Hounds set for return to gridiron

PORTALES — It’s been a long time coming, but Eastern New Mexico University’s football program will finally hit the field for the season’s first practice at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

First-year Greyhounds coach Tye Hiatt expects to welcome around 115 candidates this week, including 61 from the 2019 season under then-coach Kelley Lee. They’re slated to check in on Thursday, four weeks before their season opener.

The Lone Star Conference did not have a football season in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though some member schools played non-conference games. The Hounds’ most recent game came in the Heritage Bowl at Corsicana, Texas on Dec. 7, 2019, where they defeated Southern Arkansas 20-13 to cap an 8-4 season.

“We have a pretty healthy-sized roster,” said Hiatt, an Oregon native who has spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator for NCAA Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia. “We have some really goods players who were on the previous roster. We’ve had a good handful of kids who have been on our campus since around the 4th of July.”

Among the top returning players are senior offensive lineman Vili Fisiiahi and sophomore defensive lineman Mazin Richards, both of whom were named Division II second-team preseason All-Americans in June by Lindy’s Sports football magazine.

The Hounds are slated to play the first three of 11 games this season at home, including the 6 p.m. season opener Sept. 2 against Central Washington.

ENMU has an intrasquad scrimmage scheduled for Aug. 21 at Greyhound Stadium. Hiatt said the scrimmage will likely start in late afternoon or early evening.

In late May, Hiatt completed his staff with the announcement of Anthony Vitale as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach and Russell Thompson as the team’s defensive coordinator. Vitale most recently coached at FCS (Division I-AA) member Delaware State while Thompson had been named to his post prior to the cancellation of the 2020 campaign.

ENMU was picked for sixth place this season in the eight-team LSC in the preseason coaches and media poll in late July. The Hounds received 60 points, one more than Texas A&M-Kingsville, which visits Greyhound Stadium on Sept. 18 to complete the early homestand and open conference play.

Texas A&M-Commerce earned 15 of 23 first-place votes in the poll, while Angelo State (two first-place votes) was second, West Texas A&M (1) third and Texas-Permian Basin (5) and Midwestern State tied for fourth. Western New Mexico rounded out the poll.