by John Cusick
The Nyikos Cup took place this weekend between the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers and Colorado Mesa Mavericks. It was one that won’t be forgotten any time soon. The Mavs traveled to Golden to play the Orediggers in a battle of top 25 teams.
The Mavericks relied heavily on their defense as the offense took a full quarter to get on track after an offensive penalty to begin the game, and then on the next play running back Jonathon Beverly fumbled and turned it over. Their drive resulted in a missed field goal by Mines’ kicker Scott Marshall.
After a long six-minute possession, the Mavericks were able to kick a field goal and take the lead 3-0. The defense was able to hold the Orediggers to a short seven play drive and get the ball back. Ryan Sheehan was able to convert on his second field goal of the day right before the first quarter ended giving the Mavericks a 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Orediggers were able to respond after a roughing the kicker penalty nullified Marshall’s second miss, Justin Dvorak was able to find Brody Oliver on fourth and 4 for a touchdown. Marshall missed the extra point, and it was only the beginning for Marshall.
Sean Rubalcaba racked up 281 yards through the air and was able to find his receiver Josh Brown for all three of his touchdowns. David Tann was able to get into the end zone and give the Mavericks a 13-6 lead after a Sheehan extra point.
Antonio Clark was able to get his first interception of the season as he picked off Dvorak in the end zone and ended Mines’ 16 play drive to end the half.
Coming out of the half the defense was able to force the Orediggers into a quick four and out. When Rubalcaba came back out on offense, he wasted no time getting into the swing of things. After a couple of penalties, Rubalcaba hit receiver Justin Brown for 31 yards to take the Mavericks down to the 21. The next play he hit receiver Josh Brown for the first of his three touchdowns on the day to give the Mavericks a 20-6 lead.
“We make guys have to defend every one of those receivers. I think it gives us some weapons at every position on the field and as we go that’s kind of what we want to continue to do,” head Coach Russ Martin said about his receiving corps of Virnel Moon, Marcus Hines and Josh Brown
The Orediggers responded two drives later after a quick 57-yard reception down to the two-yard line, running back Zac Guy was able to rumble in for a touchdown and bring the game to 20-13.
In the Mavericks last drive of the quarter, sophomore quarterback Eystin Salum came in for Rubalcaba after a scare on the previous drive. Salum took the Mavericks down the field for an 8-play, 80-yard drive that ended with another Josh Brown touchdown, this time from 39-yards out.
As the fourth quarter started, the Orediggers found their way on the offensive side. Opening the quarter with a touchdown, Dvorak hit Ty Young for a one-yard touchdown pass that brought the game to 27-20. The Mavericks offense began to sputter and it seemed as if the Orediggers were going to pull this one out. On the next drive the Orediggers drove 57-yards and was capped off with a two-yard touchdown pass from Dvorak to Oliver once more tying the game up 27-27.
After a four and out for the Mavericks, Austin Beswick recovered a Sam Seeton fumble that gave the Mavericks hope towards the end of the game. However, that was not the case as the next drive ended with a punt for the Mavericks. The defense for the Mavericks wasn’t finished on the afternoon as linebacker Carlos Aviles picked off Dvorak for the second interception of Dvorak.
The ensuing drive for the Mavericks however ended up in a five play, negative 12-yards that resulted in a punt. This gave the Orediggers one last chance to drive down the field and win the game. And it looked like that’s exactly what they were going to do. After a nine-yard pass brought the Orediggers to the 28-yard line of the Mavericks, it all but seemed locked up with a field goal attempt coming. After a Maverick timeout, Marshall came out to attempt a 41-yard field goal.
“It was a standpoint that we felt we still had a pretty good shot of blocking that one and we didn’t but when we came through he missed it wide right,” Martin said. “We were trying to bring some pressure.”
“Once he missed it I felt there was no way we were going to lose that game,” defensive back Dustin Rivas said.
Marshall’s woes would continue after his missed game winning field goal with three seconds to go. The Mavericks took over on downs and kneeled to send the game into overtime.
The Orediggers got the ball first in overtime. Dvorak was able to find Ty Young for his fourth touchdown of the game and give the Orediggers a 34-27 lead. Not to be outdone, Rubalcaba came out and found Tann for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game up at 34.
The Mavericks had the ball first to start the second overtime. Rubalcaba wasted no time as he found Virnel Moon for a 19-yard touchdown. The Mavericks went up 41-34 and gave the ball back to the Orediggers. After a defensive stand, the Orediggers faced a fourth and 12. Dvorak took the game into his own hands as he rushed for 13 yards to score and what most thought would force a third overtime.
“When he scored I was lining up for the PAT and [remembered] that I probably should [have] blocked that last PAT of theirs. So in my mind I was just hoping to see the crease open and when it did I knew I should be able to get the block,” Rivas said of his game winning block. “The feeling was unreal. We knew how big that game was, so when it was finally all over it was a great feeling and celebration with my brothers.”
This marks the second year in a row that the Mavericks won the Nyikos Cup. Last year the Mavericks were able to defeat the Orediggers with a score of 31-17.
“There’s a lot of things we can improve on and our guys know that. There’s things we can improve on offense, defense, special teams but what is exciting is the way that these guys battle. They compete and they compete well and the other thing is that they do expect to win,” Martin said.
The Mavericks sit atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 3-0 (3-0 RMAC) tied with both Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines. The Mavericks will travel to Durango for a matchup against the Fort Lewis Skyhawks 1-2 (1-2 RMAC).
