One Last Time at Home

Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands will play the home finale this Saturday as they take on the Skyhawks of Fort Lewis College at 1:00 PM at Sanchez Family Stadium.

Senior Spotlight: The Cowboys will honor 17 seniors on Saturday.

1 Mike Jones,3 Key'Shawn Buckley, 5 Kekoa Garrido,7 Kris Taufa'asau,9 Christian Sunui,10 Benjamin Watson,11 Fabiano Valdez,12 Trevor Romaldo,15 Ethan Orona,19 Cameron Swain,22 Tanner Nelson,56 Jaydn Jaramillo,64 Mahdi Hazime,66 Joe Taase,74 Kioni Benally,87 Royal Young, and 94 Kanalu Shimizu.

COACH KURT TAUFA'ASAU: 2025 marks the second season at the helm of the NMHU football program for Coach Taufa'asau after being named head coach on May 29, 2024. Taufa'asau earned his first career win at NMHU when he led the Cowboys to a thrilling 33-30 victory on October 12th of last season in front of a raucous Homecoming Crowd in historic Las Vegas. NMHU scored two touchdowns in the last 6:54 of that game to earn the win. Before coming to New Mexico Highlands, Taufa'asau was the head coach at New Mexico Military Institute, where he led the Broncos to the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Championship.

STANDINGS: New Mexico Highlands University, at 5-4 overall, 3-4 in conference, sits in 6th place in the RMAC. Fort Lewis is in 8th at 2-7 overall and 1-6 in conference.

CSU Pueblo 8-1 (7-0 RMAC)
Chadron State 7-2 (7-0 RMAC)
Western Colorado 8-1 (6-1 RMAC)
Colorado School of Mines 6-3 (4-3 RMAC)
Colorado Mesa 5-4 (4-3 RMAC)
New Mexico Highlands 5-4 (3-4 RMAC)
South Dakota Mines 2-7 (2-5 RMAC)
Fort Lewis 2-7 (1-6 RMAC)
Black Hills State 1-8 (1-6 RMAC)
Adams State 0-9 (0-7 RMAC)

LAST TIME OUT: The Cowboys scored first on Saturday when Collin Stucki connected with Jeffery Jones for a 19-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play 56-yard scoring drive on the second possession of the game.

Mine's was responsible for the following five scores as they built a 17-7 lead at the half and then pushed that margin to 34-7 at the end of the third quarter.

As the fourth quarter opened, Tevita Valeti punched it in from four yards out for the Cowboys' second touchdown of the day.Valeti added another touchdown run late in the game.

As a team, the Orediggers outgained the Cowboys 527-405.

Jeffery Jones led the Cowboys with 67 yards on 16 carries, and Collin Stucki went for 55 yards on 13 attempts.
Tevita Valeti had 30 yards and the two touchdown runs.

Stucki was 16 of 22 passing the ball for 198 yards and the first-quarter touchdown to Jeffery Jones.
Mike Jones had seven catches for 78 yards.

NEW MEXICO!: For the first time since the 2012 season, the Cowboys defeated Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico in the same season. Once again this season, Coach Taufa'asau and his staff diligently recruited their home state as the 2025 New Mexico Highlands football roster features 45 players who played high school football in the state of New Mexico.

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS: Saturday marks the 55th all-time meeting between the two schools. Fort Lewis is in 8th at 2-7 overall and 1-6 in conference. Johnny Cox is the Head Coach of the Skyhawks, in his fourth season in Durango. Having a couple of stops as a coach in the NFL, as well as being the OC at UNC Pembroke, before landing back in Durango. Cox also played at Fort Lewis, where he was the RMAC Player of the Year (1993) and a Two-Time Regional Finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy (Best Overall Player in Division II).


FORT LEWIS /NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS SERIES NOTES:
New Mexico Highlands leads the series 35-21-0
Last Skyhawks win November 9, 2024, 44-22 in Durango
Last Cowboys win September 16, 2023, 31-17 in Las Vegas
New Mexico Highlands won the first meeting 14-6 in 1940

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Through eight games, the Cowboys are fourth in the RMAC in scoring at 33.0 points per game and second in the conference in Total Offense at 443.5 yards per game. Freshman Jeffery Jones is third in the nation in All Purpose Yards Per Game (182.75/game), and second in Rushing Yards Per Game (169.9/game).

UP NEXT: The Cowboys will wrap up the season with a road trip to Spearfish, South Dakota, to take on Black Hills State.

RMAC NETWORK: All of the remaining games on the schedule will be broadcast on the RMAC Network, with New Mexico Broadcaster of the Year Scott Galetti returning as the Voice of the Cowboys for the games in historic Las Vegas this season. Visit RMACNetwork.com to purchase a subscription and follow the Cowboys all season long.

CLEAR BAG POLICY: NMHU has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all on-campus events.