Eagles Notes: Quarterback leads Mountaineers past Chadron State
GUNNISON, Colo. -- September 24, 2022 -- Senior quarterback Conner Desch completed 15 of 18 passes for 234 yards and five touchdowns in the first half as the Western Colorado Mountaineers built a 42-7 intermission lead and went on to down the Chadron State Eagles 56-28 on Saturday in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Gunnison.
The Mountaineers, now 2-2, got off to a fast start. Desch hit Malik White with about a 50-yard pass on the third play of the game, and the senior receiver turned it into a 73-yard touchdown jaunt.
The Eagles, now 0-4, tied the score on their ensuing possession by driving 75 yards in 12 plays. The march included quarterback Mason Hamilton's 19-yard pass to running back Dorian Collier, tosses of 10 and 13 yards to tight end Peter Krohn and a 14-yard burst by Jeydon Cox to set the stage for Jalen Starks's leap over a couple of would-be tacklers into the end zone.
Chadron State forced Western to punt on its next possession. But the Eagles immediately lost a fumble at their 21-yard line. Desch connected with tight end Nathan Meyer for a touchdown on the ensuing play to give Western a 14-7 lead.
That was among the four times the Eagles gave up the ball in their own territory, providing the Mountaineers with a short field.
The Mountaineers scored four touchdowns in the second quarter. Tailback Josh Cummings initially went 14 yards to paydirt and Desch, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior, threw 10-yard scoring passes to Kai Emmsley and White and a 12-yarder to Cole Riters to forge the lopsided halftime score.
Each of the first three drives covered from 50 to 60 yards and the fourth 35 after the Mountaineers blocked a Chadron State punt.
The Eagles accumulated only 140 yards in the first half, but gained 209 and scored three times in the second half. The visitors ran 93 plays from scrimmage compared to 66 for Western and finished with 23 first downs, eight more than the Mountaineers.
Each team possessed the ball almost exactly 30 minutes.
Chadron State's second touchdown came on Hamilton's 37-yard pass to redshirt freshman Tommy Thomas midway in the third quarter.
Again, Western was forced to punt, but the Eagles fumbled the ball away during the return. The Mountaineers recovered on the CSC 17 and scored the third play when Deyvon Butler went up the middle from 12 yards out, making the score 49-14.
The Eagles scored again with 2:39 left in the third quarter on a four-yard pass to Montel Gladney to cap a 75-yard drive that included Hamilton's 52-yard connection with alternate tight end Ro Abercrombie.
Both teams scored once in the final period. Another Chadron State error—a botched punt that went just five yards—set up the Mountaineers' TD. Western took over on the CSC 25, and scored on the third play, a seven-yard run by alternate tailback Breadan Hogan.
Late in the game, the Eagles got their only takeaway when safety Draymond Hill intercepted a Western pass at the hosts' 43. Redshirt freshman Preston Pearson took over at quarterback and directed a nine-play drive that saw Pearson carry five times for 23 yards before Starks scored on two power rushes from the nine.
Most of the statistics were closer than the final score. One place where the Eagles came out ahead was on first downs. They had with 23, six more than the Mountaineers. Western finished with 451 total net yards, 102 more than CSC.
Desch, who did not play in the final quarter, finished 18 of 24 for 265 yards passing and his five first half TD tosses. Fourteen Mountaineers caught passes, led by White and Meyer with three apiece for 90 and 73 yards, respectively.
Cummings, who rushed for 1,300 yards last season, finished with 10 carries and 64 yards Saturday.
Hamilton had a major workout while making his first start after previous starter Heath Beemiller sustained a knee injury early in the fourth quarter the previous week against Black Hills State. The sophomore from Gillette threw 51 passes, competing 28 for 242 yards and two TDs.
Nine Eagles caught passes with Thomas's five receptions for 64 yards leading the way. CSC sophomore linebacker Xavier Harrell was credited with 10 unassisted tackles to lead both teams in that category.
Both Riters and Chadron State's Gunnar Jones were perfect on their extra point kicks.
The Eagles will host the Colorado Mines Orediggers during homecoming next Saturday, Oct. 1.
