Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Midwestern State junior running back Devin Cross locks eyes with ENMU senior defensive back during Saturday's Lone Star Conference football game at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. The teams endured several lightning delays before the Mustangs were able to lay claim to a 36-15 victory over the Greyhounds.
Rain and lightning delays dragged out Saturday's Lone Star Conference football game between Eastern New Mexico University and Midwestern State at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.
When play resumed, the Mustangs rained on ENMU's parade.
Midwestern jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the second quarter and rode a 5-for-5 field goal performance from senior kicker Joseph Carlson to a 36-15 victory over the Greyhounds.
The 6 p.m. start of the match was delayed by lightning for about an hour, and there were two delays late in the second stanza. The game ended shortly after 11 p.m.
Carlson booted field goals of 28, 31, 44, 48 and 26 yards for the Mustangs (2-1, 1-0 LSC), setting a school record for field goals in a game.
"Give credit to Midwestern; they're a well-coached team," ENMU coach Kelley Lee said. "They handled the rain delays better than we did because a lot of our mistakes came after those times."
ENMU (2-2, 0-2) failed to score on three trips into the red zone, and also lost two fumbles. Mustangs senior cornerback Ryan Melton added a pair of interceptions, including a 58-yard pick-6 in the third period, and MSU collected a total of 20 points off the four giveaways.
That more than offset a 416-379 advantage in total offense for the Hounds. ENMU notched 387 yards on the ground, led by junior running back Ja'Calvin Newsom with 135 yards on 10 totes, including a 40-yard TD run in the third quarter.
Junior running backs Devin Cross and Jalen March rushed for 162 and 139 yards, respectively, for the Mustangs, and each scored a touchdown. MSU tallied on seven of its 10 full possessions in the contest.
ENMU pulled to 16-8 with just over two minutes left in the half on a 24-yard run by freshman running back Chad Ragle, and a 2-point conversion when senior placekicker Cooper Hamilton took a pitch from holder Ryan Travis and ran it in.
The game was twice-delayed after that before halftime. The Mustangs proceeded to score the next 17 points to put things out of reach.
Senior defensive back Zerrian Meander and sophomore linebacker Matthew Quartieri led ENMU on defense with 10 total tackles apiece.
ENMU has an open date this week before returning to action on Oct. 5 for its Homecoming game at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium in a 6:30 p.m. kickoff against Central Washington.
