New Mexico Football Report

The state of New Mexico was shutout in college football this past weekend. From top to bottom, Nuevo Mexico went down in flames. The UNM Lobos lost a close game to the Air Force Academy, Highlands' saw its league hopes dashed by a last second touchdown against Chadron St., Western & Eastern both put up a fight against conference foes that have long had their number. NMMI was thumped by Snow College of Utah and the NMSU Aggies had their lunch handed to them in Logan, Ut. by the Utah St. Aggies.

Is a repeat in the offing for this week? UNM will be a huge underdog against the Fresno St. Bulldogs, NMSU is hosting Louisiana Tech and I would be amazed if the Bulldogs aren't favored by at least 30 points. ENMU travels to Wichita Falls, Tx. to play Midwestern St. Univ., that'll be a tall order for the Greyhounds. WNMU will travel 1,500 miles (round-trip by bus) to take on Chadron St., a win would be asking too much. Meanwhile NMHU takes a similarly extended bus trip to play Black Hills St. in Spearfish, SD. The hopes of New Mexico will rest on this game.

Let's not forget NMMI, the only junior college football squad in New Mexico. The Broncos under first year head coach Joe Forchtner have been up and down. NMMI's overall record is 4-4, though they've lost their last two games (Eastern Arizona & Snow College) The Broncos have given up 40+ points four times this season (accounting for all four of their losses) In the second week of the season, the Broncos were on the receiving end of an incredible 83-22 beating at the hands of Iowa Western C.C.

That drubbing, (dubbed "The Mile High Classic") took place in Pueblo, Co. The Iowa Western C.C. Reivers are ranked #1 in the NJCAA and have scored 70+ points in a game, four times this season. In their lowest scoring game, they managed to put a measly 44 points on the board and barely won by 24. They are coached by Scott Strohmeier, a red ass who has no qualms about running up the score on outgunned opponents. By the end of the season NMMI will have played three teams in the NJCAA top ten, Iowa Western, Arizona Western and Snow College.

ENMU Greyhounds  21      West Texas A&M Buffaloes  44

MEANWHILE BACK AT BLACKWATER DRAW— The Hounds of Eastern New Mexico (2-5; LSC 1-4) took on a ranked opponent of their own, 17th-ranked West Texas A&M (7-1; LSC 6-0) The Buffs stampeded Eastern to the tune of 44-21, claiming their seventh consecutive "Wagon Wheel Game" in the process.  So, the old wagon wheel, a relic from a ranch near Portales, will remain in Canyon, Tx. for another year. West Texas A&M now holds a 14-11 edge in the Wagon Wheel series.

“It’s a fun rivalry game and exciting to prepare for,” WTAMU head coach Don Carthel said.  “It’s really special to the program for the next 12 months.” West Texas got on the board immediately by scoring on their first possession. Buffs Rb. Khiry Robinson busted through at least six tackles before he was brought down 48 yds. later at the ENMU one yard line. Robinson took it in on the next play for the score. “He’s always big (Khiry Robinson),” Carthel said of his running back.

Sometimes coaches do get funny ideas. On their next possession, facing a fourth & eight, the Hounds appeared to be going for it, until Wes Wood attempted a pooch kick, the ball hit the back of an offensive player and was recovered by West Texas at the ENMU 44 yard line. Buffs Qb. Dustin Vaughan then connected with Nathan Slaughter for a 27 yard td. pass to give WTAMU a commanding 14-0 lead as the first quarter wound down. Two things Don Carthel never turns down.... gimme hats and gimme touchdowns. 

Eastern New Mexico finally got it together in the second quarter.  It seems like, ENMU head coach Josh Lynn heard about Rocky Long's plan "to go for it on every fourth down" Facing a critical fourth down, Wes Wood found Chase Kyser for a nine yard pick-up to place the ball at the WTAMU 22 yd. line.  From there Wood connected with Kyser again for a 19 yd. td. pass. to slice the Buffs lead in half.  West Texas responded with another touchdown as Dustin Vaughan found Jarrian Rhone wide open for a 58 yd. td. strike.

Up 21-7 with eight minutes left in the half.  It looked like WTAMU would build on that lead, however, back to back interceptions by Vaughan spared the Hounds from the pound. Eastern's Jamal Candley picked off one Vaughan pass to kill a potential scoring drive. Jayson Serda picked another in the end zone, that he returned 49 yds. to set up a Greyhound touchdown. Following a 15 yd. face mask penalty on West Texas, Wes Wood broke loose for a 34 yd. td. run to pull Eastern back within a touchdown.

