ALAMOSA, Colo. — In a breakout offensive performance, Colorado Mesa's football team rolled up 585 yards Saturday (Oct. 12) in a dominant 52-10 RMAC rout of Adams State University.
The Mavericks (4-2, 3-1 RMAC) used the legs of Brandon Belgrave to set the tone, with the redshirt junior rushing for a career-high 163 yards on 16 carries, an average of 10.2 yards a carry.
Belgrave got it started early, breaking off a 48-yard run on the second play of the game to give the Mavs the ball inside the red zone on the 15. CMU had to settle for a field goal, however, with Coby May, who took over the kicking duties from Sullivan Moon, connecting from 21 yards out.
Up 10-0 after overcoming a pair of holding penalties in a 10-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard touchdown run by Aiden Taylor early in the second quarter, the Mavericks forced the Grizzlies (0-6, 0-4 RMAC) to punt, and the offense struck quickly.
Liu Aumavae immediately connected with his prep teammate, Quezon Villa, for a 71-yard strike for a 17-0 lead with 6:20 left in the first half.
And the Mavs weren't finished. A pair of freshmen defensive linemen gave the offense the ball back when Hunter Hamilton forced a fumble and O'Marius Dimry-Lockhart smothered it on the Adams State 29 with 33 seconds remaining in the half. The turnover held up under challenge, and a couple of completions to Villa moved the ball to the 3 with 7 seconds remaining. The Mavericks called timeout and Aumavae came back with a swing pass to Myles Newble for another touchdown and a 24-0 halftime lead.
Belgrave had already passed the 100-yard mark by halftime with 112 yards, which was more than double the Grizzlies' entire offensive output of 52 yards. Colorado Mesa's defense allowed only three rushing yards in the first half and 81 in the game. In all, ASU had 225 total yards to the Mavs' 585, including a whopping 396 on the ground, an average of 8.4 yards per carry.
Adams State ended the shutout in the third quarter with a touchdown, but an unsportsmanlike conduct call forced the Grizzlies to kick off from their own 20.
Noah Greer found a gaping hole on the left side on the return and raced 88 yards untouched for a touchdown. Taylor added a 2-yard touchdown late in the third quarter for a 38-10 lead, and several reserves got significant playing time in the fourth quarter.
Junior transfer Alex Cardona got 11 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, his first as a Maverick, and up 45-10, Cole Hansen took over at quarterback for Aumavae. The redshirt sophomore transfer from Minot State guided CMU on an 8-play, 45-yard scoring drive, keeping the ball around the left side for a 25-yard touchdown with just more than three minutes to play.
Villa had another outstanding day receiving, with seven catches on eight targets for a career-high 121 yards and one touchdown. His speed allowed him to gain 73 yards after the catch.
Aumavae finished 12 of 17 passing for 189 yards. He was picked off twice, but threw two touchdown passes and had his most efficient day passing of the season, completing 70.6% of his attempts. The 71-yard touchdown to Villa was the longest play of the season, and Belgrave's 48-yard run was the biggest play on the ground so far this season.
Greer had 60 yards rushing on only two carries to go with his big kick return.
The Mavericks' kicking game was much improved, with May good on all seven PATs and one field goal. He had another field goal attempt blocked, but a penalty on Adams State gave CMU a first down at the 2, which led to Taylor's touchdown.
Colorado Mesa's defense allowed the Grizzlies to convert only three of 14 third-down attempts and forced eight punts. Conversely, CMU was 7 of 11 on third down, scored on five of six chances in the red zone (four touchdowns, one field goal) and did not punt.
Levi Krebs had seven solo tackles and Charlie Smith three solo and four assisted tackles and the Mavericks set the tone on defense early, putting all kinds of pressure on ASU quarterback Chase Nelson. The Grizzlies managed only 4 yards per play to CMU's average of 9.1 yards per play.
The defense came up with two turnovers — Lane Branstetter picked off a pass on the sideline in the fourth quarter — and after each, the offense responded with a touchdown.
Riding a three-game winning streak, the Mavericks, tied for third place in the RMAC behind CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado, return to Stocker Stadium for Homecoming on Oct. 19 against New Mexico Highlands. The Cowboys defeated Chadron State 33-30 on Saturday for their first win of the season. Kickoff is at 1 p.m., with tickets available at tickets.coloradomesa.edu.
