Greyhounds Win Homecoming, 21-20, over WTAMU
Offense Rallies in 3rd Quarter, Defense Seals Win

Box score

PORTALES, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico University offense put 18 points on the scoreboard in the third quarter to overcome a 17-3 halftime deficit, and the ENMU defense and special teams sealed the win with key plays in the fourth quarter, as the Greyhounds defeated arch rival West Texas A&M University, 21-20, in the ENMU Homecoming game, Oct. 9 at Greyhound Stadium. Eastern, 4-3 overall, rallied from a halftime deficit for the third consecutive game to improve to 3-0 in the LSC South. WTAMU dropped to 1-5 overall, 0-3 in the LSC South. The game ultimately hinged on two plays by the ENMU defense on field goal attempts.

he first key play was at the end of an 11-play, 56-yard drive for West Texas A&M, as the Buffaloes moved from their own 41 to the ENMU 2. On 4th-and-goal from the three, WTAMU lined up for a field goal. Jacob Felton’s 19-yard attempt was blocked by Ty Touchstone (Sr., FS, Lubbock, TX/Monterey HS). Malala Tai, Jr. (Jr., DT, Arlington, TX/Sam Houston HS) fell on the ball for the Greyhounds at the 5-yard line with 3:20 remaining.

Two plays later, ENMU quarterback Steven Hinson (Sr., Olney, TX/Olney HS) fumbled and Terry Roy fell on the ball for the Buffaloes. Again ENMU’s defense kept WTAMU out of the end zone.

The Buffs lined up for a 25-yard field goal on 4th-and-goal from the Eastern 7. The snap was bad and holder Dalton Bell fumbled the ball. He then rolled out to his left looking for a receiver, but threw the ball into the ground when he was pressured by Adrian Quigley (Sr., SS, Lubbock, TX/Monterey HS) near the sideline.

ENMU took over with 1:10 remaining, but failed to gain a first down and punted with 10 seconds left. Price booted a 37-yarder that Jason Jones picked up at the WTAMU 47. He was tackled immediately. WTAMU quarterback Derek Maupin, who went 35 of 56 passing, launched a desperation throw on the final play. Corey White (Jr., CB, Lubbock, TX/Estacado HS) broke up the pass near the ENMU 20 as time expired.

The Eastern offensive, held to just 58 yards in the first half, scored on all three of its possessions in the third quarter to take the lead. West Texas, which had 248 yards at the half, managed just three points the rest of the way, despite adding an additional 206 yards. ENMU gained 222 yards for the game.

ENMU held the Buffaloes to three downs and a punt to start the second half. Following the punt, the Greyhounds took over at their own 47-yard line and drove 44 yards on eight plays. The drive stalled just inside the WTAMU 10-yard line, but place-kicker Lee Price (So., Holliday, TX/Holliday HS) kicked his second field goal of the game, a 26-yarder, with 9:15 left in the quarter to pull Eastern within 17-6.

White intercepted West Texas quarterback Derek Maupin at the ENMU 30 on the Buffs’ next possession and returned the ball four yards. A personal foul against WTAMU advanced the ball to the Eastern 49. J.J. Jennings (Fr., FB/RB, Fort Worth, TX/Everman Joe C. Bean HS) rushed for six yards up the middle, then quarterback Steven Hinson (Sr., Olney, TX/Olney HS) threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Hunter (Jr., WR, Lamesa, TX/Lamesa HS). Hinson ran for two points on the conversion to cut the WTAMU lead to 17-14.

The Hounds again held the Buffs on three downs. Chad Kennedy punted for just 29 yards on fourth down and Eastern regained the ball at the ENMU 46. On 3rd-and-5 from the Eastern 48, Hunter made an acrobatic 33-yard pass reception to bring the ball to the WTAMU 15. Jennings ran for 14 yards on the next play, and was stopped inside the 1-yard line. Tezeno scored on 1st-and-goal and Price kicked the PAT, giving ENMU a 21-17 lead.

West Texas A&M drove 60 yards on 12 plays following the kickoff. The Buffs settled for three points on a 40-yard field goal by Jacob Felton with 13:32 left in the game. ENMU remained in front, 21-20.

