Hounds find balance

PORTALES — Including his redshirt season, this is Lane Cummings' fifth year in the Greyhound football program, and the Las Cruces native is far from the only experienced guy in the Eastern New Mexico University locker room.

Including his time as an assistant coach, this is the sixth year in the program for new head coach Kelley Lee.

Though its path has changed from the isolation of the old stadium at Blackwater Draw, little has changed for the Greyhound Way with a new stadium last year and a new person at the helm this year.

"It hasn't been much different," said Cummings, ENMU's starting center. "Coach Lee pretty much kept things the same. We're still looking at the same goals - winning the conference, make the Division II national playoffs."

The first week of that mission wrapped up Saturday, with a scrimmage that showed the Greyhounds are strong in all areas but still have room for improvement.

The defense, with eight returning starters, recovered from early penalty problems to cause three first-half turnovers. The offense, with seven returning starters, rebounded for scores through the air and on the ground as the cool, cloudy morning transformed into a sauna by noon with the morning rain evaporating off Greyhound Stadium's two-tone turf.

"The good part for the offense was they got about 10 or 11 touchdowns today," Lee said, "but the bad news for the defense is they gave up those touchdowns. The good news for the defense is getting three turnovers, but the bad news is the offense turned those over.

"From my perspective, it's a good thing to see them even. If one side is dominant over the other, you get a little worried."

The defense, wearing the home green jerseys, was a team in discord early with three offsides penalties on the opening drive. But that drive ended in just a field goal, and turnovers soon got the sideline talkative.

"How many turnovers?" was yelled after both interceptions and a fumble recovery, with the sideline answering each time — "one" on Orlando Perez jumping a route, "two" when a gang of Hounds knocked the ball loose at the end of a long run and "three" when Dante Urrea snatched a pop-up after a receiver-corner collision.

New defensive coordinator Ivan Cordova said his transition from the University of New Mexico, where he was defensive line coach, has been easier because the returners have quickly picked up on merging the program's standards with the new coach's expectations.

"We're pretty good up front," Cordova said. "Our 1s, I think we do a good job of stopping the run."

Cordova also said the secondary is showing signs of improvement, while Lee highlighted the fact that kickers Bailey Hale and Luke Bussen were perfect on the day.

Lee concluded the practice by reminding players of dinner with position coaches later that night, their Saturday curfew and Sunday church plans before they made the walk to their locker room — which has its closest parking spots reserved for weekly player award winners.

It's just another motivator for the Hounds, who are coming off two bowl appearances and look to improve upon their No. 4 Lone Star Conference preseason ranking.

"The tough thing is that we're the smallest team (in the LSC)," Cummings said, "and we've got to work harder than everybody else."

ENMU opens its season at home Aug. 31 with non-conference Southwest Baptist.