern was able to halt the momentum as the defense held Sul Ross State on fourth down for the only time in the game. SRSU finished 4-for-5 on fourth down.

ENMU's first points on the board came on their next possession. The Hounds utilized a ten-play drive and found the endzone courtesy of a 10-yard rush from quarterback Jarius Stewart. The extra point attempt was blocked so the score remained in SRSU's favor, 7-6.

The visitors responded with another lengthy scoring drive. This time it was a 14-play drive to set up a 25-yard field goal by Vicente Gariveay. The Lobos had two crucial conversions during the sequence with successful attempts on 4th and 7 and 3rd and 14. SRSU led 10-6 after the first quarter of action.

Eastern New Mexico spent a majority of the second quarter driving down the field to punch in a two yard touchdown rush by freshman Demarion Finch. It marks three-straight games with a Finch touchdown. ENMU went 3-for-3 on fourth down during the drive.

With a well-rested defense who didn't come onto the field in the second quarter until 6:29 left in the half, Eastern was able to force an easy three-and-out featuring a five-yard tackle for loss partnered by Dylan Quartieri and Esaias Swingle and a pair of incomplete passes including a pass breakup by Aaron Warren. Warren is one of the top players in the Lone Star Conference with eight pass breakups.

The offense came back on the field and continued to showcase why they are one of the best rushing offenses in the nation. Stewart inked his second consecutive multi-touchdown game with a 22-yard gain with under two minutes remaining in the half. The Greyhounds led the matchup, 20-10, going into halftime intermission.

ENMU went into the third quarter with all of the momentum and they took full advantage by orchestrating a 12-play drive eventually concluding with Demarion Finch's second rushing score of the game with 9:38 left in the quarter. SRSU would quickly respond with a long touchdown run (60 yards) by Trevino.

Eastern had a chance in the middle of the quarter to add points, but a blocked field goal would keep the game within 10 points. Sul Ross State would continue to lessen the deficit and were successful on a 32-yard field goal attempt with 1:56 remaining.

On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Eastern New Mexico would extend their lead, 33-20, on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jarius Stewart to Gerry Gomez. That is Gomez's fourth receiving score of the season.

The Hounds would continue to respond defensively and earned another three-and-out. Eastern continued to show consistency on offense as they utilized several rushers over the 10-play sequence that included a 34-yard pass completion for Chad Ragle. The drive ended with a one-yard touchdown rush by William Reynolds. With 9:53 remaining, Sul Ross State would take possession trailing by 20 points.

It only took the Lobos just a little over two minutes to find the endzone on a three-yard rush by Trevino. Now, the score was 40-27 in favor of the Hounds.

Eastern recovered an onside kick and began their own drive with 7:31 left. SRSU's defense would stay locked in and forced a three-and-out with 5:20 remaining.

Three minutes later Sul Ross State would get another touchdown after a 26-yard passing connection between Callicoatte and Landen Drake. The drive would feature a conversion on 4th and 10 and 3rd and 1 before the Lobos could capitalize on the big passing play. Eastern would also recover the next onside kick.

Again, SRSU would force a three-and-out and gain possession at their own 6-yard line with 1:29 remaining. ENMU allowed a big passing play on the second play of the drive, which set the Lobos at their 47-yard line. Sul Ross State would continue to advance with a passing interference play that put them at Eastern's 32-yard line. The Lobos would convert on a 4th and 3, which set themselves for yet another first down and an opportunity to run a play at the two-yard line with two seconds remaining.

Callicoatte faked a run to the right side and turned around to dart towards the left side of the field. At this moment, he cut inside and was met with force by DJ Moore who hit him initially and Matthew Quartieri assisted Moore by taking down Callicoatte and giving Eastern New Mexico their third victory of the season.

The Greyhounds improved to 3-6 (3-4 LSC) and have clinched their most conference wins since 2019.

Jarius Stewart had another nice outing at quarterback for ENMU. He was 1-for-1 with a 12-yard passing touchdowns. Stewart also finished with 25 carries for 173 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He ranks 13th nationally with 110.4 rushing yards per game.

Demarion Finch continues to be impressive in the backfield with 91 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. He is third in the conference with nine total touchdowns. Reynolds had a productive game with 83 yards on just 13 carries.

Defensively, the Hounds saw lots of production from their defensive ends and linebacking core. Matthew Quartieri led the way with eight tackles, including three for loss. J.J. Silver had one of his best games as a Greyhound with seven tackles, two pass breakups, and two quarterback hurries. Not only did DJ Moore help M. Quartieri with the game winning tackle, he finished with 2.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.

Jarrion Patton led all defenders with three pass breakups. Stanton Chambers added two for the Hounds.

The kick return game for ENMU was one of the better aspects of the game. The Hounds were led by Kyler Fossett who posted 114 kick return yards on just three returns.

Eastern New Mexico will head on the road to Odessa, Texas next week to face No. 20 UT Permian Basin. More information can be found on www.goeasternathletics.com.