In the second half, WTAMU slowly turned the screw on the Hounds, following a fumble by EMU's Derek Campbell, Vaughn hooked up with Slaughter for a 42 yd. gain that placed the ball on Eastern's 2 yd. line, Khiry Robinson then had the honor of pounding it into the end zone, 28-14. “(Eastern) had us on the ropes right there at halftime with the momentum, so our guys – I was really proud of the way they came out of the locker room in the second half and got the game back under our control,” Carthel said. 

He was overstating ENMU's position, in reality the Buffs were nowhere near the ropes. In fact they may have been employing the old "rope-a-dope" tactic made famous by Muhammad Ali against George Foreman. Let 'em punch away and wear themselves out and then lower the boom. As the third quarter wound down, the body blow came in the form of another Khiry Robinson td. run, this from 12 yds. out, 35-14 Buffs. The fire was down to embers now, but Wood wasn't done.  "Wes Wood is a great competitor,” Carthel said. “He’s tougher than a boot.”

Wood hit Johnson for a 31 yd. pickup and then found Chase Kyser on a 33 yd. pass play that went for a touchdown, Kyser's second of the game. Down by two touchdowns, the deficit was too much to overcome. The Hounds had indeed punched themselves out. On their next possession, ENMU was forced to punt, WTAMU LB. Eric Finefeuiaki blocked it and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety, 37-21.  Eastern had now suffered the indignity of a failed pooch kick and a blocked punt..... all in the same game, with both resulting in scores for West Texas.

After the ensuing free kick from ENMU, Vaughan led the Buffaloes down the field, Nathan Slaughter made a diving catch at Eastern's one yard line, setting yet another touchdown run from Khiry Robinson. The was the final spoke in the wagon wheel, WTAMU 44 Eastern 21. Don Carthel, a native of Friona, Tx. played his college ball at ENMU (1970-73) Carthel was also the head coach of the Greyhounds from 1985-91. It was one of the most successful periods in ENMU's  football history. “Every year when the season starts, I want Eastern to go 10 and one,” Carthel said. That one loss, of course, being against the Buffaloes.

The Greyhounds have a tough road game coming up against the Midwestern State Mustangs, who are 6-1 overall, 5-1 in the LSC and ranked #11 in the latest AFCA poll. West Texas A&M is ranked #14, so that's back to back games against nationally ranked opponents for ENMU. Located in Wichita Falls, Tx., the school was once known as Hardin Junior College, in 1950 it branched off into junior college and university divisions, with the four year school called Midwestern University  The Hardin JC branch was eliminated in 1960 and the school renamed Midwestern St. University.

NMHU Cowboys   33     Chadron St. Univ. Eagles   36 

The intensity of the RMAC championship race was almost off the meter as the Cowboys and Eagles faced off in Chadron, Ne.  The Eagles, having already lost to CSU-Pueblo had their backs against the wall. Highlands not having played either CSU-Pueblo & Chadron St. yet, needed a win to make a statement and set up a possible showdown for it all against the Skywolves. With the loss to Chadron St., the best case scenario for Highlands would be for Chadron to lose another league game, allowing the Cowboys to claim a share of the league title with a win over CSU-Pueblo. 

As if to underscore the "must win" nature of the game, the Cowboys came out and fielded an onside kick on the opening kick off. You don't see that everyday! Starting from the Chadron 26 yd. line, Lavelle Peterson finished off the drive with a 7 yd. td. run. Chadron St.'s offense was slow out of the gate and NMHU tacked on a 49 yd. field goal by Zach Tapia to go up 10-0. The Eagles played it cool and got on the board with a Jonn McLain to Cody Roes 3 yd. td pass, 10-7. On their next possession, Alex Ferdinand nailed a 40 yd. field goal and just like that, we were knotted up.

Highlands wasn't having any of it, five plays and 80 yards later Emmanuel Lewis found his groove by connecting with John Webster for a 16 yd. td. pass. The Cowboys built on their lead following an Eagles fumble on a punt return, with a Zack Tapia 42 yd. field goal, to go up 20-10. at the half.  Don Carthel spoke about being on the ropes, in the aforementioned ENMU-WTAMU recap. In this contest, the Chadron St. Eagles were up against the ropes. Just minutes into the third quarter, Mr. Reliable, Zach Tapia came out and floated home a 40 yd. field goal.

