Alumni and students alike swarmed the grounds of Memorial Stadium during homecoming 2015, enjoying festive tailgating that lead up to the gridiron matchup between Tarleton State University and Eastern New Mexico University. Tarleton came into Saturday’s game having won the previous 3 encounters between these two teams.

On the game’s opening drive, Eastern New Mexico wasted zero time as Jeremy Buurma quickly scored a touchdown on his 24 yard rush to give the Greyhounds an early 7-0 lead with 12:35 in the 1st.

Tarleton’s offense took the field with quarterback Zed Warner back in the starting lineup after sitting last week with a shoulder injury. Tarleton opted to start their attack from the air with a 7-yard completion to Bubba Tandy on 1st down. After moving the sticks on 2nd and 3, the Texan offense found themselves in a 4th and 2 situation, at which time Woerner found Tandy again for a crucial 5-yard connection for a fresh set of downs. On 1st and 10, Woerner dropped back looking for his target downfield, but was intercepted at the 16-yard line.

Following the turnover, the Greyhounds resumed their offensive efforts from their own 41-yard line resulting in an incomplete pass on 1st and 10. Three plays later, ENMU quarterback Buurma found Cameron Mikell for a 35-yard touchdown extending their lead to 14-0 (7:20 in 1st).

Now facing a two-touchdown deficit, Woerner and the offense took the field attempting to narrow the Greyhounds’ lead. After a pair of rushes on 1st and 2nd down, Zed Woerner found Dominique Martin for 37 yards on 3rd and 7. Ultimately, the Texans managed to narrow their deficit to 14-7, as Jabari Anderson took it in for a 21-yard touchdown with 4:13 in the opening quarter.

The Greyhounds started their 3rd drive of the contest from the 22-yard line. 1st and 10 featured a 23-yard rush from Kamal Cass. The running game of the Greyhounds seemed to be their “bread and butter” early on, as five plays after Cass’s rush, Buurma added 27 rushing yards to his stats that drove Eastern New Mexico to the Tarleton 41-yard line. On 2nd and 15, Texan safety Brandon Moore proved clutch forcing a 3-yard loss to impose a staggering 3rd and 18 for the Greyhounds. Following Buurma’s incomplete pass on 3rd down, 4th down proved to be just as fruitless as the Greyhounds’ 39 yard field goal attempt fell wide right, returning possession to Tarleton.

Anderson’s 3-yard gain started the drive for the offense, but to the dismay of Texan fans Woerner’s pass on 3rd and 4 got tipped to the Greyhounds for Tarleton’s second turnover of the first half.

Buurma dialed his own number again on 1st down as he gained 13 yards on his keeper for the Greyhounds to start the drive; however, two plays later Buurma’s attempt to run led to a costly fumble that was recovered by Moore for a much needed Texan turnover.

After two short gains on 1st and 2nd down, the Texan offense found pay-dirt as Woerner found Le’ Nard Meyers for a 60 yard catch-and-run for a touchdown that tied the contest at 14-14 (9:59 in 2nd).

Following Meyers’s touchdown reception, the Texans were on a 14-0 scoring run as a touchback would set the Greyhounds’ drive to start from the 20-yard line. After three plays the Texan defense pinned the Greyhounds in a 4th and 1 situation, at which point Jeremy Doucette broke for an 18-yard rush. Following a 4th and 1 run by Cass, three plays later he would find the end zone to extend Eastern New Mexico’s lead to 21-14 with 4:39 until halftime.

The Texan offense began their drive from their own 14-yard line, and came running out of the gate as Anderson’s rush gained two yards before Woerner found Meyers for the 5-yard connection to set up a short 3rd and 3. Joseph Sadler’s rushing attempt on 3rd and short resulted in a 2-yard loss to set up Isaac Arellano’s 42-yard punt.

Eastern New Mexico began their drive with 2:38 until halftime, and as on their last drive Buurma decided to keep it on 1st down for a 6-yard gain. Four plays later it would be Buurma keeping again – this time for a touchdown to extend Eastern New Mexico’s lead to 28-14 over the Texans with 1:02 left in the 2nd quarter.

With 56 seconds remaining until halftime, the Texans began their drive from their own 15-yard line, which began with an 8-yard connection from Woerner to Meyers on 1st down. Woerner connected with Meyers on the two consecutive downs before his next incompletion. On the ensuing 3rd and 3, it would be Bubba Tandy’s 12-yard reception that moved the chains, and his 23-yard reception that would set up another 1st and 10 at the Greyhound 34-yard line with only 12 seconds in the half. After an incompletion to Tandy, Woerner dialed up Joseph Sadler for the 11-yard touchdown to narrow the Greyhounds’ lead to 28-21 mere seconds before heading to the locker-room (28-21, halftime).

