September 1, 1997
For Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Willson, SID
505.562.4309 or 356-4755

Saturday, September 6
Eastern New Mexico vs. Western New Mexico University 1:00 pm
@ Cobre High School Stadium, Bayard, New Mexico

Greyhound Ready for the Real Deal...after all the weeks of practice and scrimmaging against themselves. Eastern New Mexico, under Head Coach Harold "Bud" Elliott, will start off the 1997 season on the road against intrastate rival Western New Mexico University. The game will be played at Cobre High School, just outside of Silver City, at 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 6.

The Series...last season the Greyhounds beat the Mustangs, 52-7, at Greyhound Stadium. It was the first win of the season for ENMU. The two teams have been battling one another since 1949. ENMU holds the series lead at 24-8.

1949 ENM, 21-20
1950 ENM, 14-7
1951 ENM, 59-19
1952 ENM, 27-14
1953 WNM, 24-21
1956 ENM, 35-19
1957 ENM, 7-0
1959 WNM, 19-0
1960 ENM, 38-7
1962 ENM, 32-0
1963 ENM, 40-7
1964 ENM, 41-0
1965 ENM, 47-12
1966 ENM, 39-7
1967 WNM, 21-19
1973 ENM, 14-11
1974 ENM, 41-28
1975 ENM, 21-3
1976 ENM, 27-14
1980 WNM, 35-28
1981 ENM, 20-3
1982 WNM, 27-8
1983 WNM, 42-8
1986 ENM, 49-7
1987 ENM, 33-14
1990 WNM, 7-0
1991 ENM, 42-10
1992 ENM, 27-13
1993 WNM, 37-7
1994 ENM, 28-24
1995 ENM, 9-3
1996 ENM, 52-7

Grounded Hounds...senior quarterback Andy Cavalier (Pampa, Texas) will miss the first 3-5 games of the season following orthoscopic knee surgery early last week. Cavalier has had several knee surgeries throughout his career. Junior defensive tackle Dan McNally (Carrollton, Texas) is also expected to miss most of the season with a shoulder injury suffered over the summer. Several players are day-to-day: OT Joey Thomas (hernia), TB Siegan Keys (hamstring) and DB Adrian Adams (shoulder).

Clearing the House...two Greyhounds are waiting for the NCAA Clearinghouse to decide their fate while one got the news last week. Freshman kicker/punter Erick Hernandez (Amarillo, Texas) was declared ineligible by the Clearinghouse last week, while freshman offensive lineman Brad Barr (Lovington) and freshman running back James Anderson (Lovington) are waiting to be cleared.

This Week's Offense...will be led by senior quarterback Cam Sanders (Arlington, Texas). Sanders has tag-teamed the quarterback position with Andy Cavalier for three seasons with Sanders getting the nod to start their sophomore season against Montana when Cavalier went down with a knee injury in the last scrimmage of the pre-season. Sanders put up the most passing yardage last season with 725 yards completing 45% of his passes.

Senior Isaiah Jackson (San Antonio, Texas) is slated to start at tailback after three seasons of backup work. He had a season-high 42 yards against Western New Mexico last season. Senior halfback Charlie Ragle (Playas) will be making his final collegiate appearance on his home side of the state. Ragle will split time at halfback with senior Craig Williams (Yuma, Ariz.) and be the key return specialist for the Hounds this season.

On Defense...senior defensive end A.C. Cuellar (Weslaco, Texas) will lead his line of underclassmen on the defensive front. Ready to stop any foe that gets through them will be the Hounds' top two returning tacklers in linebacker Michael Walton (So., Earth, Texas) and free safety Jason Swindle (Sr., Albuquerque). Swindle and junior cornerback Danny Cummings (Raton) will be trying to add to their career interceptions. Swindle and Cummings combined for 10 of ENMU's 19 interceptions last season.

Quotes from Bud..."I was pleased with the play of Bobby Rodriguez (Fr.-RS, Santa Teresa) and Brady Bazzell (Fr.-RS, Mineral Wells, Texas) in the scrimmage on Saturday. We still have a way to go in just our execution. We will be cleaning up missed assignments on both offense and defense. So we are getting closer to being ready to play on Saturday."

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. ENMU will play Southwestern Oklahoma State University, the 1996 NAIA Division I national champions, and Southeastern Oklahoma State University before jumping into South Division competition. Each division will name a champion with the conference champion being determined on a combined divisional and crossdivisional record.

Coming Up for the Houndss...ENMU will host intrastate rival New Mexico Highlands at Greyhound Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 6:00 pm.