GRAND JUNCTION -- In a football game that was never in doubt, Mesa State rolled to a 26-3 victory over Colorado State University – Pueblo for the Mavericks' fifth consecutive Rocky Mountain Collegiate Athletic Conference win on a cold and windy night Saturday at Stocker Stadium.
“The game was a good victory,” MSC coach Joe Ramunno said. “It was a positive thing that we can build off of. We have a lot of things we've got to correct as well.”
It was a strong effort on both sides of the football for Mesa, which improves to 5-2 overall, and remains tied with University of Nebraska at Kearney for the RMAC lead.
“We worked hard at practice (this week),” said defensive end Tony Kelley. “We just stepped it up a couple notches. We're a hard working team.”
Field goal kicker Jared Keating was successful on all four field goal attempts, and school officials were searching to confirm that he may have set a school record. He connected on 27 and 38 yard field goals in the second quarter, then added a 21-yarder in the third period and finished with a 41-yarder in the fourth quarter. He also split the uprights on both point after touchdown kicks, finishing with 14 total points on the evening. Keating could have easily added a fifth field goal on the last drive of the game as MSC was inside the CSU-Pueblo 10-yard line, but coach Ramunno chose to run the ball four times to run out the clock and not run up the score on the visiting ThunderWolves. Keating, a senior from Cody, Wyo., has not missed any field goal tries this season, hitting all nine attempts.
Junior runningback Bobby Coy continued his stellar season, picking up 237 yards rushing in 28 carries. Coy is the second leading NCAA Division II rusher, and now has more than a 1,000 yards total in the first seven games.
The Mavericks made it difficult for CSU-Pueblo defense to keep keying on their running game, as quarterback Phil Vigil connected on 13 of 27 passes, and MSC finished with 454 total yards on offense. Vigil hooked up with tight end Maurice Manley for two touchdown passes, a 15-yarder in the second quarter, and a 14-yarder in the fourth quarter.
It may have been the Mavericks' best overall performance on defense this season, as they held the TimberWolves to just 75 total yards rushing, and 129 yards passing. With wind gusts of 25 to 30 miles per hour in the 40-degree temperature, CSUP's Kyle Major used the wind to help him get their only score with a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter.
On the down side, the Mavericks sustained and few injuries. Mesa State defensive lineman Dominic Applehans, was hit in the elbow and knee by one of the visitors' helmets. “It's really not too bad,” said Applehans. “I had to get seven stitches in my elbow.” Linebacker Ryan Kadavy said he “twisted his knee pretty bad, but we're all glad it wasn't anything worse.”
The Mavericks will not have much time to heal their injuries, as they host Western State Thursday. It will be televised live on CBS College Sports, starting at 6 p.m.
This was the ThunderWolves fourth consecutive RMAC loss, and they drop to 2-4 overall.