Highlands now had a seemingly comfortable 23-10 lead. The Eagles however, were slowly building towards a Rocky Balboa comeback. Chadron St. responded with an Alex Ferdinand 31 yd. field goal on their subsequent possession to cut into Highlands lead now at 23-13. Then with under two minutes left in the quarter, McLain hooked up with Allan Schmaltz for an 18 yd. td., 23-20.  NMHU cleared out a little elbow room via a 32 yd. field goal by Zach Tapia early in the fourth quarter., 26-20.

The Eagles ran 12 plays, covered 77 yds with Chapman Ham pulling in a 25 yd. td. pass from McLain, to take their first lead of the game, 27-26.  NMHU then went three and out on their next possession setting up a 34 yd. field goal by Ferdinand to extend Chadron's lead 30-26. The two teams exchanged possessions,  then following a sack on McLain, the Eagles were forced to punt. The ball sailed over the punter's head with Highlands recovering. From there it took Emmanuel Lewis just two plays to find the end zone.

Lewis hit Kevon Williams between the numbers and Williams rambled 20 yds.for what was surely a game winning touchdown, (33-30)  with less than two minutes left in the game. Only in sports does two minutes equal an eternity, anywhere else in life a span of two minutes is rarely noted or of much importance. For the Chadron St. Eagles it was all the time in the world. Qb. Jonn McLain executed an 80 yd. 10 play drive, culminating with a 21 yd. td. pass to Allan Schmaltz that put the dagger in the Cowboy's heart.

With 00:36 left in the game, Highlands came back out on the field determined to get the ball within Zach Tapia's kicking range (50-55 yds.) The Cowboy's hopes for a dramatic finish were cut short as Chadron St. safety Cole Montgomery intercepted an Emmanuel Lewis pass to thwart Highlands' last chance at victory. The loss dropped the Cowboys to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in RMAC play. NMHU is now tied for second place with the Chadron St. Eagles (both trail CSU-Pueblo) with three games remaining (Black Hills St., CSU-Pueblo and Western New Mexico) in that order. 

Emmanuel Lewis led the offense with 32 completions out of 54 passes for 332 yards. Lewis also led the Pokes in rushing with 52 yards on 15 carries. The Cowboys racked up 403 yards in total offense (332 passing and 71 yards rushing) Highlands stymied the Eagles running game (86 yds. total) but could do little to stop the Chadron St. passing game, McLain finished  36-59 passing for 353 yds. As expected the Cowboy's defense was led by Jordan Campbell (19 tackles) and Jared Koster (11 tackles)

Up next for Highlands is a round trip bus ride of 1,238 miles to Spearfish, South Dakota to take on the Black Hills St. Yellow Jackets.  A long time member of the NAIA, Black Hills St. was accepted into the NCAA Div. II ranks in 2010. The Jackets will become a full fledged member of the NCAA DII in 2013. Black Hills St's football rival is the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, "the Black Hills Brawl"  is the oldest football series in the U.S. second only to Harvard vs. Yale. 

How bitter is the rivalry between the two? The last game on each team's schedule is always reserved for the "Battle for the Homestake Trophy" though in past seasons the two have been known to play each other twice in a single season (an unheard of thing in football at any level from High School on up) There is nothing in the NCAA rule book that would prevent them from doing so, but with the Jackets joining the NCAA and the RMAC, the chances of that happening again are slim.

WNMU Mustangs 28    Adams St. Univ. Grizzlies  49

Adams St.'s So. backup Qb. Justin Juda scored five rushing touchdowns, none longer than three yards to account for 30 of the Grizzlies' points.  Had Juda missed the bus to Silver City, maybe the outcome of the game would've been different, then again maybe not. The Grizzlies have WNMU's number, the 49-28 win was their fifth consecutive win over the Mustangs.  In  all fairness  I have to question why Juda kept getting the call inside the red zone.

All five of  his  td's  came after after starting Qb. Trevor Eggleston did all the heavy lifting. To fantasy football geeks, that's known as a vulture back stealing carries from a stud starter. It's frowned upon because more often than not, the truly gifted players (and the fantasy football geeks)  get screwed in the process. Seriously, Trevor Eggleston can set up the touchdown with an 84 yard scamper, but he's deemed not worthy of punching it through the line?

