Savages QB terrorizes Hounds

DURANT, Okla. — Senior quarterback Drew Beard ran for 231 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 295 yards and three scores Saturday night, setting a school and Lone Star Conference single-game total offense record in the process, to lift Southeastern Oklahoma past Eastern New Mexico University 45-21 in an LSC crossover football game.

Southeastern, playing its season opener, piled up 568 yards in handing the Greyhounds (0-2) their fifth consecutive loss dating to last season and denying veteran ENMU coach Bud Elliott his 200th college coaching victory.

The Hounds finished with 368 total yards. Senior quarterback Steven Hinson rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns, but was limited to 5-of-18 passing for only 54 yards.

Hinson capped a nine-play, 99-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to stake the Hounds to a 7-3 lead. The drive started after Southeastern’s Pete Cuva booted a coffin-corner punt out of bounds at the 1.

The drive was highlighted by runs of 9 and 14 yards by Christian Coronado, a 14-yard run by Hinson and a 23-yard pass from Hinson to Derek Hunter, with a 15-yard roughing-the passer penalty tacked on.

But the Savages quickly regained control, scoring the next four touchdowns — three on passes by Beard, a Harlon Hill finalist last season as one of Division II’s top players.

Beard, who completed 13-of-22 passes, had TD tosses of 8 yards to Michael Mooney and 45 yards to Tank Boulware to stake the Savages to a 17-7 halftime lead. He then found Maurice Gardner on a 9-yard touchdown toss in the third period, and Lenell Lawrence’s 24-yard interception return barely a minute later put Southeastern up 31-7.

Jason Tezeno scored on a 5-yard run in the closing seconds of the third quarter, and Hinson added a 45-yard run in the fourth. But those scores were offset by touchdown runs of 5 and 53 yards by Beard.

Southeastern won handily despite a 23-16 deficit in first downs, 16 penalties for 132 yards and the fact that Eastern had a time-of-possession advantage of nearly 11 minutes.

ENMU 7 0 7 7 — 21

Southeastern 3 14 14 14 — 45

Scoring summary

First quarter

SE — Pete Cuva 28-yard FG, 9:43

ENM — Steven Hinson 17-yard run (Lee Price kick), 1:49

Second quarter

SE — Michael Mooney 8-yard pass from Drew Beard (Cuva kick), 13:04

SE — Tank Boulware 45-yard pass from Beard (Cuva kick), 2:58

Third quarter

SE — Maurice Gardner 9-yard pass from Beard (Cuva kick), 5:55

SE — Lenell Lawrence 24-yard interception return (Cuva kick), 4:50

ENM — Jason Tezeno 5-yard run (Price kick), :21

Fourth quarter

SE — Beard 5-yard run (Cuva kick), 9:47

ENM — Hinson 45-yard run (Price kick), 4:35

SE — Beard 53-yard run (Cuva kick), 3:34

A — 3,893.

Team statistics

ENM SE

First downs 23 16

Rushes-yards 55-277 31-273

Passing yards 54 295

Total yards 331 568

Comp-att-int 5-18-2 13-22-1

Punting 4-36.5 3-40.0

Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-30 16-162

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Eastern New Mexico, Hinson 20-131, Fide Davalos 15-63, Christian Coronado 4-30, Sukora Cooper 5-23, Tezeno 4-16, Robert Garza 3-7, Pat Hemphill 2-3, Derrick Hunter 1-2, Ty Touchstone 1-2. Southeastern Oklahoma, Beard 13-231, Brian Odom 7-35, Terel King 8-10, team 3-minus 3.

PASSING — Eastern New Mexico, Hinson 5-18-2-54. Southeastern Oklahoma, Beard 13-22-1-295.

RECEIVING — Eastern New Mexico, Hunter 3-43, Davalos 2-11. Southeastern Oklahoma, Boulware 3-90, Gardner 3-60, King 3-51, Mooney 2-70, Derek Hixon 1-13, Odom 1-11.