CHADRON, Neb. — A slow start, compounded by some crucial mistakes, dropped the Colorado Mesa football team to 0-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on Saturday (Sept. 27) after a 34-27 loss at Chadron State College.
For 2 ½ quarters, the Mavericks (1-3) struggled to find any kind of rhythm on offense, and the defense couldn't get off the field against the Eagles, who had 269 yards of offense in the first half to the Mavericks' 97.
The Mavs' first eight possessions resulted in a missed field goal, six punts and one series that ended on downs, netting a total of 73 yards.
For the game, Colorado Mesa was outgained 427-302 and ran 17 fewer plays than the Eagles.
CMU missed a chance to start the game out with a touchdown, but Liu Aumavae overthrew Bryson Brown in the end zone on second down and his third-down pass was broken up in the end zone. Sullivan Moon's 48-yard field goal attempt caromed off the upright.
Tied 7-7 after the Eagles put together a scoring drive and the Mavs' Noah Williams recovered a fumble in the end zone after a bad Chadron State snap, the Eagles took control by scoring 24 straight points to build a 31-7 lead.
One of those touchdowns was set up when a low snap to Moon, punting out of the CMU end zone after a holding penalty, caused him to scramble. He was tackled in the end zone, but the officials ruled he had forward progress to the 1, giving the Eagles the ball only inches from the goal line.
A 1-yard plunge on second down put Chadron up 31-7 midway through the third quarter, when CMU started its comeback.
Only nine seconds after that TD, Bryson Brown took a handoff on a jet sweep and raced 75 yards to the end zone, but Moon missed the point-after kick after CMU was called for delay of game.
Down 31-13, CMU took advantage of a short punt to midfield after a third-down sack by Jake Sinz. Brandon Belgrave broke off a 16-yard run on first down and Cole Hansen, who completed 6 of 17 passes for 103 yards, one touchdown and one interception in relief of Aumavae, hit Alex Turpin for 14 yards. Aiden Taylor followed with runs of 14 and 5 yards to end the third quarter, and on the first play of the fourth, he scored from 2 yards out.
Aumavae was 8 of 20 passing for 50 yards. Both QBs were sacked once.
The Mavs' Gibson Leafgreen intercepted a pass in the end zone on the ensuing drive, but only two plays later, Hansen was picked off.
Taking over with six minutes remaining, Hansen was sacked on a blind-side blitz and fumbled the ball away, which led to a Chadron State field goal and a 34-20 CMU deficit.
Another big play by Brown, a 59-yard catch-and-run from Hansen, got the Mavs within one touchdown with 3:02 remaining. In the past two games, Brown has two receiving touchdowns and one rushing TD, all longer than 55 yards.
After Brown's second touchdown, the defense forced a punt, but on fourth and three, a swing pass from Hansen to Nicky Maguire came up one yard short of extending the drive, the Mavs' final chance for a game-tying touchdown.
Brown, a freshman out of Amarillo, Texas, led the Mavs with 92 rushing yards, 75 of which came on his TD scamper, and had five catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Andre Lopez-Green finished with 14 tackles, broke up one pass and forced a fumble, George Soppe had 12 tackles, one sack and two tackles for lost yardage, with Kash Bradley had 11 tackles, one interception and one pass breakup.
The Mavericks' opening RMAC gauntlet continues next week, traveling to Golden to play Colorado School of Mines for the Nyikos Cup. The Mavericks claimed the cup last season with a 14-13 thriller at Stocker Stadium. The Orediggers are coming off a 36-27 win at Black Hills State. Kickoff on Oct. 4 is at noon.