Aside from two turnovers, the Texan offense gained a respectable 13 1st downs to Eastern New Mexico’s 15 – defensively, the Texans did not force a single punt in the first half.

Daniel McCants received the kickoff for the Texans to start the second half, which he took to the 27-yard line. An incompletion and rush for no gain composed first and second down. On third and ten Woerner gained 8 yards on the ground to set up Arrellano’s 42-yard punt to the Greyhound 23-yard line (28-21, 13:35 in 3rd).

The first two downs for the Greyhounds proved unsuccessful in moving the chains. On third and twelve the Texan defense kept the opponent four yards shy of a first down to force Timothy Callian’s first punt of the night to Bubba Tandy for the fair catch.

On the Texans’ first play of the drive, Anderson swiftly evaded Greyhound defenders on his way to a 69-yard touchdown that tied the contest at 28-28 (11:22 in third).

The ensuing kickoff was returned 50 yards by the Greyhounds, which set up their offense with only half a field to go. After converting on 3rd and 5 the next 3rd down situation proved unsuccessful and on 4th and short the Texan defense forced a 3-yard loss for Buurma.

The Texan offense took over from their own 21-yard line. Third down would be a costly point of this game for the Texans as Woerner threw his 3rd interception, which the Greyhounds returned 51-yards for a touchdown (35-28, 6:08 in third).

Following the pick-six, the Texan offense took the field, only to wind up in a 3rd and 13 situation which led to another Arellano punt for 43 yards to the Greyhound 41-yard line.

Tarleton’s defense displayed resolve on the following drive forcing the Greyhounds into a 4th down situation. Tandy’s 8-yard return set the Texans up at their own 17-yard line. After completing his first two passes of the drive, Woerner’s 3rd down attempt to Meyers fell incomplete. Arellano’s punt on 4th and 2 traveled only 20 yards, which set up the Greyhounds at the Tarleton 45-yard line (end of 3rd quarter).

With a short field to go, the ENMU’s following drive consisted of four plays, the fourth being an 8-yard touchdown run by Buurma to give the Greyhounds a 42-28 lead (14:17 in 4th).

Following McCants’s 4-yard return the Texan offense took over from its own 14-yard line where Zed Woerner’s opening pass of the drive to Martin fell incomplete. Woerner’s second attempt to hit Martin on 3rd down resulted in a crucial 46-yard connection on 3rd and 7. On the following 3rd and 8 Woerner came up big finding Tandy for 16 yards and moving the Texans to the 19-yard line. Four plays after that on a crucial 4th and 1, Woerner dialed up Meyers for a 10-yard touchdown reception shrinking their deficit to a touchdown (10:53 in 4th).

Following Tarleton’s 10-play touchdown drive, the Greyhounds took over from their own 20-yard line. Two plays later, Dakota Hesskew proved clutch for the Texan defense as he recovered Buurma’s fumble to give possession back to the Texans (10:05 in 4th). Six plays and 24 yards later, Blake Barnes’ field goal shrank Tarleton’s deficit to four points (42-38, 8:10 in 4th).

After both offenses exchanged empty drives, the Greyhounds managed to extend their lead to 49-38 by way of Cass’s second touchdown of the game with only 2 minutes remaining.

After Sadler’s 13-yard return, the Texan offense took over from their 30-yard line with 1:54 in the game. After being forced into 4th and 5, Woerner’s run for 19 yards provided Tarleton with a fresh set of downs (1st and 10 from ENMU 46). Six plays later Woerner would find Tandy for 15 yards to get the Texans in the red zone with 1:11 remaining. After two more plays Woerner would find Kason Fornes for the 5-yard touchdown. After a failed two-point conversion, the Texans trailed the Greyhounds 49-44 with 48 seconds remaining.

The Texans’ attempt for an onside kick proved unsuccessful, which set up the Greyhounds at the Tarleton 47-yard line with 40 seconds to go. Following a series of timeouts, the Greyhounds’ conversion on 3rd and 4 with 33 seconds remaining would finish the contest.

The Tarleton State University Texans lost to the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds by a final score of 49-44.

This Saturday, Coach Carey Fowler and his Texans (1-5) will have the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State University coming into town for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Memorial Stadium.