Scoop-and-score sparks Lions past Hounds

COMMERCE, Texas — Eastern New Mexico University’s football team was battling Texas A&M-Commerce on relatively even terms early Saturday — maybe even outplaying the Lions to some extent.

Then a 73-yard fumble return for a score by Commerce junior defensive back Cedric Wilcox III three minutes into the second stanza broke the scoring ice, and the Greyhounds were fighting uphill from there.

Commerce, a charter member of the Lone Star Conference, ended its stay in football in the LSC and in NCAA Division II on Saturday with a 30-10 victory over the Greyhounds.

The Lions (7-4, 5-2 LSC) will be moving into the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) next season.

ENMU (4-7, 1-6) didn’t reach the end zone until a fourth-and-goal, 3-yard run by freshman quarterback Nate Valencia with just under 10 minutes left in the game, capping a 12-play, 46-yard drive.

“We dominated the first half with regard to controlling the clock,” first-year ENMU coach Tye Hiatt said on Monday from Vale, Oregon, where he attended his brother’s funeral earlier in the day.

Freshman running back Howard Russell went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth consecutive game, rushing for 127 yards on 33 carries. ENMU held the ball for more than 37 minutes and logged a 17-10 advantage in first downs, but couldn’t make its drives pay off.

“Howard Russell is a tremendous player,” Hiatt said. “I give him a lot of credit, and our offensive line and coach (Anthony) Vitale (offensive co-ordinator and line coach). You never want to end the season with a loss, but as a team we have something to build on.”

After a pretty good start to the season, Valencia ran into some problems when the Hounds hit the teeth of their schedule.

“Nate played really well for being a true freshman,” Hiatt said. “He had a really tough three-week stretch, and it came right at the time when we played some of the best teams in the conference.”

Hiatt said the priority for the team is to hit the weight room in the off-season. ENMU not only missed the entire 2020 campaign, but did not have spring ball due to COVID-19 restrictions in the state, and it set them behind a bit.

The Hounds will graduate a number of key players, but Hiatt said that as it stands now potentially 17 of 22 starters could be back for the 2022 season.

“It’s really going to hurt us, losing some of the seniors,” he said. “Some of those guys have been highly productive for us. But the exciting part for us is the core of our team is going to be back. We want to attack the off-season and the weight room.

“Our goal for this offseason and this next year is to go 1-0 every day.”