PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico football put together a strong second-half performance Saturday afternoon, scoring 27 unanswered points to close the game, but ultimately fell to rival West Texas A&M, 41-27, at Al Whitehead Field at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. The Greyhounds totaled 626 yards of offense, including 502 through the air, while recording 33 first downs.
West Texas A&M controlled the opening half, putting up 17 points in the first quarter before adding 21 in the second to take a 38-0 lead into halftime. The Buffaloes opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal from Alan Anaya before Jayden Macedo connected with J.B. Mitchell III for an eight-yard touchdown. Macedo added a 69-yard touchdown pass to Trace Clarkson later in the quarter. The Buffaloes continued their offensive production in the second quarter, scoring three additional touchdowns to build their halftime advantage.
Eastern New Mexico came out of the break with renewed energy, putting together a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped by a two-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback
Clifton Cooper.
Kaden Dow converted the extra point to put the Greyhounds on the board, 38-7, with 11:28 remaining in the third quarter. West Texas A&M responded with an 18-yard field goal, extending its advantage to 41-7.
The Greyhounds continued to battle, finding the end zone twice in the final three minutes of the third quarter. Following a defensive stop on fourth down, Eastern took over at the WT 33-yard line and needed just four plays to score, as
Jose Trevino punched in a nine-yard rushing touchdown. Less than three minutes later, Cooper connected with
Trei Kibbles for a 92-yard touchdown reception, cutting the deficit to 41-21 entering the final quarter.
Eastern's defense kept the Buffaloes off the scoreboard throughout the fourth quarter, giving the offense additional opportunities to close the gap. The Greyhounds capitalized late, putting together a 17-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cooper to
Kyler Fossett on fourth-and-20. The touchdown brought the score to 41-27 with 1:54 remaining. ENMU regained possession with 50 seconds left and advanced to the Buffaloes' 10-yard line before time expired.
Cooper led the Greyhound offense with 502 passing yards, completing 36 of 64 attempts with two touchdowns. Kibbles finished with a team-high 160 receiving yards on five catches, including his 92-yard touchdown, while Fossett added seven receptions for 107 yards and a score.
Ike White contributed nine catches for 84 yards, and
Darwin Parker finished with eight receptions for 41 yards. On the ground, Trevino paced Eastern with 75 rushing yards on 16 carries and a touchdown.
Defensively,
Julian Williams led the Greyhounds with 10 total tackles, including two tackles for loss.
Robert Nora and
Xander Holt each added seven tackles, with Holt recording the team's lone sack.
Raheim Ross contributed six tackles as Eastern held West Texas A&M to just three second-half points.
Despite the loss, ENMU outgained the Buffaloes 626-461 in total offense and held a 33-22 advantage in first downs. The Greyhounds move to 0-7 overall and 0-5 in Lone Star Conference play, while West Texas A&M improves to 2-5 overall and 2-3 in conference action.
The Hounds will head north to face Western Oregon in Monmouth, Oregon on Saturday, October 24
th with kickoff slated for 1:05 PM PST.
