Greyhounds upset No. 21 Angelo State in overtime

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico’s football team saved its best for last.

Last home game, that is. Next-to-last game overall.

The Greyhounds, in their final appearance at Greyhound Stadium this season and their penultimate game of 2019 — rallied to beat No. 21 Angelo State 20-17 in overtime Saturday night on Al Whitehead Field. The Hounds’ victory knocked Angelo from the national Division II Top 25 rankings while evening out their own final Lone Star Conference record at 4-4 and guaranteeing their first winning season since 2017.

Eastern improved to 6-4 overall with a game to go, following a disappointing 5-6 finish last year, while dropping Angelo State to 8-2 overall, 5-2 LSC.

Saturday’s victory was also a nice rebound for the ENMU players after a surprising and disheartening loss at UT Permian Basin the previous week. It all had Eastern’s third-year head coach Kelley Lee in proud papa mode.

“I told them that they played with an incredible amount of heart,” Lee said, “both physically and mentally. And those seniors, it’s great to send them out with a win.”

“Oh, it was an emotional win for sure,” Eastern redshirt senior quarterback Wyatt Strand said after playing his last game at Greyhound Stadium. “It meant a lot. Last year we (returning players) sent the seniors out with a win, and these guys sent us out with a win. ... It hadn’t been the greatest of seasons, but that right there made it special. It definitely made the season more special for us.”

“Man, we’ve been working hard,” Greyhounds redshirt senior defensive back Charles Countee said. “Our season hasn’t gone as planned. ... I think (the win) is just great for all of us.”

“It feels great to go out on Senior Night like that,” said senior kicker/punter Tyler Vargas, after booting the 39-yard overtime game-winner.

“Very excited, very excited,” said junior running back Justin Manyweather, one of the Hounds who will get to play again at Greyhound Stadium. “I’m proud of our team. We didn’t give up.”

Senior running back Paul Terry fueled the victory with a 14-yard, fourth-quarter scoring run and 233 rushing yards on the night. But it was a true team effort — a melding of offense, defense and special teams — that brought about the final result. The defense, in fact, had been pretty nicked up as of late, so that unit’s effort against then-ranked Angelo State was appreciated by teammates.

“To hold a team that’s as powerful as they are to 17 points was phenomenal,” Strand said.

Eastern stayed in it thanks in large part to that defense, which allowed two touchdowns with one set up by a fluke reception in the second quarter. And the Greyhounds’ offense tied the game at 17 with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter on a one-yard Strand touchdown run and a Vargas extra point — capping a drive that had been kick-started by Terry’s 47-yard run on the first play from ENMU’s own 36.

The Hounds’ defense then took over again, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down to end Angelo’s next drive, and a punt on the Rams’ possession after that.

There was one last snap in regulation with Eastern holding possession at its own 10. Not risking disaster before overtime, Strand took a knee.

ENMU had first possession of the extra period, starting at Angelo’s 25. Two-yard runs by Strand and Terry, followed by a four-yard Strand run, made it fourth-and-two from the 17. Vargas then kicked a 34-yard field goal, but only after penalty flags had flown due to a false start.

So Vargas had to attempt a 39-yarder, and delivered anyway to give Eastern a 20-17 advantage. No worries about having to try the field goal again, says Vargas.

“Same kick,” he said. “It’s always the same kick.”

And not quite as hard, to hear him tell it.

“It is a little easier geometry-wise,” Vargas explained, “because the angle’s different. But whether it’s a field goal or a PAT, it’s always gotta be the same kick.”

“We wanted to get a touchdown; we settled for a field goal,” Lee said. “Tyler banged it through.”

It was then time for Angelo State’s crack at it from the 25, and the Rams did convert a first down that brought them to the 14. However, they advanced only two more yards to the 12, with Eastern’s Davon Conyers defending on an incomplete pass attempt from Payne Sullins to Keke Chism on third-and-eight.

On trotted Angelo’s Connor Flanigan for a 29-yard attempt that would keep the Rams afloat, keep overtime going.

The kick was up. It headed toward the left post, but seemed to have a chance of sneaking inside. Instead, it snuck just outside.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, with Greyhound Stadium relatively silent. Then, an Angelo player on the sidelines could be heard saying in disbelief, “They won.”

And he was right. The referees signaled no good. Eastern’s players, both on the field and the sidelines, went nuts, jumping around like kids.

They won indeed.

“To be honest with you, I thought they made it,” Manyweather said of the Rams’ field-goal attempt, “until I saw everybody jump. I was very happy; I jumped with everybody.”

It was a wild ending to Eastern’s home slate, for sure.

“Yeah, it was exciting,” Countee said. “Playing with that group of guys I’ve been playing with for four or five years, and to win was even better. ... Back when we were kids we played because it was fun, and one of our mottos this week was to have fun. And that’s what we did.”

“Oh my gosh,” Strand said. “I’d never played an overtime game, in junior high or high school. And I got to play two of them this year. It’s crazy, though, because every play matters in overtime.”

And so ended with a crackle Strand’s Greyhound Stadium quarterbacking career, which began in 2016, Eastern’s first year playing at the facility.

“I got to open up the stadium,” Strand said. “So it was cool to play four years in it.”

As he talked about his memories wearing the green, gray and white for home games, Strand turned to his right and looked wistfully at Greyhound Stadium, his former home away from home.

“It’s a beautiful field,” he said, “isn’t it?”