If Justin Juda were a fullback, I would understand....  and maybe Grizzlies head coach Marty Heaton has his reasons for not letting Eggleston finish off drives. Protecting him from injury? (Eggleston is 6'1" 210 lbs., Juda is 5-11, 185) but it's bullshit anyway you look at it.  Judas Iscariot got 30 pieces of silver and Justin Juda got his thirty points, the Grizzlies won and everyone went home happy, except for the Mustangs who came up on the short end of the final score.

The again, maybe Juda kept getting the ball, because the Mustangs couldn't keep him out  of  the end zone, right?  If it works once, it could work the next four times as well. “Set! Green 80,  Green 80, Hut-Hut.” Let's go with an audible now.  The Mustangs were forced to punt on their first possession, The Grizzlies got the ball and Eggleston picked up 91 yds. on two runs setting  up one of Juda's touchdowns.

David Von Voris kicked the extra point (his brother Kevin is the place kicker  for West  Texas A&M) to put the Grizzlies up 7-0. It would be the first of seven successful point afters by Von Voris during the game.  On their ensuing possession, Mitch Glasmann moved Western 75 yards on 10 plays, hooking up with Terron Sumpter for a 15 yd. td. pass. After an Adams St. punt,  Daniel Paponetti picked off Mitch Glasmann setting up the Grizzlies at the Mustang 17 yd. line.  Four plays later, Juda got the call for his second short td.

That started a 21 point run by the Grizzlies, it took just one play from scrimmage for them to strike again. Chaz Butler broke loose down the left side for a 67 yard dash to the end zone,  21-7. With just over one minute left in the first half, the Grizzlies pulled a rabbit out of the hat. On second and seven from the Mustang 13 yd. line, they went with an end around reverse, with JB Hall passing to Trevor Eggleston for  a 13 yd. td. strike, giving Adams St. a 28-7 lead at the break. 

The Mustangs showed some life early in the third quarter. Facing a third down, Glasmann found Brent Courtney over the middle for a 15 yd. gain. Later in the drive, with WNMU facing another third down, Donald Byrd picked up 15 yds. on a reverse, John De La Rosa than rambled 12 yds. into the end zone on the next play for a Mustang score, 28-14. Adams St. answered back on the ensuing possession, Justin Juda picked up 17 yds. on a crucial down, on 3rd. and 16, Eggleston connected with Ron Gaudin for a 25 yd. completion to the one yard line, Juda took it in from there, 35-14.

Western tried to respond, driving the ball into Grizzlies territory before Jeremiah Van Valkenburg picked off Mitch Glasmann in the end zone to kill that opportunity. Starting from their own twenty yard line, the Grizzlies rolled 80 yds. on 13 plays before Justin Juda popped it in from 2 yds. out for yet another touchdown run, 42-14. The Mustangs countered with a nine play, 75 yard drive capped off by a 29 yd. td. pass to Donald Byrd. This cut the Grizzlies lead in half, 42-21. WNMU head coach Adam Clark also had a trick up his sleeve.

Mustang place kicker Josh McIntire executed a perfect onside kick, that he recovered at the Western 47 yd. line.  Glasmann had the Mustangs on the move again, though they almost hit a snag on a fourth and 18. Ronnell Pompey however, made an acrobatic catch inside the Grizzlies 10 yd. line for a first and goal. A couple of plays later Abraham Macias scored from 2 yds. out. The Grizzlies then used a 10 play, 59 yd. drive that burned five minutes off the clock and culminated with yet another short td. run by Juda to close out the scoring, 49-28.

Adams State had an edge in total offense 516 to 494, their running game dominated the Mustangs 340 to 167 and they had zero turnovers, while the Mustangs had two costly interceptions.  Mitch Glasmann completed 25 of 55 pass attempts for 327 yds., 2 td's. Donald Byrd had nine catches for 84 yds. Ronnell Pompey had seven catches for 118 yds. Abraham Macias had 25 carries for 112 yds, 1 td. while John De La Rosa added 63 yds. on 8 carries for WNMU.  A resilient effort from the Mustangs, derailed by two big turnovers.

It doesn't get any easier for Western New Mexico next week, as they  face a daunting  road game against Chadron St.  That's 1,500 miles, round trip on a bus to face a fired up team that's tied for second in the RMAC. The Mustangs (4-4, 3-3 RMAC) are out of the title chase but a winning season is still within their grasp.  WNMU is 1-3 at home and 3-1 on the road, so it's probably in their favor that 2 of their last 3 games are on the road, including the season finale against arch rival New Mexico Highlands.