The Mavericks came into Saturday's game against defending RMAC champs Colorado Mines looking to duplicate last week's win at Fort Lewis. After giving up all the points early in the first half, the Mavs' improbable comeback came up just short, as the Orediggers held on to win, 28-20.

            “This is a game that we should have probably had,” quarterback Steve Romero said. “When you know that you need to perform, especially late in a game, it's a little bit of a tougher loss.”

            Despite losing the ball on just the second play of the game, Colorado Mines were able to rack up 343 total yards of offense in just the first half. Their first touchdown came on a 13 yard run by Dan Palmer. After Maverick kicker Caleb Pavy made it 7-3 on a field goal, Mines was able to score again on a four yard run by Tevin Champagne to go up 14-3. Clay Garcia then threw it to open receiver Diamond Gillis to make it 21-3 Orediggers. Palmer was able to score again and Mines went into halftime up 28-6.

            “Our coaching staff came into the locker room at halftime and had some words for the guys,” coach Joe Ramunno said. “We definitely had a lot more emotion going into the second half.”

            After a scoreless third quarter, the Mavericks' defense had stepped up. They only allowed 142 total yards in the second half, and more importantly, no points. That allowed the offense to try to make something happen with less than seven minutes in the fourth quarter.

            After a long rush set the Maverick offense up first and goal from the two yard line, Jake Cimolino punched it in to make it 28-13. On their next possession, Romero found Nathan Neville for an 86 yard touchdown pass, bringing the Mavs one possession away from tying it. On the Mavs first try, Romero threw an interception. But, the Maverick defense forced a fumble and CMU had one more shot to tie the game. On fourth down, Romero had Robert Felberg in the endzone, but threw just out of his reach. The Orediggers took over, and held on to the win.

            “All the losses hurt,” Ramunno said. “We play this game to win every time. The good thing is we were playing with a good chance to win. You just have to play the full 60 minutes, and we didn't.”

            The Maverick offense ended up outplaying the Mines' offense. The Mavs had 498 total yards, compared to the 485 yards by Mines. Romero finished the game 27-47 with 326 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Cimolino led the Mavs in rushing with 126 yards and a touchdown.

            “I've been feeling more comfortable each game,” Romero said. “I feel like I have been doing better and better. I'm starting to see things much better.”

            With the loss, the Mavs fall to 0-4 at home, 1-4 in the conference and 2-5 overall. The Mavs will travel to Pueblo next Saturday to take on the eleventh ranked and undefeated CSU-Pueblo. They will then travel to Gunnison to take on rival Western State before returning home Nov. 5 to host Adams State.

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