Eastern New Mexico University's football team is preparing for a challenging road game against No. 16 Central Washington in Ellensburg, Washington, this Saturday night. The Greyhounds will look to build on their recent performance, where they recorded 638 total yards in a 56-31 win over Midwestern State two weeks ago. That victory included a stadium record of 453 rushing yards in Wichita Falls, Texas, with ten different players contributing to the ground game.
Kyler Fossett led Eastern New Mexico with 96 yards on six carries, while Demarion Finch added 93 yards and two touchdowns from 20 carries. Elias Santana also made an impact with 88 rushing yards and a long touchdown run. On defense, J.J. Silver registered nine tackles and Aaron Warren had eight tackles along with an interception.
Both Eastern New Mexico and Central Washington are among the top five teams nationally in rushing yards per game. The Greyhounds have shown versatility on offense by averaging over 130 passing yards per contest and recording five passing touchdowns so far this season. Quarterback Chad Ragle recently completed all four of his pass attempts for 185 yards and two scores, bringing his career total to nearly 600 passing yards across 15 games with ENMU. Gerry Gomez leads the receiving corps with ten catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Aaron Warren has stood out as a newcomer with 33 tackles and four pass breakups; he also collected his first interception last game to help set up a scoring drive. Matthew Quartieri continues to be a leader after posting more than one hundred tackles last year; he has accumulated 29 tackles so far this season along with several quarterback hurries. Silver has matched that tackle count and secured an interception earlier in the year, while Cyrus Moore has contributed another 25 tackles.
Central Washington enters the matchup at 3-1 overall after defeating Western New Mexico by a score of 91-31—a game that saw them score seven rushing touchdowns. Justice Taylor led CWU's ground attack with three touchdowns on seventeen carries for 169 yards. Their defense ranks among the nation's best in categories such as interceptions (eight), rushing defense (allowing just over eighty-three yards per game), and red zone efficiency (opponents succeed only sixty-one percent of the time). Special teams have also been productive, highlighted by two kickoff return touchdowns against WNMU.
The history between these programs favors Central Washington, who leads the series four games to none since annual competition began in 2021. In their most recent meeting in Ellensburg during the previous season, Central Washington edged out Eastern New Mexico by three points after both teams traded scores throughout much of the contest.
Saturday’s conference matchup will be broadcast locally on radio station KSEL Country (105.9 FM) and streamed live through FloCollege.
