This one stung, and the irony exists because it was against the Yellow Jackets.
The Colorado Mesa University football team struggled and struggled hard on Saturday against the Black Hills State University (BHSU) Yellow Jackets and the Mavericks received their fourth loss of the season with the 31-26 upset.
BHSU started the season 0-6 before winning their first game last weekend against New Mexico Highlands. For some reason, the momentum from the first win carried into this week against CMU and ended up plaguing the Mavericks until the very end.
The Yellow Jackets defense caused five turnovers on Saturday. The CMU offense had three consecutive drives with three consecutive turnovers between the third and fourth quarter. That pretty much sums up how the overall game went.
CMU got down early in the first quarter when the BHSU offense scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and a field goal to lead the game 17-3 going into the second quarter.
Eystin Salum, who missed the week prior with a rib injury, was back in the lineup and made his presence known as the defending RMAC Offensive Player of the Year scored three rushing touchdowns on Saturday for the Mavericks. Two of them came in back-to-back drives to tie the game up 17-17 going into halftime.
It was not predicted this game would’ve been so close considering the struggle the Yellow Jackets have had on both offense and defense this year. However, both sides of the ball for Black Hills State performed significantly well. The defense forcing five turnovers was the key to the game because it killed any momentum the Mavericks would build upon their drives.
Salum threw three picks, which is a season-high, and Rope Ruel also threw one as he came in for a portion of the second half. Along with the three interceptions, Salum threw 24-51 for 270 yards but was also the leading rusher for CMU with his three touchdowns and 68 yards on the ground.
Lake Makakona and Jonathon Beverly combined for 131 yards off of 32 carries.
Peter Anderson made history again on Saturday as the leading receiver for the Mavericks had his sixth consecutive 100-yard game after catching ten passes for 132 yards. This helped him surpass 1,000 yards on the season which is only the second time in program history a receiver has done so.
After CMU would get their first and only lead of the game with Salum’s third touchdown run, BHSU running back Jack Walbye got his second touchdown run of the day after a 25-yard dash with 3:32 left in the third to bring the score back to 24-24.
After Salum’s third interception, the Yellow Jackets got the lead back after a short 14-yard drive capped by a three-yard run by Payten Gilmore.
Despite the struggle on offense for CMU, the defense did their job. Damar’ren Mitchell had three interceptions on the day as well as blocking a punt which led to the safety that brought the game to 26-31.
CMU could not capitalize off of the safety, consequently, and would end up losing their fourth game of the season.
The homecoming game against Dixie State on Oct. 27. Is next for the Mavericks. In last year’s contest against the Trailblazers, CMU came away with the 35-22 win.
