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Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Matthew Asher ENMU senior and Silver defensive back Charles Stevens intercepts a pass in the end zone intended for Green’s Aaron Johnson on the final play of the first half of Saturday’s Green & Silver game at Blackwater Draw.
Staff photo: Matthew Asher ENMU running back D’Maujeric Tucker stiff-arms would-be tackler Brad Hardin during the first half of Saturday’s Green & Silver inrtrasquad scrimmage at Blackwater Draw. The contest brought spring football drills to an end for the Greyhounds.
Sports writer
BLACKWATER DRAW — After wrapping up spring drills with Saturday’s Green & Silver Game at Greyhound Stadium, Eastern New Mexico University football coach Josh Lynn said he and his staff wanted to use the scrimmage to get a long look at different players.
link Staff photo: Matthew Asher
ENMU senior and Silver defensive back Charles Stevens intercepts a pass in the end zone intended for Green’s Aaron Johnson on the final play of the first half of Saturday’s Green & Silver game at Blackwater Draw.
Mission accomplished. As for the Greyhounds’ quarterback situation, not a whole lot was settled.
Redshirt sophomore Adam Lucero and redshirt freshmen Wyatt Strand and Leondre Williams each had good moments, but Lynn said he’s not at all sure who will eventually get the job when the Sept. 1 season opener at Southwest Baptist rolls around.
“Right now, it’s wide open,” he said after Silver posted a 24-6 win in the two-hour, game-like outing.
“We were more concerned (that) the guys who needed to get reps got reps. We still needed to evaluate some players.”
Lucero directed the Green offense, while Strand and Williams split time for Silver. Lynn noted that Strand, a 2015 Logan High graduate, directed his squad on a couple of scoring drives.
link Staff photo: Matthew Asher
ENMU running back D’Maujeric Tucker stiff-arms would-be tackler Brad Hardin during the first half of Saturday’s Green & Silver inrtrasquad scrimmage at Blackwater Draw. The contest brought spring football drills to an end for the Greyhounds.
“It’s still definitely a learning process,” said Strand, who led the Longhorns to an 8-man state runnerup finish as a senior in 2014. “We all get out there and try to push each other.”
Lucero said each of the QBs is different in style.
“We each kind of bring our own strengths to the table,” he said. “We have to keep working and try to push each other, but each day I think I’ve improved a little bit.”
Silver led 16-0 at halftime and kept Green off the board until Clovis High grad Kamal Cass broke off about a 30-yard TD run in the third period. Strand, who threw the ball well and also showed off some of his running skills, then led Silver to an insurance score in the final stanza.
Strand said he used last season to learn from outgoing three-year starter Jeremy Buurma and backup Ryan Greene, also a senior.
“It was good learning from Buurma, and from Ryan Greene,” he said. “It is a big jump from 8-man. It’s different with three more people (on each side of the ball), but it’s the size and speed.”
Williams is the shortest but fastest of the trio, and said it’s a possibility he could switch to another position if he’s not the starter, perhaps as a kick returner. In high school, he said he returned punts and kickoffs for the Huskies.
“I’m definitely more of a runner,” Williams said. “I played ‘athlete’ in high school until I was named the quarterback as a senior.
“It’s an adjustment coming from a spread (offense in high school) to the triple option. You can’t just go to the line (of scrimmage) and make a quick read.”
Lynn said he was pleased overall with the scrimmage, and the spring.
“Both the offense and defense flew around and got after each other,” he said. “We were physical, and that’s good to see.”
He said except for a couple of relatively minor injuries, the team came through the scrimmage “pretty good” in terms of health.
