PORTALES, N.M. – The No. 7-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce football team jumped out to a big early lead and used a strong defensive performance to earn a 49-10 win over Eastern New Mexico at Greyhound Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lions move to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play, while the Greyhounds are now 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce returns home next Saturday for a big LSC matchup against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Commerce.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Lion quarterback Luis Perez was fantastic, completing 24-of-31 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns. He completed passes to nine different receivers.
- Richard Cooper carried the ball 11 times for 64 yards and a score.
- Lance Evans and D'Arthur Cowan each had strong receiving games. Evans caught seven passes for 78 yards and a score, while Cowan had six receptions for 82 yards and a score.
- ENMU came into the game averaging a nation's best 455 yards per game rushing. The Lion defense limited the Greyhounds to half of that, at 227 yards.
- Of ENMU's 11 pass attempts, three were intercepted by the Lions.
- ENMU's Kamall Cass was the nation's leading rusher entering the game at 190.5 ground yards per contest. A&M-Commerce's defense limited him to 62 rushing yards with an average of 3.0 yards per carry.
- D.J. White led the Lions with nine tackles. Hatari Byrd, Brucks Saathoff, and Michael Onuoha had six stops apiece.
- The Lions have now had three interceptions in each of the last two games with an official turnover ratio of +6.
- A&M-Commerce outgained ENMU 479-287 for the game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions received the opening kickoff and needed only four plays to cover 69 yards and open the scoring on 46-yard touch pass from Perez to Darby Smith to make it 7-0 after only 90 seconds of action.
 
ENMU drove into Lion territory before Chris Smith intercepted a Greyhound pass to give A&M-Commerce the ball. Five plays later, Perez found Cowan for a 42-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0.
 
The Lions took the ball 59 yards down the field and scored in nine plays on their next drive, with Perez finding Justice Luce for a 29-yard touchdown connection to push the lead to 21-0.
 
On the second play of the second quarter, Perez found John Thomas wide open in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring pass. Perez completed his fifth touchdown pass of the day to Evans from 35 yards out to make it a 35-0 score with 8:21 left in the half.
 
The Lion defense was stout throughout the first half, allowing only six Greyhound first downs and 86 yards of offense. The A&M-Commerce
 
In the third quarter, the Lions scored on their opening drive, going 92 yards in 10 plays with Cooper finishing off the scoring on a 13-yard touchdown carry with 8:46 left in the quarter.
 
ENMU cracked the scoreboard for the first time with 2:39 remaining on the third quarter clock, as Bailey Hale connected on a 37-yard field goal to cut the lead to 42-3.
 
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Lions extended the lead on a 4-yard Tristen Slaughter touchdown carry to make it 49-3.
 
The Greyhounds scored a touchdown with 10:42 left in the game to make it a 49-10 score. Any ENMU desperation comeback attempts were thwarted by interceptions made by Brent Walker and Anthony Smith to emphatically seal the game.