Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

ENMU adds 40, including four locals

Wednesday’s signing day came quickly for eastern New Mexico, with plenty of local prospects heading to Eastern New Mexico.

On the first day athletes could sign letters of intent to college football programs, the Greyhounds landed four area players — Portales’ Trenton Small, the Clovis pair of Tyrell Clewis and Roper Stacy and Texico linebacker Mason Golden.

Clovis senior Micah Gray also made his commitment to the University of New Mexico, where he will receive preferred walk-on status.

The four Greyhound signings were part of 40 Wednesday pickups by the Hounds, including Eldorado receiver Trenton Gaither (former Clovis resident) and a trio of quarterbacks between Jacob Chavez of BF Terry (Houston), Jaron Jones of Lubbock Monterey and Nicholas Little of Rio Rancho.

They players will add to what is already a solid base at ENMU with All-American and Lone Star Conference Offensive Back of the Year Kamal Cass at running back and LSC Freshman of Year Wyatt Strand at quarterback.

“We want to build on that success,” Lee said in a press conference streamed online by ENMU Athletics. “We have a lot of returners who are battle tested on both sides of the ball.” The Greyhounds also grabbed two players named their state’s best offensive lineman — Robert Bramwell of Artesia and Kyle Marcuson, who helped Soldotna High School win four Alaska state championships. Marcuson was one of four signees from Alaska, where Lee assisted in putting on a football camp.

• Small will continue to call Greyhound Stadium home, after helping the Rams win the Class 4A state title there. He has been an all-state lineman on both offense and defense the last two years and will represent the South in this summer’s 3A-4A North-South All-Star Game.

“Eastern’s always been close to home,” Small said, “and I kind of like Mom’s cooking, so I thought I’d stay here.”

Small’s known he had a chance to play at the next level for a while, after starting as a sophomore for the Rams.

“I’ve always known I had the ability and opportunity,” said the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Small. “God gave me talents he didn’t give everybody else. I always knew with God’s help, I could do great things.”

n He’ll be joined on the South roster by Golden, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound linebacker. He has been a first-team Class 3A all-state linebacker the last two seasons, and was first-team all-state at running back as a senior.

Golden figured he had a chance to play college football as long as he can remember, and he never considered another school.

“It’s been one of my goals since I was a freshman,” said Golden. “Their program really fits along with Texico. I didn’t think it would be as big of a jump as going somewhere else.”

• Stacy, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound offensive tackle, was also considering Western New Mexico.

“(I liked) the program, they had the degree I wanted (sports management) and it’s close to home,” said Stacy.

The Greyhounds’ decision to promote Lee after Josh Lynn left for Nebraska-Kearney helped in Stacy’s decision process, since Lee was the person who recruited him.

• Clewis, a 6-foot, 235-pound offensive linebacker, said he didn’t really think he’d have a chance to play college football. Eastern, West Texas A&M and Wayland Baptist disagreed and gave him looks. The Greyhounds won out as the team closest to home so his family could see him play.

The change in coaching didn’t do much to sway Clewis, who said, “either way, it was beginning with a new coach for me.”

• Gray will join the Lobos as a preferred walk-on, which means he does not receive a scholarship as a freshman but is invited by coaches to play for the program. He hopes to make a mark as a freshman and get a larger opportunity as a sophomore after the Lobos graduate their top three running backs.

“The opportunity was probably the best for me,” Gray said. “They play a lot of running backs, and they’re top 10 in the nation in rushing.”

Gray said the Lobos frequently offer scholarships to out-of-state prospects and take advantage of various first-year scholarship opportunities to help attract in-state prospects. In-state prospects that pan out, Gray said, have frequently had scholarships granted the following season.