New Mexico Football Report

NMHU Cowboys  50    Ft. Lewis College Skyhawks  0

As it turned out, ENMU dodged a bullet last week. Granted, Taylor Genuser led NMHU to a 42-14  rout of the Greyhounds, but can you imagine what Emmanuel Lewis would have done to them?  Highland's back-up Qb.  (starting for Genuser, who was injured during the ENMU game) manhandled lowly Fort Lewis College.  If that name sounds familiar, it's because he shares a name with the diminutive television actor who played Webster in the 1980s 

Emmanuel Lewis, (the NMHU quarterback) could be the best kept secret in New Mexico since the a-bomb. (and just as explosive)  All he did on Saturday against Fort Lewis was complete 26 of 46 passes for 346 yds. and four touchdowns. Lewis also had 14 carries for 137 yds. NMHU's offense was hella balanced, 666 yards in total offense (320 rushing and 346 passing) Lewis did well for a second stringer... I wonder if Taylor Genuser knows about Wally Pipp?

It was total domination by the Cowboys, on both sides of the ball.  NMHU's defense throttled Fort Lewis, holding them to just 166 yards total offense (a puny 38 yards rushing and an anemic 128 yards passing) Highlands' Zach Tapia was perfect on field goals, splitting the uprights on 53-, 44-, and 35-yard kicks. He also went 5-for-6 on extra points. NMHU was penalized 19 times for 176 yards, which was about the only thing that didn't go their way.

The Cowboys also converted two interceptions and three fumble recoveries into 16 points. "I need to coach the guys better on taking care of the football" said Ft. Lewis head coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval, that has to be the understatement of the year.  The 55-0 rout, spoiled the season opener for Ft. Lewis College as they came up short in every way imaginable, on the field, in the stands (1,125 fans in attendance) I bet even the sodas at the snack bar were flat. 

How about them Cowboys?, 2-0 with an RMAC win under their belts.  This week they travel to Cedar City, Utah to take on Southern Utah Univ. of the Big Sky.  The Thunderbirds opened their season losing 34-3 to Utah St. and last week gave Calfornia a tussle before coming up short 50-31. The T-Birds were picked to finish 8th in the thirteen team Big Sky in both the media and coaches pre-season poll.

ENMU Greyhounds 38  Sul Ross St. Lobos 35

After a suspect effort in their season opener against Highlands, Eastern turned on the burners and brought joy to Blackwater Draw with a 38-35 win over Sul Ross St. Univ. Two games into the 2012 season and we known two things for certain; Sul Ross St. can score points... lots of them and they give up more points than they score. As a result the feisty Lobos find themselves at 0-2 (having come up short in a wild affair against WNMU in week one) Will the wolf survive in 2012?, not at this rate.

In this canine encounter of also-rans, only the fittest of mutts could survive. For ENMU, Sul Ross was the remedy for what ailed them. The victory was the first for new head coach Josh Lynn (an ex-ENMU player, who also coached at NMMI) and evened the Hound's season record at 1-1.  It wasn't easy, the outcome was in doubt right up until Jayson Serda (Albuquerque, Manzano Hs.) recovered a Sul Ross fumble with 00:02  on the clock. 

The Lobos were driving for what would be a game winning touchdown, when Cordrick Mobley attempted an ill advised lateral to a teammate that killed Sul Ross State's chances and allowed the Greyhounds to kill the clock by running one play to end the game.  Eastern racked up 301 yards on the ground, their best rushing effort since 2007. Sr. Qb. Wesley Wood (Muleshoe, Tx.) set the pace with a career high 94 yards rushing and two tds. He also completed 13 of 15 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.

The Hounds jumped out to an early 17-0 lead, before the Lobos pinned back their ears and ran off 28 unanswered points. Down 28-17, ENMU finally got a wake-up call 00:59 seconds into the fourth quarter as they pulled within 5 points and then scored again to take a 31-28 lead. Sul Ross St. answered with a td to retake the lead 35-31. ENMU's Jr. Rb. Derek Kendall-Campbell then scored from 17 yds. out to put the Hounds back up with just 1:04 left on the clock.

Up next for the snarly hounds of Little Texas is  the Univ. of Incarnate Word. And yes, bird  is  the word at the San Antonio school, Cardinals that is. Founded as a woman's college by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in 1869, it became fully coeducational in 1971 and started playing football in 2009.  The Cardinals have been accepted as members of the Southland Conf. and will make the move to D1-FCS in 2013. 

The contest between ENMU and the U. of Incarnate Word will take place at Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium. The game being part of the Lone Star Conference Football Festival. I don't know much, but I do know that the game will played in front of a sparse crowd, made even more conspicuous by the cavernous arena.  But! (and that's a big but) what the hell, it's not everyday that Div. II schools get to play in an NFL stadium. 

