Cowboys defeat the Yellow Jackets in first victory of the season

Las Vegas, NM --- The New Mexico Highlands football team (1-5, 1-5 RMAC) earned their first victory of the season after defeating Black Hills State (2-5, 2-5 RMAC) 17-13 at the Sanchez Family Stadium in Las Vegas, NM.

The Yellow Jackets would take an early 7-0 lead over the Cowboys in the first quarter, as BHSU running back Payton Gilmore rushed for a 4-yard touchdown.

The Cowboys would answer right back on a drive that started at their own 35-yard line. The Cowboys would push the ball down the field before Trevion Thomas would set the Cowboys up on the Black Hills 12-yard line after a 17-yard carry and then a 9-yard carry by Shawntay Mills to the Black Hills 3-yard line. James Budgett would then punch the ball into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 with 13 minutes left in the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets would answer right back with a 40-yard field goal and take a 10-7 lead over the Cowboys. Ramone Atkins would then set up a perfectly placed TD pass to Donovan Hawkins with 4 seconds left in the half to give the Cowboys a 14-10 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was great defensive stand by both teams as neither team was able to score in the quarter. The Cowboys found themselves ahead to start the fourth quarter for the first time this season.

As the Cowboys continued to play strong on defense, the Yellow Jacket offense would get closer and closer to field goal range before connecting on a 28-yard field goal attempt to cut the Cowboy lead to 14-13 with 7:09 remaining in the game.

The Cowboys continued to dominate on the ground as James Budgett would keep the Cowboy offense alive with a 25-yard carry on a 2^nd &15 from the Cowboy 20-yard line. The Cowboys would run 4 minutes off of the clock before NMHU Israel Farfan connected on a 34-yard attempt to give the Cowboys a 17-13 lead.

Still, the Yellow Jackets had some time to score. The Cowboy defense would force the Yellow Jackets to turn the ball over-on-downs, and take control with 2:52 left in the game. The Cowboys found success by running the ball with Elijah Boyd who had ran for a first down but fumbled the ball at the Black Hills 38-yard line to give the Yellow Jackets yet another chance to win the game.

The Yellow Jackets would then throw 4 straight incomplete passes and the Cowboys would hold on to win the game 17-13.

Quarterback Ramone Atkins finished the day with 116 passing yards on 8 of 15 completions and a touchdown. His longest play was a 52-yard throw to NMHU Louis Webb. Webb finished the game with the one reception for 52 yards, and also had the most yards on the team. Donovan Hawkins (22 yards, 1 TD), Darrell McIntyre (14 yards), and Dillon Gassoway (11 yards) would all aid the Cowboys with a reception.

The strength of the Cowboy offense came from running back James Budgett as he carried the ball 18 times, ran for 141 yards, and also scored a touchdown. Atkins finished with 44 total yards rushing for the Cowboys. Shawntay Mills (42 yards) and Antoine Thompson (26 yards) also aided the Cowboys running game.

The Cowboys would finish the game with 404 total yards of offense after running the ball for 288 total yards. The Cowboy defense would hold the Yellow Jackets to 265 total yards on offense, which included 173 passing yards and 92 rushing.

The Cowboys will be back in action next Saturday October 26^th, where they will travel to Rapid City, SD to take on South Dakota School of Mines & Technology at 1 pm.
 
GO COWBOYS!!