It feels great when the tables turn in your favor.
The Colorado Mesa University football team was down 28-0 at the end of the first last week against CSU-Pueblo. This week against Black Hills State University, the Mavericks ended the first quarter up 28-0 en route to their 58-21 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
CMU (4-4) came into the game after a much-needed positive week of practice despite their recent loses and season standings. The Mavericks scored on every end of the ball as the special teams, offense and defense contributed to the most points in a game since the 64-63 OT win against Adams State last season.
“This is the first game of the season where we played as a team all four quarters,” quarterback Hayden Bollinger said. “This week in practice we brought a lot of energy that we really needed.”
Justin White set the tone on the opening kickoff when the freshman defensive back took the ball from endzone to endzone. White was responsible for a good portion of the massive highlight reel from Saturday. The Agoura Hills native also had a blocked punt and a fumble recovery.
“Just being able to bounce back from last week against Pueblo, I mean we had an unfortunate loss, but being able to come out and bounce back and put up 58 points on em felt great,” Justin White said. “That’s honestly my goal every time is to blow out every team. But yea I feel like as a whole we could come out and put up some points like this.”
When the Yellow Jackets offense finally got on the field, redshirt-freshman quarterback Chance Eben threw an interception to cornerback Nick Ciccio to returned it 32 yards for the touchdown. By the time the Maverick offense had their first snap, they had a 14-0 cushion.
Hayden Bollinger got the start and was working with the least amount of stress he had had to deal with all season. As a matter of fact, the whole team was. CMU wasn’t having to come from behind for the first time all year and didn’t surrender the lead once.
“Coming out here we knew we were going to play a good football team and we knew how much better we were,” Bollinger said. “It’s like all the hard work finally paid off…It feels good and once we get in a rhythm, it’s hard for us to get out of it.”
Bollinger extended the Mavericks lead to 21-0 with an eight-yard touchdown run. Jesse Rodriquez followed up four minutes later to end the first quarter with an 11-yard touchdown reception from Bollinger.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks attempted a fake punt from their own 15-yard line but failed to convert. The failed attempt allowed the Yellow Jackets capitalized and drove the 15 yards into the endzone to get on the board for the first time.
The Mavericks defense wouldn’t allow Black Hills State to dimish the lead much more. Dylan Tait intercepted Chance Eben off of a tipped pass and returned it for the second pick-six of the game with five minutes remaining in the first half. Eben would respond with a touchdown pass to running back Payten Gilmore off a reverse trick play.
Jesse Rodriquez answered the Gilmore’s touchdown with a three-yard run to go into halftime 41-14 lead.
“The guys came out this week and the energy level was up in practice. They believed they were going to have this kind of a game,” Head Coach Russ Martin said. “It’s the total opposite of last week. I’m super proud of these guys because they keep working hard, they keep believing and as they start eliminating more and more mistakes, this is who we are capable of being.”
Rodriquez was one of the five running backs used on Saturday. Isaac Maestas led the team with 17 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown. Justice Orgueri came into the game in the second half and carried the ball six times for 47 yards. Other running backs Trey Windham and Logan Grossnickle also ran the ball.
In the third quarter, the Mavericks continued to subdue the Black Hils State offense. CMU’s defense ended the game with seven total tackles for loss with four off them being sacks. Reed Rowan led the team with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. Ricky Hayes and Mason Newton also accounted for a sack apiece.
“We are one unit and we come out together and always trying to get each other sacks,” Mason Newton said. “Honestly it’s a competition of who can get in the backfield first. That’s what we preach all week.”
The Mavericks in the second half utilized their second and third-string players. Aaron Howard entered the game in the second half and completed two passes for 56 yards and also ran the ball four times for 24 yards. Rope Ruel also entered the game and scored his first touchdown of the year with a one-yard stumble into the endzone in the fourth.
CMU ended the day with 475 yards of total offense and went 9-16 on third down attempts. CMU now enters a two-game road trip starting with Dixie State on Nov.2 then travels to Adams State on Nov. 9.
