No matter what sport is being played, nothing is more important than beating your rival.

For the Mavs, The “Mountaineer Bowl” is a must-win every season. The Maverick football players understood that and came away with a thrilling 23-20 win over the Western State Mountaineers.

The Mavs (3-6, 2-5 RMAC) went into the cold climate of Gunnison with a strong start. The scoring started early with a 22-yard scamper by redshirt freshman Jake Cimolino followed by a 58-yard touchdown reception by sophomore tight end Nathan Neville from redshirt freshman quarterback Steve Romero. Junior kicker Caleb Pavy would add a field goal to extend the Mavs lead in the first half. The Mountaineers (1-8, 1-6 RMAC) would make things interesting before halftime, putting up a pair of field goals and a touchdown to make it 16-13. The winning touchdown came with under 10 minutes in the third quarter from a three-yard run by Cimolino. Western State would close the gap with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the lead that the Mavericks had built.

Cimolino thinks that this game was much more than just a conference win to the Mavs.

“This was the first step towards accomplishing our goal of winning out the rest of the season,” Cimolino said.

“It was definitely a big confidence booster.”

The Mavericks were able to overcome the exceptional play of the Mountaineers’ special teams throughout the game. A blocked extra-point attempt, blocked field goal and several lengthy kick returns could have been lethal, but strong play by the defense kept Western State out of contention.

The Mavs were led by the ground attack of Cimolino and Will Halboth. The dual backfield combined for 164 yards and two touchdowns in the contest. Cimolino credited their success to preparation and film study over the past week.

“We watched film on [Western State] and were able to find some of their weaknesses and exploit them,” Cimolino said. “We switched up our blocking schemes and it worked out really well. The holes were wide open.”

As for the defense, junior defensive back Trent DeBraga led all Mavericks with 10 tackles, followed by senior lineman Connor Wright with nine and senior outside linebacker Tanner Ridgeway with seven. Junior defensive end Dominique Lewis recorded five tackles and freshman defensive back Jordan Price made the lone Maverick interception on the night. The Mavs look to continue late-season momentum against Adams State this Saturday at Stocker Stadium.

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu