ENMU special teams have been just that

Senior Eric Mims didn’t have to rush home Saturday night after all to give his first sermon on Sunday in his father’s church in Amarillo.

The starting cornerback for the ENMU football team suffered a dislocated shoulder in practice on Thursday and is expected to be out four weeks, coach Bud Elliott said. He returned to Amarillo before Saturday’s home opener against New Mexico Highlands, which the Greyhounds won 45-14.

The Hounds lost two other players in the first half on Saturday — junior guard Joe Lewis (foot) and sophomore running back Dwayne Davis (hip).

Davis returned briefly in the second half and finished with a game-high 58 yards rushing. Elliott said he expects both players to be available on Saturday against Northeastern State at Tahlequah, Okla.

Senior all-conference wide receiver-kick returner Cale Sanders returned to action against Highlands after missing all of the 2002 season and with a torn pectoral muscle.

Sanders is still slowed by a groin injury which kept him out of the opener at Adams State, and he was a marked man against Highlands. He caught two passes for 18 yards and had a pair of 2-yard losses on end-around plays.

“He was OK early, but then it (groin) began to bother him so we took him out,” Elliott said.

Redshirt freshman Fide Davalos, a former six-man standout at Floyd, took advantage of Davis’ absence to score his first college touchdown on Saturday when he carried an option pitch from quarterback Steven Hinson in from 3 yards out late in the first half.

Junior free safety Ty Touchstone is getting a chance to return punts this season, particularly with Sanders hobbled.

“I returned kicks in high school (Lubbock Monterey), so I’m used to it,” he said after bringing two punts back for a net of 34 yards against Highlands. “It’s nice to get in there and make some plays.”

The Hounds have played well on special teams in the first two weeks. Freshman Lee Price is 6-for-6 on extra points, 5-for-7 on field goals and has been solid on kickoffs while junior punter Steven Todd brushed off a 19-yard shank on his first attempt Saturday to back Highlands inside its own 12-yard line three times.

ENMU’s first-year women’s soccer team is off for a couple of weeks after losing to Northern Colorado 5-1 on Sunday in a match played at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Coach Travis McCorkle said the Zias (1-3) are going through growing pains. ENMU next faces New Mexico Highlands on Sept. 28 at Las Vegas, N.M.

“The good part (about Sunday’s loss) was that we scored a goal against Northern Colorado and UNM couldn’t do that on Friday night (in a 0-0 tie with the Bears),” McCorkle said. “Defensively, we’re forcing teams into taking bad shots right now.”

ENMU has lost two freshman defenders to injury, McCorkle said. Christina Alessi will have ACL surgery in October and is out for the season, while Kara Henderson had meniscus surgery on Thursday and could possibly return late in the season.