RICHARDSON, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico football team was well represented as 16 Greyhounds earned All-Lone Star Conference honors and two were named to the LSC All-Academic Team by the conference office on Friday.
Earning First Team accolades was junior fullback Paul Terry after leading the Greyhounds ground game with 989 yards for a 4.8 yards per rush average to go with a career-high 10 touchdowns. Terry eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark three times this season, rushing for a season-best 145 yards against Colorado Mesa on Sept. 8. Terry found the endzone twice for the Hounds in their 55-9 inaugural Chile Bowl victory over Western New Mexico on Oct. 13.
A pair of ENMU special teams standouts also made the LSC All-Conference list, as sophomore deep snapper Roope Henry was selected to the First Team and was joined by junior Tyler Vargas, who received Second Team accolades as both a kicker and a punter. Vargas went 29-of-30 on his extra points and connected on 8-of-9 of his field goal attempts, booming a career-long 52-yarder on Nov. 3 at Angelo State. As a punter, Vargas averaged 39.8 yards on his 52 punts, placing 17 inside the 20-yard line with his season-long of 59 yards coming in the Colorado Mesa game.
Joining Vargas on the All-LSC Second Team was senior offensive lineman Mister Birdo. The Albuquerque, N.M. native was the centerpiece of an offensive line that blocked for the sixth-best rushing team in all of NCAA Division II, averaging 284.5 yards per game. Birdo led three ENMU offensive lineman to the All-LSC Team, as Clovis, N.M. native Isaiah Callahan along with sophomore Caleb Ortiz received All-LSC Honorable Mention.
The Hounds had a pair of sophomore defensive standouts make the All-LSC Second Team in linebacker Noah Sweitzer and safety Dante Urrea. Sweitzer was sensational in his second season with the Hounds, leading the team with 90 tackles and 13 tackles for loss to with three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Sweitzer recorded 10 or more tackles in each of the last five games of the year, wrapping up a season-high 13 at Angelo State while also turning in an 11-tackle effort with four tackles for loss against Western New Mexico.
Urrea was a vital piece to the third-best scoring defense in the LSC, only allowing opponents to score 22.1 points per game. Urrea finished the season with 69 tackles with three tackles for loss to go with an interception and five pass breakups. The Greyhounds secondary was plentiful on the all-conference team as he was joined by junior cornerback Charles Countee and junior safety Ricky Barfield, who each took home All-LSC Honorable Mention. Countee led the Hounds with four interceptions, including a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown in the season finale against Western Oregon as well as a team-high 12 pass breakups to go with 56 tackles. Barfield also ended his season with 56 tackles to go along with an interception and six breakups.
The Hounds had a pair of linebackers garner All-LSC Honorable Mention status as seniors Brad Hardin and Todd Countee each made the list. Hardin closed out his Greyhounds career by finishing second on the team with 86 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss, including a career-high 15 in his final game against Western Oregon. Countee ended his final season with the Greyhounds with 33 tackles and five tackles for loss.
Also representing the Hounds on the Honorable Mention list was junior running back Johnny Smith, who totaled 592 yards rushing, 340 yards receiving, and 442 kick return yards in 2018. Junior tight end Tyler Lynch joined Smith, who served as his lead blocker on the edges.
Junior Jamar Claibourn represented the defensive line with an Honorable Mention accolade with 26 tackles and two sacks this season.
The quarterback and wide receiver duo of junior Wyatt Strand and senior Russell Montoya represented the Greyhounds on the LSC All-Academic Team, as they were only two of 11 players in the entire conference to garner the award. It was the second time in his Greyhounds career that Montoya made the All-Academic Team while Strand is a first-time recipient of the award.
The Greyhounds finished their 2018 season with a 5-6 record overall and a 4-4 mark in LSC play. Eastern ended its season on a high note as the Hounds came up with a big defensive stand in the redzone to come away with a 19-14 victory over Western Oregon in their season finale on Saturday.
