Lee reports good first week for Hounds

PORTALES — Lightning and thunderstorms during Saturday's inter-squad scrimmage couldn't dampen the spirits of ENMU football coach Kelley Lee and his team. For Lee and company, the first week of fall camp was a success.

"It was good. We made a lot of progress, we're healthy and we're coming together as a team," Lee explained. According to Lee, newcomers showed good progress and are really starting to pick up the pace in which Eastern operates.

As for position groups making some noise, two stood out, in particular. First, the offensive line showed good depth with its two-deep lineup, while the inside linebacker corps may have been the most impressive of them all.

"We've got a position that's gonna be dealing with a lot, and it's nice to see them step up. They've been looking good this week," Lee said. "Our inside linebacking corps is pretty deep - a lot of competition there."

That's certainly an encouraging sign for the ENMU coaching staff, as a new defensive scheme means added responsibility for the linebackers. Offensive line, meanwhile, is looking to replace some starters from last year's squad, so depth is a must.

As for Saturday's scrimmage, Lee said on Friday night that all four groups on the depth chart would get plenty of playing time. The plan was to run 150 plays - equivalent to two full games.

The goal, of course, was to get a good evaluation of the entire roster, heading into next week. However, Mother Nature had other plans. The scrimmage was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., and by 11, torrential rains and the aforementioned thunder and lightning put a bit of dent into Lee's plans.

"We tried to get out there a little bit earlier, but the forecast was showing that we were gonna beat it. But it got here an hour and a half early," Lee said, laughing. "The positive is we got out there and nobody got banged up, fortunately. Sometimes when you're scrimmaging and nobody got hurt, that's a pretty big positive."

Overall, Lee says that all of the special teams work - which was done at the beginning of the scrimmage - was completed. Of the planned 150 plays on Saturday, a little more than half were ran.

Not surprisingly, in Lee's eyes, a number of his returning starters performed exceptionally well. Paul Terry, who will be tasked with replacing the school's all-time leading rusher in Kamal Cass, continued his strong offseason. The defense, meanwhile, did a good job of flying to the ball.

The focus now turns to next week.

"We should have enough film to get a depth chart situated," Lee explained. "Most of the offense and defense is in, and your base stuff is in. Now you're kinda adding your supplemental stuff and really just cleaning things up and getting better at what you do. That'll be our big focus is just cleaning things up."

The Greyhounds open the season at Missouri S&T Aug. 31, followed by their home opener 7 p.m. Sept. 8 against Colorado Mesa.