Cowboys Beat Western New Mexico, Retain A Warrior's Helmet

Las Vegas, New Mexico - The New Mexico Highlands University football team jumped out to leads of 28-0 at the end of the first quarter, 31-13 at the half and never relinquished the lead enroute to a 48-42 win over Western New Mexico Saturday evening at Sanchez Family Stadium.  The Cowboys won the 2023 edition of La Batalla Bowl and ensured A Warrior's Helmet trophy would remain in Las Vegas.

With the win, NMHU improves to 1-1 while Western New Mexico falls to 1-1 on the season.

The Cowboys defense recovered three fumbles and forced an interception for a touchdown in the win. Mark Simon returned an interception for a score for the NMHU defense. That makes eight turnovers and two scores in the first two contests of 2023 for the NMHU defense.

Offensively the Cowboys did a nice job of spreading the ball around as Quarterback Joey Cave tossed touchdown passes to Mateo Jimenez (27 yards) and Teneil Nichols (30 yards).  Cave would add another touchdown on a short run to cap off a 28 yard five play drive at the end of the first quarter.  Freshman Tyreeq-Styles Obichere scored on an impressive 44 yard run.  

Special teams played a huge part in the win Saturday night as Tevion Massey answered a Western New Mexico scoring drive with a dazzling 86 yard kickoff return for a score.  While senior kicker Will McDaniel was good on all six extra point attempts and drilled a pair of 32 yard field goals.  McDaniel added seven touchbacks and 44.5 yards per punt to round out his impressive night.

NMHU begins RMAC play next Saturday afternoon in Durango when they travel to Fort Lewis College.  Kick off is schedule for 12:00 pm.