The Mesa State Mavericks entered Saturday night's Homecoming game with the Fort Lewis Skyhawks in oddly familiar gold and maroon jerseys. They left with a winning streak. 
    The Mavs improved to 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 3-2 overall after a 35-13 victory over the floundering Skyhawks. The Mavs donned throwback uniforms to recognize and honor alumni during the Homecoming. 
    The maroon and gold trimmed uniforms, similar to Division I powerhouse University of Southern California, were in stark contrast to the maroon and black jerseys customarily worn by the Mavs. 
    Coach Joe Ramunno joked after the game that the Mavs might be wearing the throwback jerseys a little more often after their victory.
“You guys represented those throwbacks (well) tonight,” said Ramunno, speaking to his team in the postgame huddle. 
    Star running back Bobby Coy rushed for a 118 yards and one touchdown while up incoming tight end Maurice Manley caught four passes for 84 yards and one touchdown. 
    The Mavs were not without their faults though as they committed nine penalties for a negative 80 yards. “We have to work on a lot things (this week),” said Ramunno, voicing concern that the penalties could be mental errors. 
    The Mavericks started the scoring early with a 28-yard run by quarterback Phil Vigil that capped a seven play, 70-yard drive only four minutes into the game. 
    Coy added another touchdown midway through the 2nd quarter with a 22-yard scamper that put the Mavs up 14-0 with 7:15 to play in the half. 
    The Mavs built a 28-0 lead going into half-time and never looked back. The defense surrendered only 264 yards on 73 plays, while the Mavs' offense totaled 397 yards on 59 offensive plays. 
    A bright spot for the Skyhawk offense was the first drive of the second half. Runningback Dave Nieman scored on a 2-yard run to finish off a 17 play drive and cut the deficit to 28-6. 
    Outside linebacker Ryan Kadavy anchored the Mavs defense with 10 total tackles, raising his season total to 39. 
    The Mavs got their final sore of the evening on a botched field goal attempt. Place holder Ryan Polosky somehow managed to pick up a fumbled hike, and powered his way up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown. 
    “Guys just make things happen,” said Ramunno. “Sometimes you come out smelling like a rose.” 
    Mesa travels next week to play another important RMAC game against Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers are 3-0 after beating CSU-Pueblo in overtime 21-14 and are looking to improve on their loss to the Mavs a year ago. 
    The Mavs blanked the Orediggers 18-0 at home last year.