by John Cusick
With the conference championship in sight, the Colorado Mesa Mavericks welcomed Dixie State to Stocker Stadium this past Saturday.
With a loss earlier in the day by Black Hills State, the Mavericks were once again atop the conference and needed to continue winning games to stay there.
The Mavericks came out strong in the first quarter after an Antonio Clark interception sparked the offense. Quarterback Sean Rubalcaba was able to find running back David Tann on a 48-yard touchdown that put CMU up 7-0.
After a forced fumble by Zac Owen and recovery Alec Barcellos gave the ball back to the Mavericks on Dixie State’s 28-yard line. After a holding penalty on the Mavericks’ offensive line pushed Mesa back, quarterback Eystin Salum found Tann for 30 yards that set up Tann’s second touchdown of the game as he was able to get into the end zone from 4 yards out.
As Dixie State looked to find some momentum, the Mavericks maintained their pressure as they stopped Dixie State after six plays. Brad Gillis blocked Corey Stens’ punt setting up another prime opportunity for the Mavericks to score.
Ryan Sheehan connected on a 30-yard field goal after the Mavericks were held to a three and out giving CMU a dominating 17-0 lead.
The ensuing drive for Dixie State changed the momentum of the entire game. They marched down the field on a 12 play, 92-yard drive that exposed many problems for the Mavericks’ defense for the rest of the game. The drive was capped off by a 4-yard rushing touchdown by DeJon Coleman that cut the lead to 17-7.
Dixie State was able to force Mesa into a punt after 5 plays. Dixie was able to put together another long drive. This one lasted 10 plays and went for a total of 80-yards. Quarterback Josh Thompson was able to find his receiver Ernest Quiocho for 13-yards and brought the Trail Blazers within three.
The Mavericks went into halftime up 17-14 after a Sheehan missed field goal at the end of the half.
The second half wouldn’t get much better for the Mavericks as the ensuing kickoff was returned 93 yards for a touchdown by Justin Martin. After the extra point, Dixie State was up 21-17.
The Mavericks struggles continued as they were forced into a three and out once again. Running back Clifford Simms took advantage as on the second play of the drive he took it the distance of 56-yards to extend the Trail Blazers lead to 28-17.
Simms was able to find the end zone once again after a Mesa three and out. This time, from 15-yards out to cap off a 9 play, 76-yard drive that ended a run of 35 unanswered points from Dixie State.
CMU was able to put together a drive that ended in points as quarterback Eystin Salum replaced Rubalcaba to aid the rushing game.
“We wanted to get Eystin in early because he had really provided a spark last week. We were struggling running the football and he gave us an added dimension,” head coach Russ Martin said.
Salum was able to find Tann out of the backfield once again for a touchdown. It was the third touchdown of the game for Tann.
“We got to sustain drives,” Tann said. “We put up 31, but if those drives are quick, you know, the defense is getting tired on the field. […] We’ve just got to have the ball in our hands longer.”
As the fourth quarter started, Dixie State was driving and held the ball for more than seven minutes as they were able to put three more points on the board with an Anthony Reyes field goal pushing their lead to 38-24.
Salum and the Mavericks responded and created their own long drive that last six minutes. However, at the one-yard line,
Salum looked for receiver Marcus Hines on a post route. Hines slipped and Salum found Dixie State defender Tyneil Cooper for his first interception of the game.
“I’m not going to be able to sleep because of that pick. We score there and we get the ball back we’re able to tie it possibly. I thought I had Virnel on the post. It just wasn’t there I maybe tried to force it because it was third and long. […] That’s a mistake on my part,” Salum said.
The Mavericks put together one last drive with Salum rushing in from four yards out cutting the Dixie lead to seven with just over two minutes to play.
After burning all three timeouts in order to stage a last minute drive, the Mavericks had no way of stopping the clock for Dixie State’s last drive. The Trail Blazers were able to run the clock out and win their third straight game.
“I’m not going to pull any punches, we’ve got some young men on our football team that got to decide if they’re going to play for our football team or if they’re worried more about themselves and if that’s the case they won’t be playing,” Martin said.
The Mavericks will return to Stocker Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 22, as they welcome Adams State University (1-5) for their homecoming game.
