Box Score Las Vegas, N.M. – The NMHU Cowboy Football team suffered a five point loss (22-17) to the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa University, on Oct. 5, at Perkins Stadium. The Cowboys' offense accounted for 621 yards in the game, but they were unable to convert that success into points on the scoreboard. The Mavericks were able to score 22 points on 355 yards of total offense in an efficient manner. The Cowboys, led by Head Coach
Eric Young, fall to 1-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 2-3 in overall play.
CMU 22 – NMHU 17
The Cowboys drove the ball 56 yards down the field on the very first possession of the game, but the Mavericks were able to stop them on the CMU 31 yard line.
Zach Tapia attempted a field goal from 49 yards out but he missed wide right.
Mesa scored their first touchdown of the game on the very next drive, moving the ball 69 yards in 14 plays. RB Jake Cimolino punched the ball in from two yards out and the Mesa kicker missed the extra point, so the Mavericks took the initial lead 6-0.
The Cowboys turned the ball over on their first play of the next drive. A fumble by
Brandon Johnson gave the Mavericks great field position on the NMHU 18 yard line. Luckily the Cowboy defense held firm and Mesa had to settle for a field goal, taking a 9-0 lead early on in the first quarter.
The Cowboys finally scored at the 9:45 mark of the second quarter. QB
Emmanuel Lewis hit WR
Michael Harrison for a 38-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. After the point after attempt was good, the Cowboys were on the scoreboard, 9-7.
The Mavericks came right back down the field and converted a 22-yard field goal to increase their lead, 12-7. The Cowboys responded on the very next drive, starting from their own 14-yard line. The Pokes moved the ball 48 yards down the field in 12 plays and
Zach Tapia boomed a 56-yard field goal through the uprights to cut the Mesa lead down, 12-10.
Right before the end of the first half, the Mavericks were able to score another touchdown on a 44-yard reception. When the teams entered the locker room, the Mavericks held a 19-10 lead over the Cowboys.
The Pokes scored the first touchdown of the second half. RB
Akeelie Mustafa took the hand-off and cut through the left side of the line. It looked like Mustafa was going to be stopped at the line of scrimmage but he found a hole and rumbled 44 yards down the field for a touchdown, cutting the Mavericks' lead down once again, 19-17.
Mesa was looking good on their first drive of the fourth quarter. They had moved the ball 53 yards down field and were positioned to score on the NMHU 14-yard line, but DB
Tyson Stephens intercepted the next Mavericks' pass on the 1-yard line and the Cowboy defense had kept the home crowds hopes alive once again.
The Cowboys kept moving the ball well on offense but they just couldn't finish off drives. With the third quarter winding down, the Mavericks extended their lead to five points (22-17) with a 31-yard field goal, leaving just 2:25 on the clock for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys started the final drive of the game on their own 25-yard line. QB
Emmanuel Lewis was able to use his arm and his legs to get the Pokes down to the Mesa 8-yard line for a third and goal situation. RB
Brandon Johnson plowed the ball to the Mavericks' 3-yard line (5-yard run) on third down, but the Pokes were out of timeouts and had to hurry back to the line for the fourth down play. The Cowboys handed the ball to Johnson one last time, but he was stuffed at the line by the Mavericks' defense and Mesa took over possession of the ball on their own 3-yard line. The Mesa QB took a knee to start the clock and the Mavericks ended the game with a 22-17 victory on the road.
Emmanuel Lewis threw for 428 yards and one touchdown against Mesa. He was able to move the ball through the air, but he was also sacked three times and threw one interception. Lewis ran for a net of 43 yards on the ground.
Akeelie Mustafa had the best game of any Cowboy running back to this point in the season. Mustafa carried the ball 12 times for a total of 104 yards and one touchdown, averaging 8.6 yards per carry. He also had eight receptions for 70 yards through the air, making some incredible catches to keep drives alive.
Michael Harrison caught six passes for a total of 110 yards and one touchdown for the Cowboys.
True-freshman
Josh Nobles continued his exceptional season catching passes, with seven receptions for 113 yards. This was Nobles fourth straight game with over 100 yards receiving.
Tyson Stephens led the Cowboys' defense against the Mavericks. The senior DB, from Chehallis, Wash., finished the game with eight total tackles (6 solo, 4 assists), one sack for a loss of six yards, and an interception.
Penalties really hurt the Cowboys against Colorado Mesa. The Pokes were credited with 15 violations for a total of 177 yards in the game.
The Cowboys will return to the road next Saturday, Oct. 12, when they head out to Gunnison, Colo. to face the Western State Colorado University Mountaineers in another RMAC showdown. The Mountaineers had their game against Black Hills State University, in Spearfish, S.D., postponed until Sunday (Oct. 6) due to the extreme snow in the region. At this point the Mountaineers are currently at the bottom of the RMAC standings, with a 0-2 conference record and 0-4 in overall play. If you can't make the trip up to Gunnison to catch your Cowboys in action, you can follow all the action on
Live Stats or watch the entire game on the live internet video feed provided by the
America One Network.
GO COWBOYS!!!
