WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Eastern New Mexico football set a facility rushing record on their way to a dominating 56-31 win over Midwestern State.

"We wanted to start fast," said head coach Kelley Lee when asked about the game. "We were able to get a quick score and answer back when they had a nice drive in the first quarter. After we got a stop on defense and got the score to 21-7, we controlled the pace the rest of the way."

In fact, ENMU started quite fast. The Hounds drove down the field using just four plays for 75 yards. On the fourth play of the series, freshman Kyler Fossett took the ball to the house for a 50-yard rushing score.

It didn't take long for MSU to answer as they had a four play scoring drive of their own to find the equalizer on a deep pass (46 yards) from Jakolby Longino to their LSC preseason player to watch Demonte Green.

The Hounds ended up moving their next drive into the redzone, but that is when MSU's defense was able to make a play. Mustang defender, Justin Hernandez stripped the ball away from Chad Ragle and prevented ENMU from going back-to-back drives with a score.

MSU had an opportunity to take the lead, but they were stopped on fourth down by ENMU's defense. This led to Eastern regaining possession at the Greyhound 36-yard line.

That is the moment when ENMU found an extra bit of edge in the contest.

A nine-play methodical drive featuring all rushes got Eastern New Mexico the lead once again. Five different ball carriers were part of the attack on the drive that helped give Eastern the lead for the rest of the game. The scoring play came from Jarius Stewart who was playing in his first game since the season opener against New Mexico Highlands.

The second quarter got off to an excellent start as Aaron Warren opened the period with an interception. This setup the offense with amazing field position at the 50-yard line.

The short field led to a short drive. Two plays later and ENMU extended their lead, 21-7, on a 42-yard rush from Elias Santana.

Midwestern State added a touchdown on the next possession as Green caught his second touchdown pass of the game – this one going for 65 yards.

It took nine plays for ENMU to find the endzone again. Four different carriers helped Eastern find another score. Newcomer Jonathon Carter capped off the drive with a six-yard scamper for a touchdown.

Both teams traded three-and-out possessions as Eastern New Mexico held onto a 28-14 lead. MSU was able to drive into the redzone on their next possession, but all-LSC kicker Joseph Carlson was unsuccessful with his attempt from 37-yards leading ENMU to a new possession with 1:56 remaining in the half.

Eastern began the drive with a short rush for eight yards. Quarterback Chad Ragle went into play action and found Kyler Fossett for a 72-yard passing touchdown. The connection led to a 35-14 lead going into halftime intermission.

MSU's final drive of the half was a three-and-out. Defensively, DJ Moore had an excellent series as he had a pass deflection and a sack to end the period.

Midwestern State opened the half with a quick first down, but the Eastern defense quickly stopped additional pursuit. ENMU's offense regained possession at their 28-yard line.

The next drive saw Chad Ragle find Dalton Flowers for a deep pass (51 yards) in a crucial position as the Hounds faced a third-and-six on the first sequence of the possession. The connection between Ragle and Flowers allowed ENMU to get into the redzone. Eastern proceeded to run an additional seven plays before scoring a touchdown on a one-yard rush by Demarion Finch on fourth down. At this point, ENMU led 42-14.

The next drive for MSU would take seven minutes and 13 plays as they added three points on a 44-yard field goal. The Mustangs switched to Kohen Maroney for kicking duties.

Eastern's next drive would begin at the tail end of the third quarter and began the fourth quarter. The final play of the third quarter was an explosive carry by Vee Williams who ran to the ENMU 30-yard line for a 39-yard gain. Four plays into the fourth quarter, ENMU's Demarion Finch converted a fourth down play into a 22-yard score. Eastern was a perfect three-for-three on fourth down attempts.

MSU would tack on another touchdown with a rushing score to put the game at 49-24.

The final score for Eastern New Mexico would come midway in the fourth quarter. A six-play drive featuring two lengthy passes would be the benefactor in this result. The first passing connection was to Dalton Flowers who went 34-yards. One fun note on the pass is that ENMU started on their 33-yard line and ended up on the MSU 33-yard line with the passing play. A couple of plays later, Ragle found Finch for a 28-yard passing connection.

The Mustangs added an additional touchdown to mark the final as 56-31.

The victory moves Eastern New Mexico to 1-3 (1-1 LSC) and sets them up for a bye week. They will have two weeks to prepare for top 25 foe Central Washington on the road.

"It's huge," remarked Lee when asked about what it meant to have two freshmen come up in major ways for ENMU. "We had to add explosiveness to our offense and those guys did a great job."

Kyler Fossett finished the game with six carries for 96 yards and a score. He also added one catch for 72-yards and a touchdown. Demarion Finch was a major contributor offensively with 20 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns. He added one scoring reception for 28-yards.

In total, ENMU earned 638 total yards with a stadium record 453 rushing yards. No other team had ran for that many yards at Memorial Stadium. Passing-wise, Chad Ragle led the way going a perfect 4-for-4 with 185 total yards. Ragle also got the job done with 12 carries and 84 yards.

Elias Santana was one of four Hounds with more than 80 rushing yards. He finished with six carries for 88 yards, including the 42-yard touchdown run.

Receiving-wise, Dalton Flowers was the top pass catcher with two receptions for 85 yards.

Aaron Warren led the team with nine tackle and 1.5 tackles for loss. J.J. Silver also was effective for ENMU's defense with eight stops.

Eastern New Mexico earned their first sacks of the season. DJ Moore earned a solo sack at the end of the first half and both Moore and Matthew Quartieri teamed up for the other sack.

"We played good on all three phrases and we played four quarters of football," said Lee after the win.

ENMU's next game is on the road on October 4 against Central Washington. Eastern will be back at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium to face Western Oregon on October 11 at 3 p.m. Tickets for the Hall of Honors game and Hall of Honors dinner are now available.