Greyhounds get one final Blackwater blowout

STAFF WRITER

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BLACKWATER DRAW — In what likely will be the program’s final game in the 48-year history of Greyhound Stadium, the ENMU football team made sure it was a memorable one on Saturday.

The Greyhounds set a school rushing record with 583 yards, including three backs over 100, in a 46-28 Lone Star Conference rout of No. 24 Angelo State.

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

ENMU freshman Tayshaun Gary leaps inside the pylon to finish a 15-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of Saturday’s game at Greyhound Stadium. Gary had 139 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries in the Greyhounds’ 46-28 victory over Angelo State.

The win positions the Hounds (6-2, 3-2 LSC) for a top-four finish in the LSC, but since they can’t go higher than third it means they would travel for a first-round game in the LSC playoffs on Nov. 7 to either Texas A&M-Commerce or Midwestern State.

That said, West Texas A&M (3-4, 2-3) and ASU (5-3, 2-3) could force a three-way tie for third with wins in next week’s regular-season finales — WT hosts ENMU at 11 a.m. (MDT) on Saturday in the annual “Wagon Wheel” clash at Canyon, Texas, while Angelo entertains Tarleton State (2-5, 1-4) — which would set up tiebreakers for positioning.

Coming in, ASU had the second-best scoring defense in the conference at 24 ppg, but ENMU’s No. 1 LSC scoring offense needed just one half to eclipse that number. The Hounds held the ball for more than 40 minutes en route to their fourth consecutive victory.

“These are the games we like when we control the ball,” ENMU coach Josh Lynn said. “We wanted to make sure we won this last game at Blackwater Draw. The focus was great all week.”

Before this game, the previous rushing record was 512 yards. It was broken in the fourth quarter when Kamal Cass, who finished with 188 yards on 28 carries, scored his third rushing touchdown of the game on a 71-yard scamper.

Fellow running back Tayshaun Gary had 139 yards and three TDs on just eight carries, while quarterback Jeremy Buurma had 123 yards on 18 rushes. Cass and Gary established personal-best rushing totals.

In the third quarter, Gary broke a 72-yard TD run to finish off a four-play, 97-yard drive to put ENMU up 38-15 and all but put the game out of reach.

“I was trusting my line,” Gary said. “I hit the hole hard and just took what the defense gave me. It was a great overall effort. We made the right reads and blocked the right people.”

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

ENMU junior lineman Harry Lehauli dives in for a fumble by Angelo State running back Ryan Byrd in the second quarter of Saturday’s game at Greyhound Stadium. Lehauli recovered the fumble, and the Greyhounds scored on the ensuing drive.

The ENMU defense faced one of the better QBs in the league in Angelo’s Kyle Washington. He finished with 352 yards passing on 46 attempts, but the Hounds kept the Rams in relative check overall.

“Washington’s a phenomenal player,” Lynn said. “When they had the ball, we couldn’t stop them. Thank goodness for (ASU’s two) turnovers and thank goodness for the times we did shut them down.”

ENMU’s De’Aundre Sanders stepped in front of a Washington pass in the second quarter and returned the interception 35 yards to the ASU 1, setting up a touchdown by Gary two plays later.

“My job was to play real deep and watch both receivers,” Sanders said. “My safety came over and he did a great job of forcing the short throw. I just went under and tried to go for the score.”

Lynn said the Hounds will try to treat next week’s rivalry game as normally as possible.

“When you get into this part of the season, you don’t change up what you’re doing,” he said. “Including the playoffs, we still have three games left.”