GUNNISON, Colo.— Cole Hansen became the first Colorado Mesa University quarterback to throw more than 300 yards in a game in more than three years while Aiden Taylor became the first Maverick rusher to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark in eight years as the Mavericks battled with national poll No. 18 Western Colorado University before eventually going down to the Mountaineers, 42-28 in CMU's season finale here at the Mountaineer Bowl.
 
Hansen completed 29 of 46 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Trek Keyworth as the Mavs were tied with possibly playoff bound Mountaineers at 21 before three second half touchdowns from the hosts allowed them to pull away with the win.
 
Meanwhile, Taylor ran 17 times for 61 yards and finishes the season with 1,021 as the first Mavericks since David Tann in 2017 to finish in quadruple yardage figures.
 
Keyworth caught 11 of Hansen's passes for 135 yards and a pair of second-quarter scores.
 
Kash Bradley made ten tackles to lead the Maverick defense.
 
Western, which had dropped back-to-back games on game-ending field goals to the top two teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, improved to 9-2 overall and to 7-2 in conference place.  The Mountaineers had come into the game ranked ninth in the Super Region 4 rankings and will hope they have done enough to move in to the top eight, which will secure what would be a third straight playoff appearance.
 
Two of the teams ranked ahead of them lost to other regionally-ranked teams on Saturday.
 
The Mavericks finished the season with a 6-5 mark (5-4 RMAC), good for a third straight winning season and a tie for fourth place finish in the RMAC standings with the Colorado School of Mines.
 
The Mountaineers never trailed in Saturday's game and scored touchdowns on six straight possessions, excluding a kneel down at the end of the first half.
 
Western quarterback Drew Nash finished 15-for-21 for 326 yards and four touchdowns to as many receivers, completing passes to ten different men in total.  He also ran for two scores.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, Nash used his legs and ran for a 23-yard score  on the opening play of the second before the Mountaineers marched 80 yards on eight plays to go ahead 14-0 with 10:25 to go in the half.
 
The Mavericks then answered back with an 11-play, 75-yard drive of their own as Hansen hit Keyworth for a 24-yard score to cut the deficit to 14-7.
 
However, Western extended the lead back to 21-7 on the ensuing drive only to watch Hansen hit Keyworth for an 8-yard score with just seven seconds left in the first half to make the score, 21-14.
 
The Mavs then went on a 13-play, 75-yard march to begin the second half, tying the game at 21 on a Brandon Belgrave 5-yard run up the middle just before the mid-way point of the third quarter.
 
However, the Mountaineers then scored on three straight possessions to go up 42-21 as the Mavericks missed a field goal and were forced to punt on the next two possessions.
 
The Mavericks would get a late touchdown with 2:02 to go as Hansen hit Alex Turpin for a 10-yard score but ran out of time.