LAS VEGAS, N.M. --- The New Mexico Highlands football team's defense was stingy throughout and the offense put together a lengthy fourth-quarter drive that turned out to be a game winner as the Cowboys defeated Western State Colorado 20-16 Saturday afternoon at Sanchez Family Stadium.
The NMHU (4-6 overall, 4-5 RMAC) defense allowed only 166 yards to WSCU, including just 32 yards in the Mountaineers' (2-8, 2-7) final five drives of the game. On the other side of the ball, the Cowboy offense pieced together an 11-play, 95-yard drive capped by a Dion Alston touchdown run with 9:51 left in the game to take a 20-16 lead – an advantage the Cowboy defense made stand.
Early on, neither offense could punch the ball into the end zone as the Cowboys trailed 10-6 late in the second quarter. NMHU up to that point had scored on
Israel Farfan field goals of 30 and 53 yards while the Mountaineers scored on a field goal and a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown. NMHU got the ball on its own 30 with 4:23 remaining in the second quarter and put together an 12-play, 70-yard drive capped with a
Danny Cameron touchdown pass to
D.J. McFadden to take a 13-10 lead into the half. A key play on the drive came on fourth-and-6 when a fake punt led to
Matthew Rodriguez finding
Cameron Forziati (a starting defensive back for the Cowboys) for a 7-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
WSCU took the lead back early in the third quarter with a 7-play, 54-yard touchdown drive (its longest drive of the game), but
Willie Morris – who also had an interception in the game – blocked the point after attempt and the Mountaineer lead was just 16-13 with 10:10 left in the third quarter.
Neither team scored until the Cowboys got the ball back with 1:12 left in the third quarter and embarked on their 11-play, 95-yard touchdown drive. NMHU got out of the shadow of its own end zone thanks to a 34-yard run by Alston just before the third quarter ended. The Cowboys faced third down three times during the drive, but a nice grab by
Nick Edwards on third-and-6 for 10 yards, an accurate pass from Cameron to
Darrell McIntyre on third-and-5 for 13 yards and an Alston 13-yard touchdown run on third-and-1 kept NMHU from facing a fourth-down decision and gave the Cowboys the lead.
It was all the defense from there as NMHU allowed minus-2 yards rushing and 34 yards passing on the next three Mountaineer drives – including not letting a potential game-winning or tying drive happen when WSCU got the ball back with 49 seconds on their own , allowing just 23 yards (11 coming on the final play of the game).
Cameron finished 22-for-39 for 260 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys, McFadden led the team with nine catches for 96 yards and a touchdown while freshman
Emmanuel Lumanze had three catches for 63 yards and
Zach Drew-Toles had three catches for 45 yards. Alston paced the Cowboys on the ground with 69 yards and a touchdown while
Elijah Boyd added 27. Overall the team finished with 374 yards of offense.
Defensively,
Dondi Fuller had eight tackles (five solo), 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery for the Cowboys.
Malik Brown had nine tackles while
T.J. Jackson had seven.
Joseph Gutierrez added a sack while
Davon Muldrow added a half sack.
The four victories this season for the Cowboys are the most in a season since 2012 when they went 8-3 and is the fifth time since 2000 NMHU has reached at least four wins in a season.
The Cowboys wrap up their season 1 p.m. Saturday when they host Colorado Mesa for their Salute the Troops Game and their Senior Game. Current military and veterans can attend the game for free with a military I.D. or any other form of identification proving their service.
