Box Score SPEARFISH, S.D. –
Andrew Cota threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more in his first career start for the Colorado Mesa University football team in a 48-31 win at Black Hills State Saturday (Oct. 3).
Cota completed 24-of-34 passes for 291 yards with one interception. He also ran for a team-high 125 yards.
DJ Hubbard opened the scoring with a six-yard touchdown run at 3:26 of the first quarter. Cota then ran for his first touchdown of the game at 12:18 of the second quarter.
BHSU quarterback Ward Anderson ran 47-yards to the endzone and then threw an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:26 remaining in the half. The Maverick lead would hold at 14-
13 thanks to a blocked extra point by
Zach Beach on the second 'Jacket score.
The Mavs would score once more before the break with a 27-yard pass from Cota to
Daniel Perse to complete a four-play 66-yard drive with less than one minute remaining.
The third quarter would feature two more touchdown scores from Cota, a 21-yard strike to
Ian Juede and a five-yard toss to
Blaine Jackson.
Anderson would add two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground, both of which came on plays of more than 60 yards. Anderson finished with 333 passing yards completing 29-of-56 pass attempts.
Ryan Sheehan kicked his first of two field goals with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give CMU a 38-28 lead.
Mesa outscored Black Hills 10-3 in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard Cota touchdown run and a 26-yard chip shot by Sheehan.
Ian Juede was Cota's most popular receiver catching eight passes for 80 yards.
Daniel Perse led CMU with 88 receiving yards on four catches.
Marcus Cross and
Isaac Koch each made a team-high 10 tackles for CMU.
Black Hills finished with slim advantages in passing yards (333-291), rushing yards (241-235) and total offense (574-526).
Austin Pitchford averaged 43.0 yards per punt with a long of 53 yards and two inside the 20-yard line.
The 'Jackets averaged just 25.4 yards per punt by comparison.
The 48 points was the most CMU has scored this season.
CMU (3-2, 2-1) will host New Mexico Highlands Oct. 11.
