Greyhound football squad picked for fourth

ODESSA, Texas — Preseason football polls don't run draw plays, throw play-action passes or make stubborn goal-line stands.

But they do give respect, at least for those selected favorably. Plenty of respect was given Thursday to the Eastern New Mexico University football team and senior running back Kamal Cass.

The Hounds are picked fourth in the Lone Star Conference's preseason poll while Cass — a 2013 Clovis High School graduate — shares Preseason LSC Offensive Player of the Year honors with Texas A&M Commerce quarterback Luis Perez.

The Greyhounds landed in their fourth-place spot with 136 points on votes from the conference's football coaches, sports information directors and media contacts.

Defending league champion Texas A&M-Commerce (229 points) was chosen to repeat, while Midwestern State (192 points) was second in the poll and Texas A&M-Kingsville third (177).

ENMU has earned its respect after reaching the postseason for two consecutive years, including a 7-5 finish (6-3 LSC) in 2016, a solid season despite ending with a 45-12 thud in a Dec. 3 playoff game against Fort Hays State.

The 'Hounds want to climb a step up from last year, drive further into the postseason.

"I think (the goal is to) just continue to build on what we've established at Eastern," said first-year head coach Kelley Lee, replacing Josh Lynn after spending the past five seasons as ENMU's offensive coordinator. "We shared a conference title in '13, we're coming off our fourth straight winning season. (We plan on) going out and being competitive, hopefully have some postseason opportunities."

"My goal, personally, is just to be a better player than I was last year," Cass said. "If I had 300 yards (last) year, I want to go for 400 yards this year. As a team, I just want us to be consistent. We're unique and we know that. As long as we stay consistent, true to ourselves, we should be all right."

Cass' selection as a preseason co-offensive player of the year, redefined the term 'no-brainer' after he was the LSC's leading rusher in each of the past two seasons, bolting for a team-record 1,514 yards (sixth in Division II) and a conference-best 22 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2015. He followed it up by rushing for a conference-leading 1,191 yards and second-best 14 touchdowns last year.

As a 2012 Clovis senior, Cass earned New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year honors by rushing for 2,081 yards and 26 touchdowns, becoming only the state's second player to surpass 2,000 yards in a season.

He accepted his latest honor with humility.

"It's a blessing," Cass said. "I like it, but personally I don't really care about it. A preseason award is just an award, but it looks good for the program and I know mom and dad will like it."

Because of his experience guiding the offense, Lee is well aware of what a gem he has in Cass, thus an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach to the team's run-oriented mindset. The Greyhounds, though, are most concerned with preparation, whatever offense, whatever scheme, whatever plays they run.

"I think, for us, what we do is unique," Lee said, "so we spend a lot of time on ourselves. We're not so much concerned with our opponents as making sure our kids know the techniques, the steps, the things they need to do to be successful and execute the things we do. We do a lot of self-scouting and focusing on ourselves."

Helping Lee in his new role will be experience on defense, which boasts eight returning starters, among them junior defensive back Todd Countee.

"We have good chemistry together," Countee said. "I think that, as a defense, we all carry the same mentality, a dog mentality, a great effort. We play as a team, play for each other."

ENMU opens at home 7 p.m. Aug. 31 — a Thursday — against Southwest Baptist.