KINGSVILLE, Texas – In the first leg of a two week road trip across state lines, the Texas A&M-Kingsville football team (3-5, 2-4) will visit the No. 21 Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds (6-1, 5-1) on Saturday night at Al Whitehead Field at Greyhound Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m.

The Greyhounds are riding the momentum of a four-game winning streak and currently sit in second place in the Lone Star Conference, trailing only undefeated Midwestern State. Their only setback came on the road against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 16, when they were humbled, 51-22. Coach Kelley Lee is attempting to lead his team to the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs in his first year at the helm of the program after five seasons as the offensive coordinator.

The ENMU offense revolves around a triple option attack that has seen the Greyhounds average the third-most yards per game on the ground in the country this season with a mark of 308.3 ypg. The main weapon in their attack is running back Kamal Cass, who leads the LSC and is ninth in the NCAA with an average of 127.1 ypg. Running coach Lee's offense is quarterback Wyatt Strand, who's run for 468 yards and four TDs. He's had to throw just 70 passes in seven games, totaling 507 yards through the air for a trio of touchdowns with one interception.

"[Kamal Cass] is a very dynamic player in their scheme," said coach Daren Wilkinson. "He's not your typical fullback in the sense that he's not a 240-pound guy that's going to run for four yards in a cloud of dust. He can break any run because he has that type of skill set. When you combine that with the type of offense they run, he becomes a very dangerous player."

Junior running back Nick Pelrean will be leading the Javelina offense into battle. He's coming off a career best 171 yards rushing against Tarleton State and the Houston native also added three catches for 53 yards while scoring twice. Pelrean's average of 99.0 ypg places him third in the LSC. Quarterback Cade Dyal is attempting to bounce back from a difficult night against the Texans during which he was intercepted three times. The Kerrville, Texas native did beat the TSU defense for two touchdowns, one of which capped off a 96-yard, fourth quarter drive. He remains third in the conference in passing yards and touchdown throws. Despite nabbing just one pass last week, receiver Jordan Thomas is still tied for the league lead in touchdown catches and is just seven yards behind the LSC leader in receiving yards.

The Javelina's enter Saturday with a rushing defense that's given up an average of 84.4 ypg, 10^th best in the NCAA, and the Hogs haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher since they met Eastern New Mexico in 2016. The unit's leading tackles are linebackers Trevor Moses, who has 51 takedowns, and Peyton Tilley with 50. The Hoggies have also racked up 33 sacks, the fourth-most in Division II. Defensive coordinator David Brown II has seen 14 different players get to the quarterback this year. He's also seen his student-athletes amass a league-high 12 interceptions, one of which was returned 68 yards for a touchdown by DeVonte Williams against Tarleton.

"The biggest thing," said Wilkinson, "with a team like this, with the type of offense they run is we need to be very disciplined on defense. We need to stick with our keys and our assignments, because that's where they get you. If we get out of position and make an error, [that could result in] a touchdown."

The Greyhounds own the LSC's second-best defense in terms of ypg allowed, with an average of 324.0. They are at their best when defending the run, as their average of 64.3 ypg allowed has them tied for fourth in country. They've held an opponent under 50 yards on the ground four times this year, including in each of their last three games. Senior linebacker Desmond Blue has put himself in the top 10 in the conference in tackles for loss and sacks. In his last two games, the Florida native has totaled 4.5 TFLs. In the defensive backfield, graduate student Deion Hart has collected 10 passes defensed, tied for the LSC's second-best total.

TAMUK will be attempting to widen its lead over Eastern New Mexico in the all-time series, as the Javelinas own a mark of 20-8 against their conference rivals. When the teams played in Kingsville in 2016, quarterback Myles Carr threw three touchdown passes while Kingsville's defense limited the visitors to less than four yards per carry on 60 rushing attempts, helping lead the team to 41-28 triumph. The Greyhounds will be looking to recapture the magic that saw them take three straight from the Javelinas in 2013-15.

"If you can get a lead on a team like this," said Wilkinson, "and get them out of what they like to do, then you can dictate the way the game goes. We need to be able to play good solid defense and make plays on offense when we have the opportunities. If we can get a lead on them and force them to change, their philosophy, that's what we'd like to do."

Saturday's clash will be broadcast live on javelinaathletics.com, WILD 105.5 and KTAI 91.1 with Mark Inserra calling the play-by-play. Once the game goes final, javelinaathletics.com is also where you can go for the recap.