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Eastern New Mexico hands Javelinas loss at home

Texas A&M-Kingsville dropped to 1-3 on the season with a 31-14 loss to Eastern New Mexico.

KINGSVILLE, TX (Javelinas Athletics) — The home Lone Star Conference opener for the Texas A&M-Kingsville football program was a close affair midway through the third quarter on Saturday at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium, but it was Eastern New Mexico that ended on top with a 31-14 decision in the contest.

"I thought Eastern New Mexico came in very prepared," said head coach Daren Wilkinson. "They're well-coached, they played hard and they deserved to win.

"The emotion we had on the sideline and the execution of simple plays was not there tonight."

The Javelinas (1-3, 0-3 LSC) evened the count at 14 apiece with 11:09 remaining in the third after recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, but the Greyhounds (1-3, 1-1 LSC) went on to score 17-straight points to close out the contest on top.

The Hounds found the back of the end zone on their first drive of the game after Paul Terry punched it in from two yards out at 9:06 in the first and added another score with 3:46 remaining in the opening frame after junior Koy Detmer Jr. (Somerset, Texas) was picked off near midfield and taken back to the TAMUK nine-yardline.

ENMU quarterback Wyatt Strand took the second score of the game for nine yards on the ensuing play from scrimmage to put the Hogs in a 14-0 hole.

The Javelinas responded on the very next drive after taking 10 plays down to the ENMU three-yardline and got the exclamation point on the 11th play from scrimmage from senior Nick Pelrean (Houston, Texas) who put away his third rushing touchdown of the year to trim the deficit to 14-7.

Following halftime, after the opening kickoff was taken in the end zone, freshman Keshon Rowe (Katy, Texas) knocked the ball loose from returner Johnny Smith and the ensuing fumble was snatched by redshirt-sophomore Alan Smith (Humble, Texas) at the ENMU 39 to give the Hogs good field position.

The resulting eight-play drive ended in a two-yard pass from Detmer Jr. to senior Roe Posada (Katy, Texas) to even the count at 14-14 with 11:09 remaining in the third.

Eastern New Mexico had the response on the following drive after Strand found Smith for 28 yards for a 21-14 Greyhound lead, while 66-yard connection between the same pair later in the quarter put the Javelinas in a 28-14 deficit with 6:45 on the clock.

The Blue and Gold failed to make headway in the final frame as ENMU tacked on a 29-yard field with 4:34 remaining in the game to put the line score at 31-14.

Senior Payton Hendrix (Dallas, Texas) led the defensive unit with 15 total tackles, nine solo, while redshirt-sophomore Tre'Michael Tutt (Channel View, Texas) and junior Caleb Valentine (Fulshear, Texas) each put away 1.5 tackles for loss as the team had six total.

Junior Jordan Semanat (San Antonio, Texas) had the lone interception of the game early in the fourth, his second of the year, while Valentine and Smith each had a fumble recovery.

"We're going to go back to the drawing board," added Wilkinson. "To blocking, tackling, snapping and kicking, we have to get better at the fundamentals.

"The only way I know to get better, and I've told the team this, is we all have to buckle down, we have to put in the work and we have to get out of the funk. That is the only way to do it, to put in work and believe in one another."

The Javelinas will return to Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium next week on September 29 to host New Mexico Highlands. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.

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