New Mexico Highlands began its 2011 football venture with an overtime win against Eastern New Mexico.

The Cowboys, down 28-0 at halftime in the season-opening game in Portales, somehow mustered a 43-38 victory. That propelled them to a 4-0 start and thoughts of a season with historic potential.

	Saturday n WNMU at Sul Ross, noon n NMMI vs. Iowa Western CC, Pueblo, Colo., 2 p.m. n ENMU at NMHU, 6 p.m.

Instead, NMHU suffered a series of devastating injuries – a linebacker had to take snaps at quarterback at one point – and its season crumbled with seven straight losses.

But as Eric Young begins his second season as Highlands coach, he vows this season will be different.

“We addressed some of the needs where we were thin last year,” Young said. “We feel real good about our depth.”

He feels so good, he believes the Cowboys will contend for the RMAC title, a championship they have not held since they shared it with Chadron State in 1999.

“We have very high expectations,” Young said. “We feel we’ve put together a contender for a conference championship. We got a chance last year to see what it will take, and we feel like we have that kind of team.

“We have speed. I don’t know if anybody in our conference will match up with us speed wise.”

But before they get to the RMAC, the Cowboys will have to deal with ENMU in Saturday’s opener.

“It really comes down to our game plan,” Young said. ” We have to execute and have the Greyhounds adjust to us.”

The Greyhounds, 2-9 last year, are an unknown quantity. Josh Lynn, an ENMU grad who led New Mexico Military Institute to a 9-2 record last season, takes over as head coach. His offensive coordinator is Kelley Lee, who last season was head coach at Valencia High School. Valencia ran a triple-option offense, going 11-1 and reaching the Class 4A semifinals.

“If they’re running the option like everybody says they are,” Young said, “we want to make it tough for them to keep pace. We want to take control in the first half and not have to come from behind.”

The Cowboys are led by senior linebacker Jordan Campbell, the RMAC preseason defensive player of the year. He led NCAA Division II with 28 1/2 tackles for loss in 2011.

NMHU also features senior Abdul Kanneh, who had 40 tackles and three interceptions for 167 yards at cornerback. He also had a 97-yard touchdown kickoff return.

Young hopes neither will have to play quarterback.
— This article appeared on page D5 of the Albuquerque Journal