Box Score After trailing 29-20 at the half, the NMHU Cowboys outscored the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks 20-7 in the second half to win their fourth game of the season 40-36, on 9/29, in Grand Junction, Colo.
The Pokes struck first with a three yard touchdown connection between
John Webster and
Emmanuel Lewis to take an early 6-0 lead. CMU would block the Cowboys' point after attempt and take it back to their end zone to make it 6-2 with NMHU in the lead. After blocking the point after attempt, the Mavericks seemed to surge, scoring 14 straight points and taking a 16-6 lead. NMHU answered back with a 12 yard scoring run by
Lavelle Peterson to cut the CMU lead to three, 16-13.
The Mavericks would not stop as they had a scoring run of their own to take the 10 point lead, 23-13.
Lavelle Peterson would again score on a six yard rush to cut the CMU lead down to 23-20 with five minutes remaining in the first half. CMU was not done scoring, as they capped off the first half with a touchdown run to take a 29-20 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, CMU would come out and score on their opening drive to increase their lead to 36-20 on a 26 yards touchdown connection. That was all the scoring CMU would do for the afternoon, as the Pokes defense shut down the Maverick attack in the season half after the opening score.
Zach Tapia started the NMHU scoring barrage in the second half with a 30 yard field goal to chip away at the CMU lead, 36-23.
Emmanuel Lewis completed a 16 yard touchdown pass to
Darius Davis for the next Cowboy score to cut the CMU lead to 36-30.
Tapia would again come through for the Pokes with a 50 yard field goal to pull the Cowboys within three, 36-33.
Darius Davis and
Emmanuel Lewis would cap off the scoring for the Pokes with a game winning touchdown completion to take the lead for good, 40-36, en route to a thrilling road win for the Cowboys.
With the win, the Cowboys improve to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in RMAC play.
Offensively, the Cowboys finished the day with 539 total yards (122 rushing and 417 passing).
Emmanuel Lewis had another impressive performance for the Pokes, completing 33 of 43 passes for 417 yards and three touchdowns.
Darius Davis broke the 100 yards receiving mark for the third straight game, catching nine passes for 120 yards and two scores with a long of 41.
Wayne Jacobs led the rushing attack for the Cowboys with 61 yards on 20 carries.
Lavelle Peterson added to the rushing game with seven carries for 33 yards and two scores.
Defensively, the Pokes allowed 465 yards for the day (251 rushing and 214 passing).
Abdul Kanneh led the Cowboys with seven tackles, one tackle for a loss of one yards and one interception with a return of six yards.
Eric Sykes finished the game with seven tackles, three tackles for a loss of four yards and one forced fumble.
Jared Koster rounds out the top three defensively for the Cowboys with seven tackles, one tackle for a loss of two yards and one interception with an eleven yard return.
“Today was a great win for our team. We overcame some adversity early on and came out on top at the end,” commented NMHU Head Coach
Eric Young following his Cowboys' thrilling 40-36 victory over CMU on 9/29.
The Cowboys will return home to Perkins Stadium for their next opponent as they host the Mountaineers of Western State Colorado University for Homecoming 2012 on 10/6. Kick-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
GO COWBOYS!!!
