Box Score Golden, Colo. – The NMHU Cowboy Football team suffered its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference loss on the road at the hands of the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, on Sept. 28, by the final score of 30-10. The Orediggers had a fortunate first half of play, scoring three touchdowns and converting two field goals, to take a 27-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Cowboys came out in the second half and managed to outscore CSM 10-3, but it was too little, too late for the Pokes. When time ran out in the game, Colorado School of Mines had captured a 30-10 victory in their home coming showdown against NMHU. The Cowboys, led by Head Coach
Eric Young, fall to 2-2 in overall play and 1-1 in the RMAC.
CSM 30 – NMHU 10
The Orediggers' offense received the ball in the first half, but the Cowboys' defense started strong. DL
Otis Jones's sack on that first series forced a CSM punt and the Cowboy offense had a chance to attack. NMHU began to move the ball down the field but, after an initial first down, the Orediggers intercepted QB
Emmanuel Lewis at the NMHU 40-yard line and returned it six yards. CSM was set up in great field position but the Pokes' defense held firm once again, allowing just 17 yards on 10 plays to CSM and forcing a field goal. The Orediggers took an early 3-0 lead from a 34-yard field goal conversion.
The Cowboy offense took to the field once again, but they were forced to punt after a three-and-out series. CSM's offense had the momentum at this point and they drove the ball 60 yards down the field, culminating in a 2-yard touchdown run by their star QB Matt Brown. The touchdown gave CSM a 10-0 lead early on in the game. Although the Pokes' defense did a good job of containing the CSM quarterback's offensive attack, Brown was still able to cause trouble with one rushing touchdown on 76 net rushing yards and 175 yards passing with two touchdowns through the air.
The second quarter was not much better for the Pokes, as Brown hit WR Diamond Gillis for the two passing touchdowns and the CSM kicker drilled a 35-yard field goal. When the first half was finally over, the Orediggers took a 27-0 lead into the locker room for halftime.
It looked like the Cowboys were going to be able to make a comeback in the second half, when they came out and converted a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter. The big play of the drive was a 49-yard pass completion from
Emmanuel Lewis to freshman WR
Josh Nobles. Cowboy RB
Brandon Johnson was able to punch the ball into the end zone from four yards out and when
Zach Tapia made the extra point the Cowboys had their first seven points on the scoreboard (27-7).
But the Orediggers drove the ball 54 yards down the field on the very next possession and their kicker Avery Llewellyn converted his third field goal of the game, from 23 yards out, to extend the Orediggers' lead, 30-3. There was still hope for the Pokes on their next drive. They took the ball 64 yards down the field and
Zach Tapia hit a 28-yard field goal to cut the CSM lead down to 20 points (30-10).
The Orediggers' defense was doing a good job of keeping the Cowboys from producing anything substantial on offense at that point and Mines took possession with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Brown engineered a clock-eating drive that ate up 7:15 and moved the ball 65 yards down the field. With the Orediggers in scoring position on the NMHU seven yard line, the Pokes' defense stepped up when
EJ Woods sacked Brown for a loss of eight yards and forced a fumble.
DiAmaal Holmes picked up the loose ball and returned it three yards to the NMHU 18-yard line. But the Cowboys only had 9:15 remaining in the game and they were still down by 20 points.
Emmanuel Lewis moved the Cowboys down the field into scoring position. But with the ball on the CSM 25-yard line, Lewis was sacked for a loss of 11 yards on fourth-and-eight. The Orediggers took possession of the football and secured their victory with a 46-yard drive that took the remaining 6:38 off the clock. When the final whistle sounded, the Orediggers had come away with a 30-10 home coming victory.
The Cowboys' offense struggled against the Orediggers. QB
Emmanuel Lewis managed 246 yards through the air, but he was intercepted three times by CSM and had no passing touchdowns. WR
Josh Nobles continued to shine for the Pokes with nine catches for 94 yards receiving. It was the third straight game where the true-freshman has pulled in nine or more catches for the Cowboys and Nobles seems to be Highlands' most consistent receiver so far this season.
The Cowboy defense did a respectable job of trying to contain Oredigger QB Matt Brown. Just one week after Brown had compiled 380 yards and six touchdowns through the air against Black Hills State, the Pokes' defense held him to just 175 yards passing and sacked the CSM signal caller six times. However, Brown was still able to guide the Orediggers to three touchdowns and that was enough for victory on Saturday.
Ibe Nduka and
DiAmaal Holmes were the best Cowboy defenders in Golden. Nduka racked up nine total tackles and 1.5 sacks for a loss of six yards. Holmes continues to make big plays for the Pokes from his safety spot, with eight total tackles and a fumble recovery.
The Cowboys will return home next weekend, Oct. 5, to face the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa University, in Las Vegas, N.M. The Mavericks will bring a 1-1 RMAC and 2-2 overall record into Perkins Stadium next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Both teams are in a three way tie, with Fort Lewis College, in the middle of the RMAC standings. Every game from here on out is a must win for the Cowboys if they wish to extend their 2013 season into the NCAA DII post season. If you can't make it out to Perkins Stadium to catch your Cowboys in action, you can click
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GO COWBOYS!!!
