GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — "It's time."
That's how Colorado Mesa head football coach Miles Kochevar saw the Mavericks' 14-13 come-from-behind victory over No. 4 Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at Stocker Stadium.
"We talked about that defining game, when's it going to come? We talked about it all week," Kochevar said. "I told them, 'I don't know if it's going to be tomorrow, if it's going to be Saturday, but it's going to come,' and these guys work hard. When you do things right, and you continuously do it, it doesn't guarantee that you're going to get the outcome that you want, but you're going to be a heck of a lot closer.
"And today, that's kind of what prevailed at the end."
It had been 1,078 days since an RMAC team had knocked off the Orediggers, a span of 24 games, 23 in-conference and one playoff game. The last RMAC team to beat Colorado School of Mines, the national runner-up each of the past two seasons, was the Mavericks, in 2021.
Along with the victory came the return of the Nyikos Cup to Grand Junction, closing the gap of the traveling trophy to 9-5 in the Orediggers' favor. It also helped erase the memory of last season's 52-0 shellacking and could serve as the springboard victory the Mavericks have been seeking.
"I mean, that's a huge one," said junior linebacker Colin Stuhr, who had an outstanding game, with nine tackles, three for lost yardage, and 2.5 sacks. "Mines is, you know, as as everyone knows, the last time they were beaten in conference game was us, and so I think for us to go out there and beat them, and especially them being a top five team, I think that that will propel us (upward). I just really hope that it just takes off from here."
Give this win to the defense, which allowed only one sustained drive — the first of the game — and ended another with an interception in the end zone by (who else?) Jason Thome.
The Orediggers (4-1, 2-1 RMAC) drove 75 yards in 14 plays to open the game, aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty. Max McLeod, who set Mines' career record for receiving yards, gathered in a 10-yard pass from Evan Foster, and the Orediggers went up 13-0 when a blocked punt gave them the ball on CMU's 9-yard line.
Landon Walker hurtled himself over the scrum and into the end zone on third down from the 2, but the PAT kick failed.
The Mavericks' offense stalled time and time again in the first half, finding itself in third-and-long situations and unable to convert. And still, the defense kept turning back Mines, which put up 52 points last week against Black Hills State, rolling up 573 yards of total offense. Against CMU, the Orediggers finished with 267 yards, and Foster failed to complete 20 passes in a game for the first time this season.
He was 14 of 30 for 159 yards and two interceptions, and was sacked five times.
CMU, which rushed for 128 yards and threw for 157, started hitting intermediate passes and picked up yardage on first and second down, making third down more manageable, in the second half.
A pass interference call when receiver Trevin Edwards threw deep to Alex Turpin gave the Mavericks a first down inside the 10, and then Edwards found an opening in the end zone for a 6-yard TD pass from Liu Aumavae.
Sullivan Moon's PAT was blocked, and after the defense forced Mines to punt, the Orediggers pinned the Mavs back at the 2 with 11:10 to play in the game.
Brandon Belgrave had the key run of that drive, shedding would-be tacklers and keeping his balance for a 47-yard gain to the Mines 41. Aumavae picked up a critical first down on 4th-and-1 with a quarterback sneak, and after Aiden Taylor picked up two more yards, Mines was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving the Mavs the ball at the 9.
Cue Quezon Villa, who caught a swing pass and raced to the corner of the end zone with 5:28 remaining to cut the deficit to 13-12 with 5:29 to play.
That's when CMU threw in another wrinkle, calling on Logan DeArment, who was an option quarterback at Columbine High School and started his career as a scout team QB at Mines in 2019. DeArment, who has moved to wide receiver for the Mavericks, took the ball on a jet sweep and tossed it to Sam Horneck for what ended up being the winning 2-point conversion.
"We've had it on the docket for a little bit," Kochevar said. "Logan started out at Colorado School of Mines, so they kind of know what they're getting. You put a quarterback into the game that hadn't played, and I could hear them screaming over there, 'DeArment, DeArment!' But you know, they did a great job of executing it the last few weeks as we've had that in, so that threw them off-guard a little bit.
"You don't know which option he's going to go to, it's almost like a triple. He's got the ability to dive in there and a guy who's very poised with the ball, being an option quarterback. Man, that's right up his alley."
The touchdown capped an 11-play, 98-yard drive, the best of the season for the Mavericks (3-2, 2-1 RMAC), who hit the road next week, playing at Adams State in Alamosa.
Fittingly, it came down to the defense, which forced the Orediggers into a 4th-and-4 and stuffed that when Charlie Smith dropped Foster for a 2-yard loss. Mesa couldn't get a first down and kill the clock, but Moon's punt put Mines at the 3 with less than two minutes to play and out of timeouts.
On third down, Kade Street broke through and sacked Foster, stripping the ball, which was pounced on by Christian Speller with 35 seconds remaining, sealing the upset.
"For me, I was more worried about who got the ball," Stuhr said. "When when the ref said it was Mesa ball, man, I was just so excited. You could see the emotion of every single player on the team. It was just amazing."
Levi Krebs had 10 tackles and broke up one pass — the Mavs broke up six passes in the game. Noah Williams made a diving interception for the Mavericks to stop a Mines drive in the second quarter. After Mines' opening drive, the defense allowed only 108 yards the rest of the first half and 109 total in the second.
Conversely, CMU amassed 197 of its 285 yards after halftime. Belgrave had 94 rushing yards and Aumavae, in his third straight start, completed 16 of 27 passes for 157 yards. He was intercepted once, near the end zone on the Mavs' opening drive.
Kochevar was especially happy with how the offense righted the ship in the second half and how the defense just kept grinding.
"We talk about not wavering. You can't blink," Kochevar said. "you can't control with happens with the refs, it doesn't matter. We've got to move on to the next play, so whatever it is and (whenever) those circumstances come up, we've just got to move on and then we've got to make sure that Mesa doesn't beat Mesa.
"If we dwell on the last play, it's going to come back and bite us in the butt, so I thought they did just a great job of continuing to focus, reload and then just play the next play."
