“What we have to do is eliminate the stupid mistakes.” Coach Russ Martin said as he watched his quarterbacks, Deke Cisco and Jason Haferman warm up in a cold and very windy Alamosa prior to the Mavericks final regular season game of Martin's first season at the helm of the Maverick program.

Saturday the Mavericks (4-7, 4-5 RMAC) fell to the Adams State Grizzlies (8-3, 6-3 RMAC) 19-0.

With temps in the low thirties at kickoff and winds in excess of 20 mph both teams knew that weather was going to be a major factor in the game.

Starting with the ball, the Grizzlies moved down the field. A 13 play 66-yard drive that featured a mix of run and pass put the Grizzlies on the 17-yard line where they scored the first points of the game with a field goal.

Back from a knee injury sustained three weeks ago against Colorado School of Mines, Jason Haferman was back under center for the Mavericks Saturday. Haferman and the Mavericks tried their luck at passing in their first offensive series. After producing one first down, and quite a few quarterback hurries, the Mavericks handed the ball back to the Grizzlies.

The Maverick defense was stretched again in the Grizzlies second possession. Once again, the Grizzlies drove down the field with ease through a mixture of a passes and runs. Adams State would once again be kept from the end zone, settling for a field goal and a 6-0 lead.

The Mavs second offensive possession ended quicker then it began. On the first play from scrimmage a hand off to Jake Cimolino resulted in the ball bouncing on the field. The Grizzlies recovered and on a short field, scored their first touchdown of the game to extend the lead to 13-0.

Redemption was on Jake Cimolino's mind when the Mavericks got the ball back for their third possession. Or at least it looked like it was. On an 11-play drive Cimolino touched the ball nine times. When it looked like the Mavs might have their first points about to go on the board, Jason Haferman was picked off in the end zone.

After another long drive, including a 42-yard pass, the Mavericks stopped the Grizzlies in the red zone with the help of a tackle behind the line of scrimmage coming from the hands of Cees Doxsey. With the stop the Mavs kept the Grizzlies off the board.

Cutting down on stupid penalties is something Coach Martin talked about before the game. Perhaps the oddest penalty of the game came after the Maverick coaches could not stay off the field and behind their sideline despite several warnings. The 15-yard penalty backed the Mavs up, proving that penalties of any kind can be a drive killer.

As the half came to a close, the Mavericks Ryan Sivetts forced an ASU fumble inside CMU territory. Unfortunately the Mavericks trend of not capitalizing on opponent mistakes, continued in Alamosa.

The half ended with Jordan Price picking off the Grizzlies.

The second half saw the same type of play from a Maverick offense that seemed to struggle to find its identity. At times an offense that was committed to the run, blocking was at times sparse. And when the Mavs decided to throw the ball, less than favorable results followed. Out of the 15 passes that the Mavericks dared to throw in the howling wind that whipped through Rex Stadium Saturday during the second half, only four were complete. Three went into the hands of Adams State defenders. Of the 11 touches Cimolino had in the first two quarters, he put up only 56 yards.

Simply put, the Grizzlies created turnovers, and then drives off of those turnovers. The Mavericks created turnovers, and then would nearly instantly fall victim to turnovers themselves. Ruling out mistakes was what the coaches looked to prevent, but unfortunately for the Mavericks, Saturday afternoon had plenty of mistakes.

Starting Quarterback Jason Haferman agreed. “My performance was awful. I made some mental mistakes that you can't make,” said Haferman.

Most surprisingly on the day was despite the wind, and weather conditions both teams took shots through the air, passing more aggressively and more frequently were the Grizzlies. Trevor Eggelston was 25 for 45 on the day, with his passing picking up frequency in the second half as the wind shifted to the north east. The Mavericks Jason Haferman was a mere seven for 31 attempts with four interceptions. The Grizzlies, like most teams in the RMAC, keyed in on the Mavericks strongest offensive option, number 32; Jake Cimolino. “Chimmy” had an up and down day, rushing for 123 yards on 27 carries, with one fumble in Mesa territory.

The Mavericks saw everything in their last game of the season from sure touchdowns being fumbled at the goal line and recovered by the opposition to the worst game time weather they had seen all year.

With one of the most eventful Maverick football seasons now in the books, it starts all over again, and soon. Football is a cyclical thing, seasons come and seasons go. Spring ball will be here before we know it. Just as things are certain to return every year, there are of course events that are certain to not return; 11 seniors played their final game as Mavericks

“It's surreal. It hasn't even hit me yet,” said Senior Center Matt Mankoff after his final game in a Maverick uniform. “It's just such a great group of guys, and it's the last time we'll all play together.”