September 29, 1997
For Immediate Release
Contact: Judy Willson, SID
505.562.4309 or 356-4755

Saturday, October 4 - Homecoming

Abilene Christian University vs. Eastern New Mexico 2:00 pm
Greyhound Stadium, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico

The Teams...Eastern New Mexico and Abilene Christian come into this week's game with identical 3-1 overall and 1-1 LSC records. ENMU lost their first game of the season last week against Southeastern Oklahoma State, 21-7 in Durant. ACU beat North Division foe East Central 20-7 in Ada. This will be the first divisional game for each team.

The Series...ACU holds an 11-8 series lead. Since the Greyhounds joined the Lone Star Conference they have a 7-5 advantage.

Against Southeastern Oklahoma...the Greyhounds struggled on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the only scoring came from redshirt freshman quarterback Brady Bazzell (Mineral Wells, Texas) on a 72-yard run. Bazzell finished the game with 73 yards rushing on seven carries. Starting quarterback Cam Sanders (Arlington, Texas) had 88 yards of total offense (31 rush, 57 pass). Clovis High School graduate Brian Weimer was the top receiver for the Hounds with three catches for 26 yards.

Sophomore linebacker Michael Walton (Earth, Texas) led all tacklers with 11, including 8 solo stops and a tackle for loss. Free safety Jason Swindle (Sr., Albuquerque) picked off his third pass of the season for a 27-yard return. Senior linebacker Jason Jeffres (Albuquerque) came up with a quarterback sack to go with his three tackles.

About Abilene Christian (3-1, 1-1 LSC)...the Wildcats were led on offense by Aaron Darden replacing the injured Misael Alvarado, out for the season with a knee injury.

Quotes from Bud...About the Southeastern game - "We have to give Southeast a lot of credit. They had a game plan which they executed very well. We did not to a good job of controlling their running game, and turned the football over at inopportune times. They really deserved to win.."

About Abilene Christian - "ACU is the best football team we've played to this point. Our performance against Southeastern Oklahoma has me concerned going into this ballgame with ACU. They have good team speed, particularly on defense, and we will have to execute very well to stay in this ballgame."

Coaches Awards for SOSU Game...
Leader of the Pack (offense) - Craig Williams, HB, Sr., Yuma, Ariz.
Mean Green (defense) - Mike Walton, LB, So., Earth, Texas
Hungry Hound (special teams) - Scott Schroeder, FB, Fr., Fair Acres
Hustler - Jason Swindle, FS, Sr., Albuquerque; Danny Cummings, DB, Jr., Raton
Pride (scout team) - Shawn Hall, DB, Fr., Farmington; Chris Ross, DT, Fr., Oceanside, Calif.; Josh Colson, RB, Fr., Cloudcroft; James Chavez, RB, Fr., Paquate.

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 Coaches Show on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm from Juanito's Restaurant in Portales. The Coaches Show will be a weekly interview with Greyhound Head Football Coach Bud Elliott and special appearances by other ENMU and Portales High School coaches. 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 host Angelo State University on Saturday, October 11 at 6:00 pm at Greyhound Stadium.