jdredmon@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

The Mavericks’ football team sealed its first win of the season Saturday against first-time RMAC opponent Black Hills State University, when Alex Zemezonak kicked a 17-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining on the clock. The 31-29 victory by the Mavericks was CMU’s first win under coach Russ Martin.

“[The win] feels very good, especially because of the way we got it,” Martin said. “It was not an easy game, but we had some guys really step up. We had two blocked kicks, a lot of return yards and those are the things we want to have.”

The game also marked junior QB Jason Haferman’s first start of the season. Starter Deke Cisco was unable to play because of an ankle injury in the Sept. 15 loss to Chadron State. Haferman completed 18 out of 28 passes for 157 yards throwing for no touchdowns and an interception, but was most effective on the ground, rushing for three touchdowns on the day.

“[Haferman] played great,” running back Jake Cimolino, who led the team with a career-high 196 yards rushing in the game, said. “He made some great reads in the game and he did exactly what we were practicing all week.”

Things looked like more of the same early on for the Mavs, who found themselves down 16-7 less than four minutes into the second quarter. The team also tallied 11 of its 18 penalties in the first half.

“Obviously we’d like to get into a rhythm early,” Martin said. “A lot of it with Jason [Haferman] probably had to do with nerves. It sometimes happens when you get a new quarterback out there, but I was extremely pleased with the defense’s play. The score could have been much worse than 10-0 early on.”

Much like last week’s game, CMU was unable to hold onto a 28-16 lead that it had managed to grab after Haferman’s third touchdown late in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets managed to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to jump ahead 29-28 with just over three minutes remaining.

This week, however, the Mavericks would march down the field led primarily by Cimolino, who ran for over 30 yards on the drive, to set up Zemezonak for the game-winning field goal.

“We knew we had to move the ball,” Cimolino said. “It was our last chance in the game and we really wanted to pound the rock. I think we had six carries in a row so my main concern was holding on to the ball.”

The Mavericks (1-3, 1-1) will look to grab another win Sept. 29 against New Mexico Highlands University (3-1, 2-0) at Stocker Stadium, who the Mavs beat the last six times prior to a 41-38 loss last season. Saturday will be CMU’s homecoming game with kickoff at 1 p.m.