Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands battled Adams State and Mother Nature but came up on the short end of a 21-14 decision in the 2023 Homecoming Game Saturday afternoon, that ran into Saturday evening, at Sanchez Family Stadium.
The Cowboys are now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. Adams State improves to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the RMAC.
The teams traded opening quarter touchdowns with Adams State drawing first blood on a seven play 53 yard scoring drive just four minutes into the game. NMHU would answer when
Malik Norman punched it in from one yard out to cap an 81 yard scoring drive to even the score at seven.
Adams State scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to jump to a 21-7 lead at the half.
And that's when Mother Nature officially entered the contest. The two teams would endure weather delays of nearly four hours as rain, hail, and plenty of lightning peppered the Las Vegas area keeping the teams in their respective locker rooms.
Play would finally resume shortly after 6:00 pm with the Cowboys taking the second half kickoff on an impressive 12 play, 74 yard scoring drive that chewed up over six minutes of time.
Malik Norman scored on a six yard run to cap the drive and pull the Cowboys to within seven at 21-14.
The Cowboys would put together one last drive in the fourth quarter that ended when the Adams State defense stopped a fourth down play on its own 11 yard line with 21 seconds remaining to secure the win.
The Cowboys amassed 247 yards on the ground Saturday led by junior quarterback
Joey Cave's 107 yards on 16 carries. In addition to his two touchdowns,
Malik Norman had 63 yards on nine attempts. Cave was 16 of 27 for 91 yards passing.
Defensively,
Devin Coney had eight tackles to lead NMHU while
Gannon Ginnis added seven tackles. Coney and Ginnis each had a sack as well.
Demond Young intercepted Adams State quarterback Chase Nelson to end an Adams State drive in the third quarter.
Coach
Ron Hudson and his Cowboys now prepare for the 710 mile trip to Spearfish, South Dakota, to square-off against Black Hill State University on Saturday afternoon in a 1:00 pm contest.
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