Eastern New Mexico University’s football team lost to Western Oregon University 21-18 in a game played Saturday night at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium in Portales, New Mexico.
Eastern New Mexico (ENMU) led 10-0 at halftime after holding Western Oregon to just 93 yards on four drives in the first half. The first points of the game came from a field goal by Ryan Travis, his first made field goal for ENMU. Later in the half, quarterback Chad Ragle connected with Jonathon Carter for an 11-yard touchdown pass, marking Ragle’s sixth passing touchdown of the season.
"I thought we did a good job defensively in the first half," said head coach Kelley Lee. He added, "Not a lot of possessions," when discussing the opening half.
Western Oregon started the second half with a strong drive, converting two third downs into gains of more than 20 yards each. Quarterback Jordan McCarty scored on a run to cut ENMU’s lead. After both teams traded unsuccessful drives, Western Oregon regained possession late in the third quarter and converted a key fourth down before Carson Workman scored to give them their first lead.
In the fourth quarter, Western Oregon extended its advantage after another scoring drive capped by McCarty’s second rushing touchdown. With less than five minutes remaining, Coach Lee turned to Ragle to lead ENMU’s offense. Ragle completed five passes for 56 yards and ran five times for 16 yards on that drive, including a crucial fourth-down conversion with a 33-yard pass to Gerry Gomez. ENMU narrowed the gap with a successful two-point conversion but failed to recover an onside kick.
"I thought the kids played really hard," said Lee following the loss. "Injuries made it really hard for us to execute our game plan."
Running back Stewart led ENMU with 22 carries for 90 yards while Ragle added 67 rushing yards on ten carries. Santana caught three passes for 55 yards. On defense, Aaron Warren had twelve tackles and Cyrus Moore contributed eight tackles; Matthew Quartieri recorded ENMU’s only tackle for loss.
ENMU now has a record of 1-5 overall and will play next against West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.
