GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — It was not the finish the Colorado Mesa football team wanted, and the 37-7 season-ending loss to No. 10 Western Colorado on Saturday at Stocker Stadium will stick with the Mavericks for awhile.
"We owe a lot to this group that has been with us for three years now, just the foundation they were able to help us lay," CMU head coach Miles Kochevar said. "Obviously as we went about it today, not the outcome that we wanted. We wanted to be able to send them off on a better note. Win or lose, that wasn't the performance that we wanted to put out there today. Too many mistakes, we had some guys that needed to step up in some key situations and we were unable to do that.
"But some great strides made throughout the season. You've got to be able to deal with different things, you've got to continue to mature and grow. Hopefully there's a lot of lessons that we can take from this year moving forward."
Depleted by some key injuries in the final stretch, the Mavericks gave up a touchdown on the fourth play of the game and could never get their footing after that.
Western Colorado (10-1, 8-1 RMAC) finished second in the conference behind CSU Pueblo, with those two teams all but guaranteed spots in the Super Region Four playoffs. The NCAA will announce berths today, with the Mavericks knowing they had their chances to join field, but back-to-back losses to close the season ended those hopes. CMU finished third in the RMAC standings at 7-4 overall, 6-3 in the conference, including their signature win over Colorado School of Mines, which also finished 6-3 in RMAC play.
"That was a good feeling (to play meaningful games in November) because we knew we had a chance to go play when we wanted to, in the playoffs," junior cornerback Kash Bradley said. "It put a little bit more pressure, not really pressure, but more intensity, to practices. It kept it where it didn't just fall off at the end of the year, when it's, this is our last game and it's over. If we win, we're playing meaningful games and we can keep playing. It really doesn't feel like the end to me right now."
Drew Nash threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Ayon, who broke a couple of tackles on his way to the end zone less than two minutes into the game. Another big play early in the second quarter had the Mavericks on their heels, down 17-0 at halftime and unable to finish drives.
A drive to the Western 11 was halted when the Mavs failed to convert on fourth down when Aiden Taylor tried to hurdle over the line to try to pick up two yards, but was stopped one yard short. A missed field goal ended CMU's third drive of the game — their only possession of the second quarter. It was CMU's second 14-play drive that chewed nearly seven minutes off the clock and failed to produce points.
A fumble on the second-half kickoff set up the Mountaineers on the Mesa 24, leading to Western Colorado going up 24-0 before the Mavericks finally got the big play they needed.
Bradley fielded a punt on the 2 and found a seam, weaving his way around the Mountaineers for 77 yards to the Western 21.
"I got a little tired as I got going," Bradley said. "I definitely should have scored that one. I'll look back on that quite a bit and wish I had scored."
Aiden Taylor took care of the scoring, running in from 13 yards out. The Mountaineers blocked a punt and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown and turned an interception into their final scoring drive of the day.
Mesa's game plan switched from run-first to a controlled passing game, trying to take what the Mountaineers gave them, and played both quarterbacks, starting Leslie Richardson and rotating Liu Aumavae into the game.
"We were able to play both guys because they were both being efficient," Kochevar said. "We've got to pick up some crucial fourth downs and then be able to put the ball in the end zone, obviously. We were just looking for that spark throughout the game."
Aumavae completed 11 of 20 passes for 119 yards, but was intercepted twice. Richardson completed 11 of 19 passes for 77 yards. Freshman Jack Burke caught seven passes for 92 yards.
Burke's first college season ended with 22 catches for 328 yards and two touchdowns.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity, for the coaches giving me a chance to be on the field for being so young," Burke said. "But I've still got a lot to learn, a lot of technique I feel like personally, I can grow. For me, I didn't set the standard that I have for myself this season. I am grateful for the opportunity and I did what I could, but I'm expecting greater things for myself."
Nash completed 11 of 16 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers, and ran for another 59 yards. Nine different players caught passes, with Victory David's two catches netting 72 yards, 62 of them on his TD reception. Ayon's touchdown catch was his only reception of the game.
Colin Stuhr led the Mavs' defense with nine tackles, Bradley had eight and broke up two passes, and Eli Keith also had eight tackles.
The offseason now begins for the Mavericks, who took another step forward in Kochevar's third season. The Mavs, though, want and expect more.
"You've got to keep stacking them together, you've got to learn from it," Kochevar said. "We've got to make sure that we're able to take a step forward. I think this will be a great game to keep in the back of our heads.
"We know where we have to go physically, the depth that we've got to be able to establish, the way we've got to compete within. One thing we always talk about is the best competition that we want to see is on a daily basis, our offense and our defense, our guys competing in the weight room, in the classroom. When we get to that as our standard, then we're going to be in a really good spot."
