Cowboys open season with 45-31 victory at Fort Lewis

DURANGO, Colo. --- The New Mexico Highlands football team's offense was humming for much of the contest, but it was needing a few key fourth-quarter stops from the defense to secure a win on the road against Fort Lewis.
 
The Cowboys got just that.
 
NMHU got a fourth-down stop on its own 2-yard line with 4:10 remaining in the contest while holding a 14-point lead and Malik Brown sealed the game with his second interception of the game at the 1:29 mark as the Cowboys came away with a 45-31 victory against the Skyhawks in their season and RMAC opener Friday night at Durango High School.
 
"Our kids have put in a lot of time and effort, the administration has done a lot to support us and I'm happy we were able to reward all those things with a good performance," NMHU second-year coach Marty Fine said. "Everybody says you improve the most between games one and two – and that may be the case – but it's always best to improve after a win than after a loss. But we started last season with a win and the rest of the season didn't go the way we wanted so we still have a long way to go."
 
The NMHU offense was strong throughout as the Cowboys racked up 455 yards of offense and did so with balance – 246 yards through the air and 206 on the ground.


 
The Cowboys (1-0) took control of the game in the second quarter as with the game tied 14 all, Danny Cameron found Devon Henderson on a play-action pass in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard score to make it 21-14 with 7:24 remaining in the first half.
 
NMHU then forced a Fort Lewis (0-1) three-and-out to get the ball back. The Cowboys drove much of the field before facing fourth down on the Fort Lewis 34. NMHU went for it and again used play action to its advantage as Cameron hit tight end Darrell McIntyre with a 25-yard pass to get the ball down to the Skyhawk 9.
 
Two plays later freshman fullback Elijah Boyd scored his second touchdown of the game from two yards out to boost the Cowboy advantage to 28-14 – where it would stand at the break.
 
In the third quarter, Brown had his first interception of the game when he picked off Jake Lowry and returned it to the NMHU 46. Three plays later Cameron found D.J. McFadden for his second receiving score of the game to push the lead to 35-14.
 
Fort Lewis wouldn't get within two scores the rest of the way as the NMHU defense got needed timely stops down the stretch.
 
Cameron finished 14-for-21 for 246 yard and four touchdowns for NMHU. McFadden finished with 108 yards receiving and two scores as eight different receivers caught 14 of Cameron's completions.
 
On the ground the Cowboys were led by the speedy Dione Alston as he finished with 119 yards on 13 carries (9.2 yards per carry) while Dazmon Scott added 54 yards on 11 carries and Boyd had 43 yards and two scores on 11 carries.
 
C.J. Waite led the defense with nine tackles to go along with two pass breakups while Eli Schoettmer also had nine tackles. Along with Brown's two interceptions, Caleb Glennon also picked off a pass for NMHU and Willie Morris had three tackles and a team-high four pass breakups.
 
The Cowboys return to action Sept. 8 (next Saturday) as they play their home opener against Adams State.