Greyhounds eye challenge Saturday

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico’s football team survived its first challenge by outlasting Missouri S&T 35-28 in last Saturday’s season opener.

Now the next challenge — beat Colorado Mesa in Week 2 after a 10 1/2-hour road trip to Grand Junction.

While pulling out the Missouri S&T game in the fourth quarter was impressive, stirring even, that was in the cozy confines of Greyhound Stadium. Now it’s time for the Hounds’ first trek of 2019.

“It’s maybe our longest one this year,” ENMU head coach Kelley Lee said. “That’s always the mark of a good team if you can go on a long trip and get a win. So if you like challenges, it’s going to be another challenge.”

“Hopefully it’s not too much (on us),” junior defensive back Vicen’te Walker said. “As long as we stay focused, that’s all.”

“It’s going to be a tough one, but it’s not like we haven’t gone further before,” senior running back Paul Terry said. “So we’re just going to make the best of it, have a good time, and hopefully get that dub (win).”

“It’s just more time to bond with the team,” redshirt senior running back Johnny Smith said. “It is what it is. It is a road game and we’ll try to have fun with it.”

The teams will clash Saturday at 7 p.m., each coming off similar openers. Colorado Mesa, like Eastern, is 1-0. Colorado Mesa, like Eastern, pulled out last week’s victory with a fourth-quarter touchdown and a late-game interception.

ENMU broke a 28-all tie with a six-yard Smith touchdown run at the 4:51 mark of the fourth quarter last Saturday, then helped secure the victory with Walker’s interception at the Greyhounds 9. Colorado Mesa trailed South Dakota Mines 33-30 in the fourth last Saturday in Rapid City, then went ahead on Aaron Howard’s six-yard scoring pass to Peter Anderson with 9:28 to go. Mesa was still clinging to a 37-33 edge when Greyson Matalus snared an interception in the end zone with just six seconds remaining.

In each team’s Week 1 game, there was offense aplenty. Missouri S&T and Eastern combined for 914 yards. Colorado Mesa and South Dakota Mines rang up 942 yards combined.

The difference was in approach. While the Greyhounds threw sparingly — Wyatt Strand attempted just six passes — the Mavericks had three quarterbacks total 375 yards. Hayden Bollinger was 12-of-26 for 294 yards and a touchdown, Rope Ruel was 3-of-8 for 48 yards, and Howard was 5-of-7 for 33 yards and the game-winning score.

And with a pass-happy attack came busy receivers — Anderson had 193 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six catches; K.J. Sapp also caught six balls, totaling 83 yards.

On the other hand, Eastern piled up 472 rushing yards, including 100-plus nights for Terry and Smith. Terry actually flirted with the 200-yard mark, finishing at 189; Smith had 103 yards, including his game-winning score. Mesa’s rushing output was a bit more modest; the Mavericks’ main ground threat was Isaac Maestas, who rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

This Saturday’s game will be a rematch of last year’s Week 2 showdown. When Mesa and Eastern met last season in Portales, it was not a happy home opener for the Greyhounds, who trailed 31-0 at halftime and ultimately fell 34-21. They’re of course hoping for a much better result this Saturday, but know it won’t be easy.

“Great program,” Lee said before rattling off some of Mesa’s recent records. “9-2, 9-2, 9-2, 7-4. Got a win this week. One of the premier programs in the RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference). We’ve got a long road trip, so it’ll be another big test. We’re excited about it. I don’t think we played our best football against them last year, so we want to go up there and put a better effort out.”

“We’re not going to take ’em lightly,” Smith said. “They’re a tough team, obviously. But I expect us to come out with a win.”

“I think they’re going to be a good team,” Terry said. “But I think we’re a lot better than last year. We’ve got some athletes and we’re a better team this year, so I can’t wait to play ’em.”