Box Score Las Vegas, N.M. – The Cowboy Football team suffered their sixth straight loss, 48-45, at the hands of previously winless Black Hills State University, on Nov. 2. The Cowboys were missing some key starters in the first quarter and found themselves quickly behind 17-0. Black Hills had the momentum in the first half and took a 10-point lead (31-21) into the locker room. The Cowboys scored two touchdowns to open the third quarter and take a 35-31 lead, but the Yellow Jackets were hungry for their first victory of the season. Black Hills quickly came back to take the lead 45-35, but the Cowboys scored 10 points to tie the game up at 45-45. The Yellow Jackets drove the ball down the field with time running out and converted a field goal to take a 48-45 lead. The Cowboys had a chance to score at the end but an interception in the end zone ended their comeback hopes, handing the Yellow Jackets their first victory of the season. The Cowboys, led by Head Coach
Eric Young, fall to 1-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 2-7 in overall play.
BHSU 48 – NMHU 45
The story of the first quarter for the Cowboys was turnovers that the Yellow Jackets converted into points. NMHU fumbled the ball on their first drive and the BHSU offense converted a touchdown from great field position. On the very next drive, the Cowboys were moving the ball well before starting QB
Lance Orender threw an interception at the BHSU 30-yard line, which was returned 70 yards for a touchdown. BHSU took a 17-0 lead early on after converting a field goal.
The Cowboys finally had some luck when the Yellow Jackets fumbled a punt return and the NMHU was able to get on the scoreboard (17-7) from 25 yards out. Black Hills State would add another touchdown in the first half and held a 24-7 lead after just 15 minutes of play.
QB
Emmanuel Lewis finally entered the game in the second quarter and was able to gain his bearing rather quickly. He led the Cowboys down the field and connected with
Darius Davis on a 28-yard touchdown pass to close the gap (24-14). Turnovers would haunt Lewis as well and on his next opportunity he fumbled the ball on the NMHU 27-yard line. A BHSU linebacker picked up the loose ball and returned it 26 yards for another Yellow Jacket touchdown (31-14).
Lewis was able to guide the Pokes into the end zone one more time before the end of the half. He found
Lajuantae Hicks at the goal line with a 21-yard touchdown pass, cutting the BHSU lead down to 10 points (31-21). The Yellow Jackets would hold that lead at halftime.
The Cowboys opened up the second-half scoring when Lewis found Hicks once again. The speedy wide receiver caught a quick slant at the BHSU 21-yard line and turned on the jets, crossing the field from left to right, before walking into the end zone. Hicks 27-yard touchdown catch allowed the Cowboys to close to within three points (31-28).
The Cowboys took their first lead of the game just one drive later. Free safety
DiAmaal Holmes intercepted a BHSU pass at the Cowboys' 42-yard line and returned it 29 yards to give the Pokes great field position at the BHSU 29-yard line. The Pokes moved the ball to the BHSU 7-yard line and then Lewis connected with WR
Darius Davis again for a 7-yard touchdown strike, giving the Cowboys a 35-31 lead.
The Yellow Jackets' quarterback took back the lead for BHSU with an 80-yard drive, culminating in a 7-yard touchdown run by the BHSU signal caller. His efforts put the Yellow Jackets back on top 38-35. He then lead his team down the field at the beginning of the fourth quarter for to extend the Yellow Jackets' lead to ten points (45-35) once again.
The Cowboys then got a field goal from
Zach Tapia to close the scoring gap to just one touchdown (45-38). Black Hills was set to go on their next drive but Cowboy defensive lineman
Andrew Morgan ruined their plans. Morgan disrupted the Yellow Jackets' first running play, stripping the ball away from the BHSU tailback and rumbling 38 yards down the field before he was stopped at the BHSU 8-yard line. Cowboy running back
Brandon Johnson punched the ball into the end zone from eight yards out, tying the game up 45-45.
With 7:22 left in the game, the Yellow Jackets drove the ball 58 yards down the field and converted a 29-yard field goal to take the lead 48-45. BHSU had left 3:46 on the clock for the Cowboys to finally make good on a game winning drive.
The Cowboys started from their own 25-yard line and were able to move the ball all the way down to the BHSU 48-yard line. But the Pokes drive stalled and the home crowd was stunned when Lewis heaved a ball on third down towards the end zone. Lewis was throwing into the wind and his pass was held up in the air. A Yellow Jacket defender jumped up in the end zone and intercepted the pass, ending the Cowboys hopes of breaking their losing streak. Black Hills State would kneel the ball twice to pick up their first victory of the season, 48-45.
Despite missing the first quarter,
Emmanuel Lewis had an impressive showing for the Cowboys. The Pokes' star quarterback threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters of work. Lewis turned the ball over twice, with one interception and a fumble.
Wide receivers
Darius Davis and
Lajuantae Hicks both had great outings for the Cowboys. Davis caught six passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Hicks grabbed seven balls for 90 yards and matched Davis with two touchdowns of his own.
FS
DiAmaal Holmes led the Cowboys on defense with 15 tackles and an interception. LB
Damion Whittington also had a good day on defense for the Cowboys. Whittington finished with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.
The Cowboys will continue conference action next Saturday, Nov. 9, when they face NCAA DII #3 Colorado State University – Pueblo in their last home game of the 2013 season. The ThunderWolves have been flawless this season with a perfect 9-0 record and 7-0 in the conference play. The game is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Perkins Stadium, in Las Vegas, N.M. If you can't make it out to the "Perk" to catch your Cowboys in action, you can click
HERE to follow the game on Live Stats. You can watch all the action live on the internet from the video stream provided by the
America One Network.
GO COWBOYS!!!
