Sports Reporter
mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
A week of homecoming festivities on campus led up to the highly anticipated game between the Mavericks and New Mexico Highlands at Stocker Stadium. CMU put together its best performance of the season, but it was not enough to slow down the high-powered Cowboy offense.
The Mavs (1-4, 1-2 RMAC) were unable to hold on to a 16-point lead and surrendered the game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes, dropping their second RMAC conference game, 40-36.
“We’re making progress every week,” coach Russ Martin said. “At some point, we have to learn to finish, but I give them credit. They had some big-time skill players step up and make some big plays.”
The scoring began quickly as a costly interception by junior quarterback Jason Haferman on the opening offensive possession set up the first touchdown for New Mexico Highlands three minutes into the game. The extra point attempt was blocked by redshirt-freshman D.J. Hubbard, who then returned it 98 yards for two points.
The Mavericks would score two more touchdowns in the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Haferman to senior tight end Robert Felberg and a 77-yard run by running back Jake Cimolino. The scores put the Mavs up by 10 points going into the second quarter.
“Jason [Haferman] had those two early interceptions, but after that, the offense started rolling,” Felberg said.
The Cowboys would answer back with a running touchdown after another Haferman turnover set up New Mexico Highlands inside the Mavericks’ red zone. The offense was able to respond with an 80-yard drive that ended with a touchdown reception by wide receiver Alex Zemezonak. Cimolino would get his second score of the day off of a five-yard run late in the quarter to put the Mavs up 29-20 going into halftime after the ensuing extra point was unsuccessful.
The Mavs’ offense would extend its lead to 16 points off of a 26-yard touchdown reception by Felberg on its first drive of the second half. New Mexico Highlands’ offense started to come to life after it completed an 81-yard screen pass that led to a 30-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 13. After another stagnant offensive possession by the Mavericks, NMHU took the ball 84 yards and scored off of a fade pass in the corner of the end zone, bringing the score to within a touchdown, 36-30.
After a 50-yard field goal by NMHU cut the lead to three, both teams played exceptional defense and were helped by offensive penalties to keep the score the same for the next 10 minutes. The Cowboy offense was able to move 83 yards in 10 plays and put in the deciding touchdown with another fade pass to wide receiver Darius Davis (his second of the game) in the corner of the end zone. Martin explained that there were a couple of things that happened that caused the Mavs to lose their lead.
“Part of what happened was we had some guys get hurt, and that made a significant difference,” Martin said. “We also had some missed blocks and about four balls that went off our hands. Those plays keep our offense on the field and our defense on the sideline. We have to make those plays in order to get better.”
The Mavericks’ offense had a chance to drive to win the game, but could not convert on fourth down with 30 seconds left and was forced to turn the ball over for the final time.
“I think we played good overall as an offense,” Felberg said. “We just couldn’t get that last drive to get ahead. These last few games have had a lot of guys playing their first games. Inexperience is a factor, but we’re getting better with the more practice and more time we been putting in.”
Cimolino was the backbone of the offense for the entire game and finished the day with 233 yards rushing. Jason Haferman completed 15 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Felberg led all receivers with 127 yards receiving and two touchdowns, followed by Zemezonak who had 27 yards and a touchdown.
“A lot of times people only look at the final score,” Martin said. “They don’t look at the progress that is being made and the building that is taking place. It’s about how fast we can make that progress.”
The Mavericks will look to even up their conference record when they take on Western New Mexico this Saturday in Silver City, N.M.
(Jesse Redmond contributed to this article.)
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