ENMU defense predictably ahead of offense

PORTALES - Given the realities of the last 18 months - a football regular season and two spring seasons lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, plus a new coach bringing in a markedly different offense - it's possible Eastern New Mexico's defense could have reported to campus Saturday morning and still held its own in that evening's scrimmage.

So it was no shocker after two-plus weeks of fall practice to see the defense dominate the scrimmage at Greyhound Stadium, which hosted college football for the first time since 2019.

With less than two weeks separating the Greyhounds' scrimmage from their Sept. 2 home opener against Central Washington, it's evident the Green and Silver will lean on its defense for the immediate future.

"We have a long way to go," said Greyhound coach Tye Hiatt, who was pleased with the overall effort. "I was really happy defensively, and I think that's going to be our calling card for a couple of years - playing really good defense, protecting the ball on offense.

"I was really happy with the kicking game. I think our field goal kicker, Cooper Hamilton, is really good. He's got such a strong leg. He was committed (to) Division I out of high school, so he has a chance to be great."

In what was more of a situational drill than an actual game, the defense allowed just five first downs - two by penalty, two by run, one by pass - and registered six turnovers, including a pick-six by Isiah Rogers for the game's only touchdown. The offense did initially register a long rushing touchdown about 20 minutes into the scrimmage, but it was called back on a penalty.

Freshman defensive back Tre Hubert grabbed one of three interceptions on the night on the first play from scrimmage, and that play was immediately followed by an end-zone interception from senior corner Romell Jones.

Hubert, who played high school ball at Midland Lee and only converted to the secondary two years ago, agreed the situation at hand clearly favored the defense.

"Coach Hiatt is taking an offense with a lot of triple-option guys (and adding more passing)," said Hubert. "They're working on it every day, and just getting better. I feel like we're doing good. We're still learning, getting everything down, just getting ready for Week 1."

Both Jones' and Hubert's picks came on jump ball plays, and the defensive line also did its part in recovering three fumbles.

"We're pretty athletic at corner, which Is great because people like to throw it outside the hash," Hiatt said. "Our D-line is probably our best unit on the team. We go two-deep, and we've got a lot of kids. Our best player, Mazin (Richards), was really limited on reps. Our defensive line has a chance to be really good."

Hiatt said he feels fortunate the Greyhounds open at home, with a short week due to the Thursday scheduling compounded by the day of practice the visiting team loses making the 1,500-mile trip.

Coming in as a freshman, and playing prep ball at Midland - "it's a religion there," he said - Hubert missed no game action due to the pandemic. He feels the pain of his new teammates' past, and enjoyed the optimism of getting back on the gridiron again.

"They came out of here so anxious, so hyped to play football again," Hubert said. "I was so excited for them."