Football Readies for Colorado Mesa

OCT. 11 at COLORADO MESA: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FULL NOTES (PDF)


This Week
 
The New Mexico Highlands football team (2-3, 2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) will travel to Grand Junction, Colorado, to take on the Colorado Mesa Mavericks (3-2, 2-1 RMAC). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Multimedia
 
There are numerous ways you can follow the Cowboys on their travails in Grand Junction, Colorado. First, you can listen to the call of Coach Art Abreu on SAM FM 96.7 in the Las Vegas area. Second, the game will be live through America One. An individual game is $8.
 
Join Us at JC's
 
In the Las Vegas, New Mexico, area and unable to make the trip to Colorado. Come down to your local JC's NY Pizza Department on Saturday (Oct. 11) at 1 p.m. Wear your purple and watch Highlands take on Colorado Mesa at 1 p.m. For fans wearing purple or Highlands gear, get 10 percent of the bill! Also piped in will be the radio broadcast of coach Art Abreu on 96.7 SAM FM.
 
 
The Coaches
 
Highlands head coach Eric Young is currently in his fourth season and is 16-22 overall. He is 2-1 against Colorado Mesa, including 2-1 in Grand Junction.
 
The Mavericks are coached by Russ Martin, who is in his third season at Colorado Mesa. He is 24-42 in his seventh season of being a head coach. He is 1-1 against the Cowboys.



The Series
 
New Mexico Highlands trails the all-time series 27-8 but have won 2-of-3. The Cowboys and Mavericks last three meetings have been decided by a total of 12 points. Highlands won by three in 2011 and four in 2012. Colorado Mesa won by five last season in Las Vegas. The match-up Saturday will be won by six by someone if stats hold true.
 
 
Carney's Numbers on the Rise
 
This season, senior Patrick Carney was named a Preseason All-American as a punter, as he is the leading returning punter in all of NCAA Division II. In 2014 so far, Carney has placed 36 percent of his punts inside the 20 (nine of 25). With one punt more than 50 yards Saturday against Colorado School of Mines, Carney has punted for 50+ yards in 40 of 135 career punts (29.6 percent). Carney's average of 46.6 yards per game currently leads the nation. Despite 36.0 percent (nine of 25) of his punts being more than 50 yards, he has only four touchbacks in 2014.
 
 
Light Em' Up
Senior linebacker Jared Koster continues to show he is one of the best linebackers in the nation. The week following being named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week and USACollegefootball.org Division II Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29), Koster recorded 13 tackles and a forced fumble against #17 Colorado School of Mines. He has at least 13 total tackles and six solo tackles in every game this season, and leads the nation in both total tackles (15.0) and solo tackles (8.8) per game.
 
 
Just Get Used to Saying Orender to Slavin Now
 
Arguably, there has not been a more potent quarterback-receiver combination in NCAA football this season.
Since the start of conference play, senior Lance Orender is 148-206 (71.8 percent) with 19 touchdowns. Just slightly less than half of those touchdowns (nine) have been to senior Tyler Slavin. Since RMAC play began, Slavin has caught 48 passes for 682 yards, an average of 227.3 receiving yards per game. For their efforts, Orender was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 22) and the national Offensive Player of the Week by Beyondsportsnetwork on both Sept. 22 and Sept. 29. He was named Quarterback of the Week by USAcollegefootball.org on Sept. 22.
Slavin, meanwhile, is currently on a three-week streak of being named the Wide Receiver of the Week by Beyondsportsnetwork (Sept. 22, Sept. 29 and Oct. 6). He also won Wide Receiver of the Week by USACollegefootball.org Sept. 22 and Sept. 29
 
 
There Are Other Options
 
Senior Tyler Slavin has made quite the name for himself to begin conference play, but there has been at least one other receiver for the Cowboys who have reached triple digits in receiving yards the last three games.
 
Against Colorado School of Mines, junior CJ Grice hauled in 12 catches for 107 yards while against Western New Mexico, junior Kirt Terry-Springs caught seven passes for 115 yards. The breakout game came at Fort Lewis, where both Grice (eight catches, 113 yards) and Terry-Springs (seven catchers, 143 yards) hit the 100+ mark.
 
 
RMAC, Meet Mr. Smith
 
Sophomore Eric Smith quickly made a name for himself against the Mustangs by grabbing a pair of interceptions. He is also 29th in the nation with 1.7 passes broken up per game. He also grabbed a second-quarter interception that led to a touchdown against Colorado School of Mines. Smith has every interception for the Cowboys this season.
 
 
We Do Run the Ball Some
Most people in the country knows the Cowboys like to air it out. However, Vincent Venegas has also had his fair share of carries. The sophomore, who took 2013 off to play JC baseball, has 68 carries for 284 yards. He had 95 rushing yards in the win at Fort Lewis.
 
 
Highlands Welcomes Proview
Highlands football fans are no stranger to Proview as they have live streamed on the internet Highlands home football for the past three seasons. New this season, the vast majority of home games will be shown in Albuquerque on channel 26. Meanwhile, games can also be seen live on channel 16 on public access television in Santa Fe,
Finally, New Mexico Highlands will have a block of time on Proview's new 24/7 sports network in Albuquerque that will show all Highlands athletic teams.
Recently last month, Proview has gone from just internet streaming high school athletics to becoming the first 24/7 television sports network in the state of New Mexico. Besides Highlands athletics and a handful of New Mexico Lobos sporting events, Proview is a youth sports network that shows more than 300 high school sporting events on both television and the internet from both the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho areas.
 
 
Sam FM: Getting Even Better
Can't make it to the game or to JC's New York Pizza Department ? Every game will be broadcast live on 96.7 FM by Art Abreu, father of linebackers coach Art Abreu Jr. Also, join athletic director Jeff Falkner and the rest of the Highlands coaching staff on Monday night at 5:30 p.m. as we discuss the past week in Highlands sports and preview the upcoming week. Also listen for a chance to win prizes!
 
 
Coming Up Next
 
New Mexico Highlands looks to stay in contention for the RMAC title on Oct. 18, when it hosts the Mountaineers of Western State. Western State has won two of the last three, but Highlands has won the last two meetings in Las Vegas.