The Maverick football team dropped their second straight game against a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) opponent. The Mavericks lost 28-31 to undefeated Black Hills State University (Black Hills St.) on Saturday Sept. 24 at Lyle Hare Stadium in Spearfish, South Dakota.
Senior running back Jullen Ison put Colorado Mesa University (CMU) on the board in the second quarter with his first touchdown of the season after a stalemate in the first quarter. The Mavericks extended their lead when sophomore linebacker Hudson Metcalf forced a fumble and took it 71 yards the other way to give the Mavericks a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Their lead was short-lived, however. Junior quarterback and 2021 All-RMAC Honorable Mention Chance Eben delivered a 92-yard touchdown strike just the next play after the Maverick score.
CMU could not respond on offense and punted it back to Black Hills State who then quickly marched their way down the field in four plays to tie it up. Their scoring drive was completed with a one yard scamper from graduate student running back Nolan Susel.
The Mavericks retaliated with a 10 play 75-yard drive which was finished when redshirt sophomore quarterback Karst Hunter tossed a 16-yard swing pass to Ison who gave the Mavericks a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
The Yellowjackets tied the game again near the end of the third quarter with another Yellowjacket one yard touchdown run courtesy of Susel.
The Yellow jackets hit a 52-yard field goal to give them their first lead of the game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Penalties piled up for the Mavericks as they received 11 flags totaling 104 yards which helped to stall CMU’s second-half offensive attack.
However, CMU finally got the ball moving on offense and responded with a score on the next drive. Hunter connected with junior transfer wide receiver David O’Connell for his first Maverick career touchdown and gave CMU the lead 28-24 with just 2:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Black Hills St. stole the game with a seven play 68-yard drive when Eben threw a 29-yard touchdown with less than 45 seconds to go and tipped the lead to 28-31 in their favor.
The Yellowjackets outgained CMU in yardage 424 to 336 and held onto the ball for almost nine minutes longer.
The Mavericks look to halt their losing skid when they host main rival Western Colorado University this Saturday at Stocker Stadium for a 6 p.m. night game.
