Hounds fall short for third week in a row

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Eastern New Mexico University’s football team went toe-to-toe with Central Washington on Saturday night. For the third week in a row, however, the Greyhounds came up short.

CWU ran off the final six-plus minutes of the game and held off ENMU 38-35 in Lone Star Conference play, keeping the Wildcats (4-2, 4-0 LSC) in the conference lead by one-half game over the Hounds’ next opponent, Texas-Permian Basin (5-1, 3-0).

ENMU (3-3, 1-3) has dropped its last three contests by a grand total of 15 points.

“It was a tough one,” Hounds coach Kelley Lee said on Monday. “It was just back and forth. But I was real proud of our kids; I thought they fought hard, and we executed real well on offense.

“We’ve had a lead in the second half in every game we’ve played. I don’t think our record’s indicative of how we’ve played.”

The contest got off to a rollicking start, with CWU sophomore Tyler Flanagan returning the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown before ENMU freshman R.J. Nora of Clovis countered with a 93-yard scoring return after originally muffing the kick, making it 7-7 after only 27 seconds.

The teams were tied again at 14-14 and 21-21. CWU senior Josh Jones put the Wildcats back in front as time expired in the half on a 24-yard field goal.

The Hounds then notched their first lead, covering 50 yards in six plays capped by a 19-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Mario Sanchez to sophomore wide receiver Andre Jones with 6:04 left in the third stanza. The Wildcats promptly countered with a five-play, 68-yard march ending on Flanagan’s 7-yard run late in the period.

After ENMU failed on a fourth-and-1 at the CWU 42 on the first play of the final canto, the Wildcats needed just two plays – the second a 44-yard TD pass from junior quarterback J.J. Lemming to junior wide receiver Marcus Cook – to make it a 10-point game with 14:02 to go.

On the fourth-down play, there was a mixup on the exchange and the Wildcats stopped Sanchez for no gain.

“We were going to make it,” Lee said. “That ended up being the difference in the game.”

Still, ENMU came back with a 75-yard drive in 15 plays covering 7 ½ minutes and pulled to 38-35 on freshman running back Elijah Zeh’s fourth-and- goal, 1-yard run with 6:26 remaining. But the Hounds were unable to get the ball back, and the game ended with the Wildcats converting a fourth-and-1 at the ENMU 9.

“The feeling was if we could’ve gotten a stop, I feel like we could’ve won the game,” Lee said.

Central Washington posted a 25-21 edge in first downs and a 383-313 advantage in total offense. Lemming went 14-of-22 for 207 yards and a touchdown, while Flanagan rushed 22 times for 117 yards.

Sanchez went 7-of-8 passing for 100 yards for ENMU, with Jones catching six passes for 92 yards, while junior running back Ja’Calvin Newsom carrying 10 times for 79 yards. Sanchez and junior Jonathan Watson each added short TD runs for the Hounds.

Permian Basin, which won at Midwestern State 21-13 on Saturday, has already matched the eight-year-old program’s school record for wins and has arguably been the surprise of the conference. The Falcons were picked seventh in the nine-team LSC in preseason, just ahead of ENMU and Western New Mexico.

Kris McCullough took over the program this season after helping former LSC member East Central to a 9-3 record in 2022. He brought several players with him from the Ada, Okla. School, including senior quarterback Kenny Hrncir.

“We all figured they’d be pretty good because they have so many returning players,” Lee said. “The quarterback has a strong arm and can run. He does a good job of extending plays, and doesn’t put his team in bad situations.”

While UTPB is based in Odessa, Saturday’s game will be played in Midland.