By John Cusick
The CMU football team opened up their season in dominating fashion this past week against the Western State Colorado Mountaineers. The Mavs went over to Gunnison, Colo. and with a quick start, and a stout defense came away with a 34-14 victory.
With both teams bringing back multiple starters, head Coach Russ Martin talked about containing WSCU’s All-American running back, Austin Ekeler.
“He may be the best running back we’ll face this year, he’s definitely going to be one of the best,” Martin said. The Maverick defense held Ekeler to a below average game based on his standards from the year before where he averaged almost 165 yards a game. They held Ekeler to 110 yards and one touchdown.
The Mavericks came out quickly as quarterback Sean Rubalcaba hit wide receiver Marcus Hines for a 53-yard touchdown pass that put the Mavs on top just three minutes into the game.
“If people give him [Virnel Moon] one on one situations, he’s going to beat them. If they’re going to play Marcus Hines one on one, he’s going to beat them,” Martin said of his two wide receivers.
After a three and out, Western State responded with their own touchdown after a long drive that ended in Austin Ekeler’s only touchdown of the game in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks scored early on Eystin Salum’s one yard rushing touchdown. That touchdown extended the Mavericks lead to 14-7. After another defensive stop, the Mavs were able to drive back down the field and kick a final field goal before halftime.
Coming out of the half on top 17-7, the Mavs defense was able to force a three and out and give the ball back to their offense. Rubalcaba only needed six plays, five of which were passes, in order to get down the field and score another touchdown. This one resulted in David Tann punching in the first of his two touchdowns on the afternoon. The Mavericks went up 24-7 a third of the way through the quarter.
“In the second half particular, our offensive line was able to establish a little bit more dominance. I loved seeing David Tann and Jonathon Beverly both run the ball very well,” Marting said. The Mavs established a balanced offensive game between Tann, Beverley and Rubalcaba.
The Mountaineers wound up putting together a 13 play drive that lasted five minutes and brought them back within 10 points. Mesa responded with their own five-minute drive that lasted 12 plays and was capped off with a field goal that put them back up by 13 points.
After another defensive stop, Mesa was able to get the ball back and essentially put the game out of reach. They took a 12 play drive, that went 83 yards and lasted four and a half minutes and put the game out of reach by ending it with a touchdown to put them up 34-14 to go with just under four minutes to go in the game.
Tann had two touchdowns and 86 yards while Beverly had another 82 yards on the ground to balance the attack. Rubalcaba had himself a career game as he finished with a quarterback rating of 165.7, 72.7 percent completion percentage with 326 yards and a touchdown. His favorite receiver was Hines who he hooked up with early in the game for a touchdown and continued to look for him as he finished with 10 receptions and 114 yards.
“We want to be able to both run the ball and throw the ball and we want to be able to do it equally efficient. And what I mean by that is we don’t have to be half and half,” Martin said. “What we want to be able to do is say that on any down we are capable of getting that four, five, six, seven, eight yards and we believe we have the opportunity to have big plays in both the run game and pass game.”
The Mavericks improved to 1-0 (1-0 RMAC) on the season and will welcome Chadron State 1-0 (1-0 RMAC) to Stocker Stadium on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m.
