Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Eastern New Mexico University senior running back Tyler Cleveland tries to escape the grasp of West Texas A&M junior linebacker J.T. Cavender during Saturday's Lone Star Conference football game at Greyhound Stadium. The Greyhounds defeated the Buffaloes 35-27 in the teams' annual Wagon Wheel contest.
One down. One to go.
Eastern New Mexico University's football team captured the first of two season-ending rivalry games on Saturday, rallying past West Texas A&M 35-27 at Greyhound Stadium in the Wagon Wheel game.
This week, the Greyhounds wrap up the season at Western New Mexico at noon on Saturday in the Chili Bowl contest. ENMU (5-5, 2-5 LSC) will be seeking a winning season and trying recapture the Chili Bowl trophy, which the Mustangs took home last season with a 38-24 triumph – their first win over the Hounds in the past 17 games dating to 1993.
It's been a rough year for the Mustangs (1-8, 0-7. They topped Sul Ross State 42-28 in their season opener, but have allowed at least 48 points in six of their eight outings since, including a 56-3 loss to LSC co-leader Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday.
"We lost it last year, and we want to get it back," Lee said. "It would be a great way to end our season."
Sophomore wide receiver Andre Jones caught four passes from sophomore quarterback Mario Sanchez for 162 yards and a touchdown, including three catches of 45 yards or more.
"It's a team thing," Jones said of his game. "I can't get open if other guys don't run their routes."
The Hounds scored four touchdowns in the second half to ease a 13-7 deficit.
"We really opened up the playbook," said Jones, who is from San Antonio. "Once we figured out what (the Buffaloes) were doing (on defense), we were able to mov the ball."
ENMU outgained WT 358-175 in the second half, including a margin of 235-11 in the third stanza. Jones made an over-the-shoulder fingertip catch for 54 yards on the first play of the second stanza to set up the Hounds' first TD, then caught a 45-yarder to set up the go-ahead score – a 2-yard keeper by Sanchez early in the third – before hauling in a 55-yard bomb later in the period to make it 21-13.
Meantime, Sanchez rushed 20 times for 118 yards – his second consecutive tilt over 100 – and scored three times on short runs. Junior Jonathan Watson capped a 75-yard drive with a 20-yard TD run to make it 35-20 with 4:20 left.
Sanchez threw his first interception of the season, but finished 5-for-10 overall.
"Mario and Andre had great games," Lee sad. "I think our offensive line did a fantastic job.
"We told our guys at halftime, 'We've got some stuff out there. We just have to execute.'"
On Monday, Sanchez was selected the Lone Star Conference's player of the week on offense while ENMU senior punter Francisco Moreno, who averaged 51.7 yards on three punts, earned the same honor for special teams.
WT (3-7, 2-6) led 10-0 early, marching the opening kickoff 14 plays for a Preston Gregg field goal, then going 90 yards in just eight plays ending in a 19-yard pass from Ashton Dubose to Tyler Sweet.
The Hounds responded with a 70-yard, six-play drive for the first tally by Sanchez, a 2-yard run. Gregg's second field goal made it 13-7 at halftime.
ENMU got the second-half kickoff and put together scoring drives of nine, five and nine plays on its first three possessions to lead 28-13 with just under 14 minutes left.
The victory gives the Hounds a 19-18 advantage over the Buffs in the all-time series, including 18-17 since the inception of the Wagon Wheel rivalry in 1986.
The only games not included were the first meeting in 1945, won by WT 56-7, and an LSC playoff tilt in 2014, won by ENMU 31-21. The teams did not meet between 1946 and 1985, when WT was in NCAA Division I for the most part.
