October 27, 1997
For Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Willson, SID
505.562.4309 or 356-4755

Saturday, November 1
Eastern New Mexico at Texas A&M University-Kingsville 6:00 pm (MT)
Javelina Stadium, Kingsville, Texas

The Teams...Eastern New Mexico is currently 5-3 overall, 3-3 in the LSC and 2-2 in the LSC-South. ENMU upped their winning streak to 2 on Saturday with a 10-9 win over Texas A&M-Commerce. It is the first win over Commerce by the Greyhounds since Bud Elliott took over the program in 1994.

Texas A&M-Kingsville is currently 6-1 overall, 6-0 in the LSC and 4-0 in the LSC-South. Their only loss was against North Alabama on September 20 in Florence. Last week they beat West Texas A&M, 33-0, in Canyon.

The Series...Texas A&M-Kingsville holds an 11-1 series lead. The series began when Eastern New Mexico joined the conference in 1984.

1985 AMK, 21-17
1986 ENM, 34-28
1987 AMK, 30-7
1988 AMK, 32-18
1989 AMK, 27-12
1990 AMK, 31-12
1991 AMK, 36-20
1992 AMK, 26-0
1993 AMK, 54-22
1994 AMK, 24-15
1995 AMK, 33-14
1996 AMK, 24-13

Against Texas A&M-Commerce...the Greyhounds had to comeback from a nine point deficit at halftime and despite five lost fumbles beat the Lions, 10-9. ENMU scored on a 19-yard reverse by Brian Weimer (Fr.-R, Clovis) and Brian Cocking (Sr., Los Alamos) made the PAT to pull the Hounds to within 2 in the third quarter. Cocking made a 20-yard field goal to put ENMU ahead 10-9 in the fourth quarter.

Junior halfback Siegan Keys (Oakland, Calif.) and senior halfback Isaiah Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) were the top rushers for the Hounds in their new wishbone offense with 71 and 55 yards respectively. Senior Cam Sanders (Arlington, Texas) was back at the starting quarterback position with 90 yards of total offense (30 rush, 60 pass).

Linebackers Mason Dool (Sr., Temecula, Calif.) and Michael Walton (So., Earth, Texas) combined for 31 tackles against the Lion offense. Defensive tackle Melvin Bedford (So., Corpus Christi, Texas) blocked a field goal with 3:10 left in the game to keep the Lions from taking the lead. Sophomore cornerback LaRon Gatlin (DeSoto, Texas) came up big with an interception and a sack for a 15-yard loss.

Grounded Hounds...senior quarterback Andy Cavalier (Pampa, Texas) is done for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. He hurt the knee in the game against Tarleton State. Cavalier had surgery on his right knee in August that sidelined him for the first four games of the season.

About Texas A&M-Kingsville...the Javelinas played thru very non-South Texas-like weather in the Texas panhandle on Saturday to beat West Texas A&M, 33-0. Senior quarterback Oktay Basci leads the offense with 710 yards (614 pass, 96 rush) of total offense. He has completed 54.9% of his passes. His favorite target is Stephen Norman (15, 363 yards, 3 TDs). John Humphrey and Norman Miller are the top rushers for the Javelinas with 457 (7 TDs) and 446 (5 TDs) yards respectively.

Back on defense for his senior season is linebacker Chris Hensley. Hensley missed last season, recovering from surgery, but is back as the Javelinas leading tackler with 54 total. He has 11 for losses of 47 yards and 3 sacks for losses of 29 yards. Cedric Johnson and Terrence Davis are tops in interceptions with three apiece.

On special teams, the Javelinas have one of the top punters in the nation over the past few years in Kevin Thornewell. Thornewell is averaging 35.6 yards per punt in 1997. Humphrey is their top return specialist with a 19.2 yard punt return average and 33.2 kickoff return average.

Quotes from Bud...About the Texas A&M-Commerce game - "This was the best defensive football game we played all year. We were consistent, executed well and made better tackles. The special teams also played extremely well. Mason Dool and Michael Walton played extremely well."

"I'm proud of the way our team battled hard. I was disappointed in the amount of turnovers we had because they cost us lots of yardage and points. It was good to be able to go out and play with some of the "big dogs" in the conference."

About Texas A&M-Kingsville - "They are the best team in the Lone Star Conference. Their defense is really awesome. Their offense is getting a lot of point production on minimal yardage."

"If we turn the ball over against them, the game could get out of hand in a hurry. But we have played them pretty tough in the past. Our kids are looking forward to this game."

Sidebar...Michael Walton played Saturday's game at the insistence of his family after the death of his grandfather in Clovis on Thursday. The whole Walton family was in the stands for Saturday's game. Michael's grandfather was buried Monday in Portales.

Coaches Awards for TAMUC Game...

Leader of the Pack (offense) - Brian Weimer, SE, Fr.-R, Clovis; Gary Davis, C, Sr., Palestine, Texas

Mean Green (defense) - Michael Walton, LB, So., Earth, Texas; Mason Dool, LB, Sr., Temecula, Calif.

Hungry Hound (special teams) - Punt Protection & Coverage Team; Kickoff Coverage Team

Hustler - Tony Cavalier, SS, Jr., Pampa, Texas; Hallart Keaton, DB, So., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Melvin Bedford, DT, So., Corpus Christi, Texas; Carson Joachim, SE, So., Richmond, Texas

Big Hit - Jason Swindle, FS, Sr., Albuquerque

Pride (scout team) - Bart Notaro, LB, Sr., Hobbs; Austin Hinson, DB, Fr., Brownfield, Texas; Scott Schroeder, RB, Fr., Fairacres; Justin Stephens, LB, So., Roswell

The New LSC...the 1997 season begins expanded conference competition with 15 schools competing for the Lone Star Conference title. ENMU will compete in the South Division with Abilene Christian University, Angelo State University, Midwestern State University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and West Texas A&M University. The Greyhounds were picked sixth in the 1997 LSC-South Division Pre-season Football Poll with 136 points behind Texas A&M-Kingsville (334), Angelo State (274), Texas A&M-Commerce (248), Abilene Christian (210) and Tarleton State (144). They will play each team in the South Division once, with two crossover games thrown in against North Division opponents. Each division will name a champion with the conference champion being determined on a combined divisional and crossdivisional record.

Hounds on the Airwaves...107.5 KSMX-FM will carry all the Greyhound football games at home and on the road. Don Elder will call the play-by-play as the "Voice of the Greyhounds" for the 1997 season. He will be joined on home broadcasts by color man Travis Barger. Elder will also host the weekly Bud Elliott Show on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm from Juanito's Restaurant in Portales. KSMX is a member of Bergman Broadcasting, Inc.

Hounds on the Tube...the weekly television sports show, Sports Look, will air every week on Thursdays at 9:00 pm on KENW-TV, Channel 3. Dallan Sanders will host the program that takes a look at all the college and high school sports action in the eastern portion of New Mexico.

Coming Up for the Hounds...ENMU will play their final home game of the season in the Battle of the Wagon Wheel with West Texas A&M on Nov. 8 at 1:00 pm.