GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – It was the
Eystin Salum and
Blake Nelson show on Saturday afternoon at Stocker Stadium. Salum and Nelson led No. 21 Colorado Mesa to a 49-37 win over Black Hills State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
Salum accounted for 359 yards of total offense and six touchdowns. The junior rushed for 84 yards and three scores and was 15-of-27 for 275 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
The junior scored on a run of 12 yards in the first quarter to make it 14-0 at the time. He also added a 54-yard scoring run in the third quarter with his final touchdown run coming from just 5-yards out but with four Yellow Jacket defenders draped over him.
The Denver product hooked up with
Peter Anderson on a 40-yard touchdown pass on the first series of the game.
Later in the first, he found
Justin Brown on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Brown caught it and made three defenders miss before a final dive into the endzone for the score and the 21-0 lead.
With 29 second left before halftime, Salum spotted
Virnel Moon for a 20-yard touchdown off a free play as Black Hills was offsides.
Moon finished with a team-high 113 yards on five catches while Anderson added three catches for 66 yards.
Senior
David Tann led the Maverick rushing attack with 87 yards on just nine carries. That included a 49-yard scamper for a touchdown. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native broke through the line and out ran two Yellow Jackets on the way to the endzone.
Colorado Mesa garnered 492 yards of offense (217 rushing, 275 passing) on 65 plays.
Blake Nelson was a stalwart for the Maverick defense.
Nelson had a career-high three and a half sacks and pestered Black Hills quarterback Ryan Hommel all afternoon. The senior also blocked a PAT attempt and had two quarterback hurries while finishing with a team-high eight total tackles.
Nelson did it up front while defensive back
Antonio Clark did it in the secondary. Clark finished with a career-high five pass defenses and seven tackles.
The Yellow Jacket offense amassed 526 yards of offense (460 passing, 66 rushing) on 107 plays (4.9 average).
The Mavericks penalty woes continued today as they were flagged 13 times for 162 yards.
Colorado Mesa moves to 5-1 on the season and will meet up with Dixie State next Saturday in St. George.
