Cowboys and Mustangs meet for 2019 La Batalla Bowl at Sanchez Family Stadium

 
Las Vegas, NM --- The New Mexico Highlands football team will host Western New Mexico for the 1^st Annual "La Batalla" Bowl in Las Vegas, NM at 12 pm on Saturday November 23rd at Sanchez Family Stadium.
 
COWBOYS AND MUSTANGS CLASH: The Cowboys and Mustangs have matched-up 7 times in the past 10 years as the Mustangs hold a 5-2 advantage in those games where NMHU has won both games at home. Both teams have totaled for 229 points. The last meeting was in 2015 in Silver City, NM a missed field goal from the Cowboys gave the Mustangs a 38-37 win over the Cowboys.
 
WESTERN NEW MEXICO IN 2019: The Mustangs finished 9^th in the Lonestar Conference this season with their lone win coming against UT-Permian Basin. The Mustangs totaled 4311 yards of offense while they averaged 392 yards per game for an average of 5.1 per play. On the ground, the Mustangs ran for 1350 total yards which included 12 touchdowns. The team was able to find better success in throwing the ball by completing 230 of 453 attempts for 2961 yards and 19 touchdowns.  Defensively, the Mustangs totaled 17 sacks and 12 interceptions.
 
On the ground, the Mustangs were led by DeAndre Williams as he rushed for a total of 645 yards, an average of 71.7 per game and 6^th in the Lonestar Conference. Williams scored 4 touchdowns in 9 games. Vincent Brown recorded a team high 6 rushing touchdowns as he rushed for a total of 225 yards on the season. Reggie Colson led the receivers with 1036 yards and 10 touchdowns and Joshua Powell added 903 yards and 6 touchdowns. CJ Fowler started all 11 games for the Mustangs at quarterback as he competed 224 of his 438 attempts and threw 11 interceptions. Fowler also threw all 19 of the Mustangs touchdowns this season. Roosevelt Calhoun Jr. led the way defensively as he tallied 96 tackles, 2 sacks and an interception on the season while James Lee recorded 6.5 sacks and 67 tackles.
 
THE COWBOYS IN 2019: The Cowboys finished tied for 9^th in the RMAC with 2 wins over Black Hills State and Western Colorado. On the season, the Cowboys totaled 2240 yards which included 1135 yards on the ground and 1105 yards of passing on 72-213 attempts for an average of 224 per game and 15 touchdowns. Defensively, the cowboys totaled 13 interceptions for 144 yards and 15 sacks for 105 yards.
 
James Budgett led the way with 577 total yards, 3 touchdowns and ranked 5^th in the RMAC with an average of 72.1 yards per game. Emmanuel Lumanze Jr. led receivers with 2 touchdowns and 236 yards while Donovan Hawkins also added 2 touchdowns and 161 yards on the season. The Cowboys split their time at quarter back between Ramone Atkins and Gunner Mefferd. Atkins completed 42 of his 123 attempts for 527 yards and 3 touchdowns while Mefferd completed 27 of his 80 attempts for 420 yards and 1 touchdown on the season. J'juan Muldrow also added a 77 yard touchdown pass. Defensively, the Cowboys were led by First-Team All-RMAC safety Malik Brown as he recorded 66 total tackles, 5 interceptions (2 to-the-house), 2 sacks and forced 2 fumbles. Trejen Lawrence added 53 tackles, Eli Schoettmer added 46 tackles and Barry Edwards added 35 tackles for the Cowboys.
 
Kick-Off is set for Saturday afternoon at 12 pm at Sanchez Family Stadium in Las Vegas, NM.
 
GO COWBOYS!!