SWOSU Dumped by ENMU, 45-7
September 5, 2009
John Kaye
ENMU quarterback J.J. Harp completed 37-of-60 passes for 492 yards and tossed three touchdowns to lead the Greyhounds to 31 unanswered points. Harp, who set an NCAA Division II record the week before with 78 pass attempts, poked holes in the Bulldog defense using 10 different receivers. His favorite target was Jesse Poku who caught nine balls for 162 yards and two touchdowns, including a 64-yarder that put ENMU well on its way.
SWOSU struggled to find much offensive rhythm the entire game as the Bulldogs were limited to just 180 yards on 66 plays, an average of 2.7 yards a play. SWOSU turned the ball over four times, all of which came by interception.
ENMU used a hurry-up offense for the entire game and had the Bulldogs on their heels. The Greyhounds ran an astonishing 105 plays and totaled 657 yards, an average of 6.3 yards per play.
SWOSU showed indications that it could match ENMU early. Trailing 7-0, quarterback Steve Day marched the Bulldogs 60 yards on 10 plays and scored on a 22-yard keeper to tie the game at 7-7.
The rest was ENMU.
Poku caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Harp and the two then hooked up later on a nifty 64-yard bomb that seemed to snap the Bulldogs' sail. Poku's score gave ENMU a 21-7 lead with 12:07 to play in the second quarter.
The margin reached 31-7 at the break when Harp connected on his third and final touchdown pass, hitting J.T. Thompson from 10-yards out with six seconds to play. The back-breaking touchdown came as ENMU moved the ball 73 yards in seven plays over the last 65 seconds.
Harp added a four-yard touchdown run in the third to push the margin to 38-7. The game's final score was when ENMU backup quarterback Wesley Wood connected on a seven-yard pass to Troy Harris.
The Bulldogs will have little time to regroup as they now will travel to face Angelo State University on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Rams defeated SWOSU 24-2 a year ago in Weatherford.