Eastern New Mexico 59, Southern Nazarene 21
BLACKWATER DRAW, N.M. — After enduring more than two hours in weather delays, the Eastern New Mexico University football team (1-0) used quarterback Wesley Wood’s (So., Muleshoe, Texas/Muleshoe HS) 391 passing yards and seven touchdown performance, which tied the Lone Star Conference record, to defeat the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene (0-1) by a 59-21 score, Saturday night at Greyhound Stadium. Matt Kalisch (Sr., DE, Harker Heights, Texas/Harker Heights HS/NMMI) paced a stingy defense which shut out SNU in the second half and allowed just two third-down conversions over the final 30 minutes of play.
Trailing 21-14 in the second quarter, Wood led the Hounds on scoring drives, which were capped by scoring passes to Jesse Poku (Sr., WR, Murphy, Texas/Richardson HS) and Tyler Finch (So., WR, Farmington, N.M./Piedra Vista HS), as Eastern took the lead for good. Poku hauled in 10 catches for 126 yards and three scores, giving him 137 catches for his career, surpassing Derrick Hunter’s ENMU record of 128 receptions. Tillman Stevens (Sr., DB, Baytown, Texas/Sterling HS), Devin Sweet (Sr., LB, Clovis, N.M./Clovis HS), Linnel Mosby (Fr., S, Odessa, Texas/Odessa Permian HS), Nathan Uland (Sr., LB, Denton, Texas/Denton Ryan HS) and Curtis Jackson (Jr., DB, College Station Texas/A&M Consolidated HS) each had an interception, while the defense finished with five sacks for the game.
The Greyhounds will open their Lone Star Conference Crossover schedule next Saturday, when they travel to Angelo State. Kick off in San Angelo, Texas, is set for 5:00 p.m. MST.
Pittsburg State 31, Central Oklahoma 20
EDMOND, Okla. (Aug. 28) -- Quarterback Zac Dickey scored on a 47-yard run with 8:52 remaining to give Pittsburg State the lead and the Gorillas added an insurance touchdown in the final minute to knock off Central Oklahoma 31-20 before 8,425 Wantland Stadium fans here Saturday night.
The teams combined for nine turnovers -- eight in the first half -- and PSU overcame a 14-7 halftime deficit in beating the Bronchos in the third straight season opener between the two.
Dickey’s long run came just two minutes after UCO had taken a 20-17 lead on a 36-yard Chris Robbs field goal and gave the Gorillas a 24-20 advantage. PSU put it away with 1:33 left on Terrance Isaac’s three-yard run after the Bronchos had failed on a fourth-down from their own 10 yard line.
UCO led 14-7 at halftime as Ethan Sharp had touchdown passes of 28 yards to Josh Birmingham and 17 to Dolphin Davis to offset an 84-yard punt return by Jon Thomas.
The Gorillas came back to take a 17-14 lead on a 33-yard Jake Craig field goal and Dickey’s 28-yard TD pass to Thomas, with the Bronchos going back on top on Robbs’ field goals of 39 and 36 yards.
Running back Josh Birmingham rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries and added 63 yards receiving as UCO outgained the Gorillas 384-367.
The Bronchos are idle next week before opening Lone Star Conference play on Sept. 11 against Tarleton State. PSU returns home to host Chadron State.
Langston 28, Incarnate Word 20
Langston University scored in only two quarters Saturday night in San Antonio but the points stood up in an opening night 28-20 win at Incarnate Word preventing any Cardinals magic like a year ago.
One day and one year ago the Cardinals won their first game ever with a magical 42-39 victory over Monterrey Tech on the way to a final 5-5 mark in the inaugural season of football at UIW. But this time around things were different.
The Lions (1-0) got a pair of touchdowns in quarter number two the first coming on a 34-yard strike from Darrion Lewis to Carlos Ross. Lewis then threw 50 yards to Ron Celestine six minutes later giving LU a 14-7 halftime lead. Lewis finished the night 16-123-0 for 212 yards and the two scores.
Incarnate Word (0-1) got on the board first in the initial quarter when senior signal caller Thomas Specia went over from the one. That would be it for the Cardinals until Thomas Rebold kicked a 37-yard field goal at 11:28 of the third quarter.
The lone kick was not enough to overcome two quick strikes by Langston. At the 4:32 mark of the third Ricky Sherin ran four yards into the end zone making the score 21-10. Twelve seconds later Ronald Burgess scooped up a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and covered 24 yards putting the Lions up 28-10.
Incarnate Word’s defense shut out LU in the fourth while the Cardinals’ offense put 10 points on the boards. UIW went on a 12-play, 75-yard drive ending in a Trent Rios one-yard run. Rebold’s PAT narrowed it to 28-17 at 13:47 of the fourth. Shortly after that, junior safety Sonny Estrada covered the ball after freshman running back Matt Garza blocked a Lions’ punt. The Cardinals did not do much with the opportunity and had to settle for the Rebold field goal putting the game at its final score.
Langston won the total yards by 292-264 but the Cardinals turned the ball over four times.
Trent Rios led UIW on the ground with 88 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown while Specia finished the night 15-32-3 for 144 yards but no scores. Senior wide receiver Jacob Love had five catches for 66 yards.
On the defensive side McClain finished with five tackles including one sack of the quarterback and one and a half tackles for losses totaling 13 yards. Sophomore corner Devan Avery and senior end Randy Enriquez led the Cardinals with eight stops each.
The Cardinals get a week off before returning to action with their first-ever Lone Star Conference contest. On September 11 UIW will be at Southeastern Oklahoma for a 6 p.m. kickoff. This contest begins 10 straight weeks of LSC play for UIW.