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Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Greyhounds confident of chances if Paul Terry eclipses 2,000-yard mark.
Paul Terry takes a pitch at Monday's Greyhound football practice. Terry, a nominee for the Harlon Hill trophy, has rushed for a school-record 1,778 yards this season and has an outside chance at the 2,000-yard mark Saturday at the Heritage Bowl in Corsicana, Texas.
PORTALES — Paul Terry’s success is the Eastern New Mexico football team’s success. And vice versa.
This Saturday, when the senior fullback and his teammates play the Heritage Bowl against Southern Arkansas in Corsicana, Texas, their main priority is to get a bowl victory, which would be Eastern’s first Division II postseason win ever.
But, Terry is chasing 2,000 rushing yards, standing just 222 short of it. That’s a number certainly within his wheelhouse, because he tore off 225 yards at Midwestern State on Oct. 5, 233 against Angelo State on Nov. 9. And those games ended in Eastern victories.
So, if Terry can smash the 2,000-yard ceiling against Southern Arkansas on Saturday, chances are he would be helping the Greyhounds get that elusive bowl victory.
“Yeah, if he was to get that record, everything kind of goes through our fullbacks, so we’d probably be doing pretty good,” Eastern’s third-year head coach Kelley Lee said after Monday’s practice at Greyhound Stadium. “So it would be a good thing.”
Division II’s only 2,000-yard rusher so far this season is Notre Dame’s Jaleel McLaughlin, who has a 2,190-yard season entering Saturday’s quarterfinal against Slippery Rock.
Terry’s teammates would like him to reach 2,000, and not just because it would help their chances of beating Southern Arkansas.
“That’s awesome. I never even heard of that for a D-II school,” Greyhounds redshirt senior quarterback Wyatt Strand said after practicing Monday. “Super exciting for him. He’s had a wonderful year.”
“I think the offensive linemen would like to get it for him more than anything,” Lee said, “because they like blocking for him, and that (2,000 yards) would be fantastic.”
The Greyhound linemen do want Terry to hit 2,000. But junior offensive lineman Vili Fisiiahi doesn’t think the unit will deserve any special accolades if Terry does it.
“Oh, that’s our job,” Fisiiahi said after Monday’s practice. “We just put our heads down and we just grind. It would mean a lot for us to do it, but that is just what we do, just grind.”
The linemen would like to see Terry reach two grand, in large part because he’s their buddy, their brother.
“Yeah, he is. He’s a cool guy, hilarious too,” Fisiiahi said. “He’s another guy who just puts his head down and just grinds to get better every day.”
When Terry discussed the opportunity for 2,000 yards Monday, he seemed to be thinking of an ‘h’ word. Humble.
“Some of my teammates have been telling me about it,” Terry said. “That was part of the goals that I set coming into college. I’ve always expected highly of myself, and it’d be great to reach one of those goals I set.”
Terry, out of Amarillo’s Randall High School, is one of 36 players in the country to be nominated for this year’s Harlon Hill Trophy, presented annually to the Division II College Football Player of the Year. He was also a First-Team All-Lone Star Conference selection after his school-record 1,778 yards earned him the conference rushing title.
All that is nice. But there’s something special about 2,000 yards, even just the sound of it. If Terry gets that mark, it would be — to use a Ron Burgundy-ism — kind of a big deal.
“Just to talk about having a chance at 2,000 is incredible,” Lee said. “It’s just a testament to what a good season he’s had, what a pivotal role he’s played in our offense.”