In the first half, Maupin and the Buffaloes ran 42 offensive plays, picked up 12 first downs and amassed 248 yards. At the same time, the WTAMU defense held Eastern to 58 total yards, just four first downs and 26 plays. Even so, Eastern was within striking distance at the half.

Offensive guard John Shear opened the scoring for West Texas with 12:54 left in the second quarter when he fell on the ball in the ENMU end zone following a fumble by teammate Anthony Armstrong on a short pass to the 1-yard line. Courage Idemudia (Jr., LB, Glenn Heights, TX/DeSoto HS) forced the fumble, but Shear pounced on the ball just ahead of two Eastern players.

Maupin increased the lead to 14-0 when he hit Tonae Martin with an 8-yard touchdown pass with 9:00 remaining in the half. The TD strike completed an 8-play, 49-yard drive after ENMU’s Patrick Hemphill (Fr., FB, Paducah, TX/Paducah HS) fumbled at the Eastern 47.

The Buffaloes tried an onside kick, but John Naccarato (Sr., WR, Raton, NM/Raton HS) fell on the ball at the West Texas 42-yard line. The Hounds kept the ball for 10 plays and advanced it to the WTAMU 14-yard line before Price booted a 30-yard field goal.

ENMU forced a fumble by Jason Jones on the kickoff, but Jones recovered the ball for the Buffs. Felton kicked a 30-yard field goal at the end of a 13-play, 64-yard drive with 37 seconds left in the half.

Maupin’s success on 35 of 56 passes resulted in 352 yards for the Buffaloes. Martin caught 8 passes for 81 yards and Dominique Bibben hauled in 6 passes for 37 yards. Armstrong made 5 receptions for 57 yards and Charley Martin caught 4 passes for 81 yards.

The Buffaloes ran for 102 rushing yards on 27 carries. Aubrey Lacy, who scored four TDs against the Greyhounds in a 49-23 win for WTAMU last season, led the Buffs with 9 carries for 75 yards. Bibben earned 50 yards on 12 carries. WTAMU ended the game with 454 total yards and 23 first downs. ENMU’s 222 total yards included 164 yards in the second half. The Greyhounds achieved just 11 first downs.

Hinson ran 11 times for 35 yards and completed 3 of 10 passes for 77 yards. Hunter caught two of the passes for 78 yards. Christian Coronado (So., RB, Levelland, TX/Levelland HS) recorded the other catch for minus-1 yard on the final play of the first half. Hinson was 1 for 6 passing at the break.

Jennings was Eastern’s top rusher, with 45 yards on 10 carries. Hinson ranked second on the rushing chart, while Tezeno was third with 8 carries for 33 yards. Hemphill achieved 28 yards on 8 carries. Eastern ran a total of 42 times for 145 yards.

Price was 2 for 2 on field goals and averaged 39.4 yards on 5 punts, with a long of 52 yards. Steven Todd (Sr., P, Lubbock, TX/Frenship HS) had one punt for 42.5 yards. Felton was 2 of 3 on field goals for WTAMU. The Buffaloes averaged 38.0 yards on a total of five punts by Kennedy.

Eastern’s leading tackler was Jeff Howard with 12 total tackles. Idemudia and Will Smith (Sr., FS, Lubbock, TX/Monterey HS) added nine total tackles each. Idemudia also had one-half sack, one tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

B.J. Biggar (Sr., DE, Kemp, TX/Kemp HS) had two tackles for losses of 16 yards, including a quarterback sack. He also forced a fumble and broke up a pass. White had only three tackles, but all were unassisted, and he also earned the game’s only interception plus three pass break-ups and one tackle for a loss. Touchstone had six tackles and the game-saving blocked field goal. WTAMU’s defensive efforts were led by Chad Webster, who earned 13 total tackles, including 11 unassisted stops. T. J. Sparks was credited with nine total tackles.

Eastern will travel to Texas A&M University-Commerce next weekend to take on the Lions in an LSC South contest. Kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 16, in Commerce, Texas, is set for 1 p.m. MDT. Last year, ENMU defeated TAMU-Commerce, 10-3, at Greyhound Stadium.