RAPID CITY, S.D. — Have a day, Jason Thome.
The Colorado Mesa freshman safety intercepted three passes and the Mavericks got contributions from all three phases in their 38-30 victory over South Dakota School of Mines to open conference play.
Thome set the tone on the second play of the game, delivering a jarring hit to break up a pass to help force a three-and-out.
Kash Bradley's 50-yard punt return set up the Mavs' first touchdown, but it wasn't his biggest return of the day.
After quarterback Gavin Herberg scored from 4 yards out, Thome picked off the first pass of his career, returning the ball 53 yards. Mesa's ensuing drive resulted in a 26-yard field goal by Henry Katleman, and the Hardrockers responded with a touchdown drive.
Bradley took the kickoff in the end zone and elected to run it out, which proved to be the right decision. He found a seam and raced 100 yards down the sideline for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead.
The teams combined for 38 points in the first quarter alone, with the Mavericks taking a 24-14 lead into the second 15 minutes. Herberg, who played the entire game at quarterback after he and Leslie Richardson had split time in the first two games of the season, broke off a 38-yard touchdown run with 2:27 left in the quarter.
The defenses took over in the third, with the only scoring an 8-yard run by the Mavs' Myles Newble to cap a 9-play, 53-yard drive. That score was set up by Thome's second interception of the game, a diving catch near midfield.
Earlier in the quarter, CMU's defense stopped the Hardrockers on 4th-and-2 from the Mavericks' 6. Cam Nathan stuffed Jalen Frye after only one yard to give the ball back to the offense.
Newble's touchdown, his first of the season and second of his career, made it 31-14 after Katleman's PAT kick — those ended up being key in the game. South Dakota Mines scored four minutes into the second half, but Hadyn Steffens got a hand on the point-after kick and knocked it down, keeping the Mavericks in charge, 31-20.
Thome, out of Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, picked off his third pass with just less than five minutes to play in the third quarter, returning it 22 yards. He became the first Maverick with three interceptions in a game since Damar'ren Mitchell picked off Black Hills State three times on Oct. 20, 2018. Thome had 75 return yards, broke up one pass and had one tackle.
The Hardrockers had to settle for a field goal early in the fourth quarter after the Mavs' defense held inside the 5-yard line, and it took only two plays for Herberg to push the lead to 15 points.
His short pass over the middle to Trevin Edwards was turned into a 53-yard touchdown, which was also set up by the special teams. Freshman Jamel Acosta-Lewis broke a tackle near the 20-yard line on the kickoff return and sped to the Mavs' 45.
Up eight in the final three minutes, the Mavericks again held on fourth down to get the ball back. The offense couldn't quite run out the clock, but ran it down to 43 seconds before Ben Sargent punted. With 24 seconds remaining, Colin Stuhr broke through the line on a blitz and forced a fumble, which Chad Gilman recovered to seal the Mavericks' victory.
Colorado Mesa, which returns to Stocker Stadium to face Black Hills State on Sept. 23, ran for 71 yards, led by Herberg's 43 yards on 15 carries, and threw for 207 yards. Edwards had four catches for 121 yards and one touchdown. Herberg completed 12 of 24 passes.
Steffens led the Mavericks' defense with a dozen tackles and the blocked point-after attempt, and Nathan had nine more tackles.
Despite giving up 498 yards of offense to the Hardrockers, the Maverick defense came up big when it counted, forcing four turnovers and holding three times on fourth down.