WNMU Mustangs  27    Univ. of San Diego Toreros 34

It's not easy being a WNMU Mustang. To say that Silver City is out of the way, would be a major understatement. Tucked up against the Gila National Forest, it's a long way to the nearest interstate in any direction. (220 miles to the nearest major airport) By necessity, WNMU travels to all of its games by bus and van. This year they will log 7,000+ miles and over 120 hours on the road. (this includes a grueling 18 hour one way road trip to Chadron St. in Nebraska)

The pitfalls of so much travel are many, at least twice over the years, WNMU's basketball team has had all their equipment stolen from atop their vans at Albuquerque motels. I recall an equipment manager for WNMU (who was from the Duke City) telling me "you don't leave your gear on top of the van in 'Burque, you just don't do that!" shaking his head he added "I told coach to take the gear down and he said it would be ok" I bet at least one fool turned up in a full Mustang uni at some Albuquerque playground game. 

Last season it got much scarier, on the road to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Co., a bus tire caught on fire and no sooner had the driver pulled over and evacuated the bus, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. After the fire was put out, all that was left was the charred remains of the bus and all their football equipment. The Mustangs continued on to Durango and not only played Fort Lewis College using mismatched high school equipment and sharing helmets, but the won the game 26-17.

In his third season at WNMU, Adam Clark is a native of San Diego (West Hills Hs., Grossmont College)  Clark's insider knowledge of Southern Cal's vast football talent pool has resulted in 55 players on Western's roster hailing from the southland. 18 are from San Diego and several more from the surrounding communities. Last year when WNMU made their first trip to San Diego to play the Toreros (a game they lost 30-10) hundreds of San Diegans showed up in purple and gold gear. 

That led to another 10 hour, 607 mile road trip for Western in 2012, “The players are incredibly jacked up about it,” Clark said before the game “I think we matched USD’s crowd last year. It’s a great opportunity because friends and family can’t make it to New Mexico all of the time. This is a neat opportunity to play college football in their hometown.” “The San Diego game was fun (last year),” said Marquis Sumpter (Fallbrook hs.) “I had a mix of emotions all in one. Once the game started, it was about football"

How do you lure players away from what has to be considered, the mainland's version of paradise to come play in a hard scrabble mining town, populated by hippies, broke ass miners and artistic types? With the promise of playing time.... of course! Marquis Sumpter a two time All Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wide receiver, sums it up, “They were the only school that wanted me, they gave me a chance.” Marquis is one of three Sumpter brothers playing for Western (along with Terron & Juwan)

WMNU head coach Adam Clark was a star linebacker in high school and junior college, but he never received a D1 offer and when he walked-on at San Diego St., he was cut.“Knowing what I went through, I know that there are opportunities out there for guys who don’t get Division I scholarships,” Clark said. Naturally all the homecoming hoopla surrounding Western's visit (they were featured in a story by The San Diego Union-Tribune) didn't go over well with everyone in San Diego. 

“It was kind of frustrating, to be honest, to read in the hometown newspaper about the away team for our home game,” Torero Qb. Mason Mills said. “That was up in our locker.” A proud and often overlooked program (Jim Hargaugh brought them renewed success before leaving for Stanford) The Toreros have not lost at home since the last contest of the 2009 season.  Being ignored in their hometown, as the visitors were glorified, gave the U. of San Diego all the motivation they needed.

However, even with all the pent-up frustration and bulletin board material, it wasn't an easy win for the Toreros. With a purple and gold contingent of close to 1,000 cheering on WNMU, it looked like the Mustangs were going to pull off the upset.  Nursing a 27-20 lead, in the 4th. quarter, Western was unable to stop the Toreros on an 11 play, 72 yard drive that resulted in a U. of San Diego touchdown that tied the score at 27. An offensive pass interference call stopped Western's ensuing drive cold and they were forced to punt.

The U. of San Diego then roared down the field, facing just one third down, a third and ten, at WNMU's 29 yd. line, that they converted into the winning touchdown. Marquis Sumpter finished with 9 catches for 139 yds. and 2 tds., Mitch Glasman had a good day returning to his old stomping grounds  (he's from Temecula) he went 22-35 passing for 266 yards and two touchdowns. The Mustangs had 512 yards in total offense, to the Torero's 361, but it wasn't enough. A rash of ill timed penalties and mistakes all added up to thwart Western's efforts. 

WNMU kicks off RMAC play at home against the defending RMAC champions, CSU-Pueblo. The  Thunderwolves (for sixty years they were known as the Indians) are ranked No. 3 in the nation amongst NCAA Div. II schools.  Head coach John Wristen has done a remarkable job building a football program from scratch. CSU- Pueblo had dropped its football program in 1984 (when it was still the Univ. of Southern Colorado) Wristen was hired in 2007 and given a year to restart the program. 

The Thunderwolves (a mythical creature "thought to be indigenous only on the city of Pueblo's beautiful horizon from the Spanish Peaks to the south to Pike's Peak" have improved dramatically every year they've played (how many schools can say that?) They finished the 2011 season at 11-1 (9-0 RMAC, the Seawolves were ranked #1 in the nation  at the end of the regular season, but were  knocked out of the playoffs by Minnesota- Duluth.