The Mavericks got their first win against a top-five opponent since they became a Division II program with a 26-21 win over the Orediggers.
Colorado School of Mines (CSM) came into the game as the number three team in the nation.
“The feeling has stayed the same for me. I trust our kids, I trust our coaches. They prepare well, so I knew if there was play to make, they’d make it,” Head Coach Tremain Jackson said.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Karst Hunter threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He went 20 for 32 passing and threw one interception in the game. Hunter led the Mavericks in rushing with 58 yards against the Orediggers.
“It was a great game overall, but not a lot of people thought we were going to do this. There were a lot of doubters, I’ve been doubted a lot coming from a small school trying to play college football,” Hunter said. “So, the doubt was nothing new to me, and I kind of like the underdog mentality because nobody thinks you can do it, and then you go prove everybody wrong, so I liked it. It’s a great feeling.”
Graduate student wide receiver Dwight Blakey led the Mavericks in receiving yards with 103 and a touchdown.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) brought home the Nyikos Cup with a game-winning interception from graduate student defensive back Creighton Sanders. Sanders intercepted John Matocha’s pass in the endzone on a 4 and 23 desperation Hail Mary play.
The Orediggers started their final drive from the CMU 37-yard line with 3:12 left in the game. CSM started the drive off with three straight runs, but they didn’t gain a first down. They chose to stay on the ground with Michael Zeman and got the first down to stay alive.
On second and seven, Matocha looked for Josh Johnston in the endzone, but redshirt senior defensive back Damar’ren Mitchell broke the pass up. Mitchell was called for defensive pass interference though which moved CSM from the 22 yard-line to the CMU seven-yard line.
“As a [defensive back], you have to have short-term memory. Everybody knows that. When you mess up or anything, you have to have short-term memory and go to the next play. That’s all I was thinking was ‘just keep playing, you’re good,’ and I just kept playing and we came out with the win,” Mitchell said.
The Maverick’s defense didn’t let the penalty affect them as junior defensive lineman Brian Rattery sacked Matocha for seven yards. CMU worked the Orediggers into another fourth down with the game on the line.
Matocha was able to avoid the pressure to find Johnston in the endzone, but Levi Johnson was called for holding. The penalty took the touchdown off the board and moved the Orediggers back ten yards to the CMU 23-yard line.
Sanders ended the game with an interception in the end-zone on the desperation Hail Mary throw from Matocha.
The Maverick’s defense held the Oredigger’s offense to 49 total yards and zero points in the second half.
CMU took the lead with a five-minute 55-second possession that started in the third quarter. The Maverick’s started from their own 12-yard line, and they were able to pick up three first downs to move into the Orediggers territory before the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, CMU found themselves in a third and 11 situation, but Hunter kept it on a quarterback keeper to pick up six yards. On fourth and five, Hunter found redshirt junior tight end Dagan Rienks with enough for the first down, but Rienks had other ideas. He turned the corner and turned the jets on to outrun everybody on the field for a 39-yard touchdown to give the Maverick’s their 26-21 lead.
“At the victory dinner the night before, I told the people there that they were ranked number three, but we didn’t see them as that. It wasn’t like a David and Goliath, we didn’t see them as a giant. We knew we could play and we knew we could play better than them. We had to prove it for 60 minutes and actually play a complete game,” Rienks said.
The first half was a different story as the Orediggers offense scored all three of their touchdowns in the opening half of play.
CSM scored their first touchdown of the game on their second possession of the game. They started on the Maverick’s 35-yard line off redshirt junior punter Blake Moore’s 12-yard punt.
The Orediggers found themselves in two fourth-down situations on the drive and they converted one to keep it going. The second fourth down resulted in Zeman taking the handoff from Matocha and going 16-yards for the first touchdown of the game.
The Mavericks were able to answer on their next drive though as Hunter had two big completions on the drive to tie the game up. He found Blakey on a 24-yard connection on the third play of the drive to put CMU into the Orediggers territory.
On third and five, Hunter found graduate student Elijah Lilly on another 24-yard pitch and catch for a touchdown to tie the game at seven.
CSM put together a 13-play, 79-yard drive that started in the first quarter and ended in the second quarter with a touchdown.
On their next drive, they had a similar possession with the same result. They went 97 yards in 10 plays that ended in a touchdown to put the Orediggers up 21-7.
Moore pinned CSM on the one-yard line for their next possession which was the catalyst for CMU’s momentum swing. Rattery was then able to get into the backfield and drop Zeman in the endzone for a safety which also gave the Mavericks the ball back.
CMU took over with 2:36 left in the first half and went 70 yards in eight plays. The drive started with a six-yard rush from freshman running back Avian Thomas, and Hunter followed it up with a 16-yard rush.
The Mavericks picked up another first down but found themselves in a short third and two situation with under a minute to play in the half. Hunter looked the endzone on third down and found Blakey for an acrobatic catch with just inches between him and the sideline for the touchdown. Blakey brought the score to 16-21 going into the halftime break.
The momentum swing kept up in the second half as they outscored CSM 10-0 in the second half to take down the third-ranked team in the nation.
Redshirt junior defensive lineman Dirion Hutchins led CMU in tackles with 10 total tackles. Hutchins was also one of the five Mavericks that recorded a sack in the game.
Rattery led the Mavericks in sacks as he recorded one and a half sacks in the game with his seven-yard sack on the final CSM drive of the game. Rattery finished with five total tackles and two and a half tackles for loss in the game.
The Maverick’s next game is Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. against Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colo. The Mavericks and Mountaineers are tied for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings.