CSC WCU
First Downs 23 17
Total Net Yards 349 451
Rushes, Yards 40-105 36-156
Passing Yards 244 295
Passing 29-53-1 21-30-1
Return Yards 21 76
Punts, Average 8-38.5 5-42.3
Fumbles, Lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties, Yards 8-55 7-55
Chadron State 7 0 14 7 ---28
Western Colorado 14 28 7 7 ---56
First Quarter
WCU—Malik White 73 pass from Connor Desch (Alec Fonseca kick)
CSC—Jalen Starks 1 run (Gunnar Jones kick)
WCU—Nathan Meyer 21 pass from Desch (Fonseca kick)
Second Quarter
WSC—Josh Cummings 14 run (Fonseca kick)
WCS—Kai Emmsley 11 pass from Desch (Fonseca kick)
WSC—White 10 pass from Desch (Fonseca kick)
WSC—Riters 12 pass from Desch (Fonseca kick)
Third Quarter
CSC—Tommy Thomas 37 pass from Mason Hamilton (Jones kick)
WSC—Deyvon Butler 12 run (Fonseca kick)
CSC—Montel Gladney 4 pass from Hamilton (Jones kick)
Fourth Quarter
WSC—Braeden Hogan 7 run (Fonseca kick)
CSC—Starks 4 run (Jones kick)
Rushing: CSC—Jeydon Cox 10-40, Jalen Starks 9-38, Preston Pearson 4-23, Dorian Collier 5-17.
Rylan Auguallo 6-14, Ahlonte Hair 1-4, Grant Swenson 1-2, Jackson Hesford 1-minus 6, Mason Hamilton 3-minus 27. WCU—Josh Cummings 1-64, Tony Cass 4-33, Deyvon Butler 9-25, Braeden Hogan 7-16, Antwuan Jackson 2-10, Conner Desch 4-8.
Passing: CSC—Mason Hamilton 28-51-1, 242 yards, 2 TDs; Preston Pearson 1-2-0, 3 yards; Connor Desch 18-24-0, 265 yards, 5 TDs; Antwuan Jackson 3-6-1, 23 yards.
Receiving: CSC—Tommy Thomas 5-64, Ro Abercrombie 1-52, Jamal Browder 5-34, Peter Krohn 3-33, Dorian Collier 5-30, Grant Swenson 4-15, Ahlonte Hair 1-6, Montel Gladney 2-6, Jackson Hesford 1-3. WSC—Malik White 3-90, Nathan Meyer 3-73, David Victory 1-43, Jaydon Green 1-23, Sage Yazzie 2-19, Kai Emmsley 2-10, Dan Persek 1-8, Braeden Hogan 1-4, Andrew Montez 1-3, Josh Cummings 1-1, Dayvon Butler 1-minus 2.
Volleyball team pushes RMAC streak to five against Western Colorado
CHADRON, Neb. – September 24, 2022 – The Chadron State volleyball team swept Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival, Western Colorado on Saturday night in three sets, (25-21, 25-20, 25-21) to improve their record to 7-8 overall, and 5-1 in the RMAC. The Eagles won their fifth consecutive RMAC match.
The Eagles had one of their best hitting percentages on the season hitting .259 with freshman Bella Adams having another great night hitting .500. Adams also led CSC in total kills with 10, with sophomore Lexi Hurtado credited eight, and sophomore Mayson Fago with seven. CSC had a total of 39 kills.
Defensively CSC recorded 20 blocks, led by sophomore Aiyana Fujiyama and Adams with five block assists each. Amber Harvey recorded four herself to help the Eagles.
Kiera Alfred led the Eagles in digs with 14, with Breshawna Kelly accounting for nine. CSC recorded 47 total digs on the match Saturday night.
Fujiyama now has nearly two blocks per set credited to her over the past two weeks. She sits at No. 2 individually in the conference at 1.14 total blocks per set.
In the first set the Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Attacking errors by the Mountaineers gave the Eagles their first lead of the night at 10-8. The Eagles never let the Mountaineers take the lead again, but WCU tied the game at 12 from a couple kills from Jordyn Todd. CSC went on 3-0 run before WCU tied the game at 15 from a kill from Caroline Parker. With the game tied at 16, a kill from Fago helped propel the Eagles on an 8-2 run to go up 24-18. Western was able to scrape together three more points before a kill from Harvey gave the first set to the Eagles.
The second set opened up with each team trading blows. There were two early lead changes and three ties, before the Eagles went a run of 6-2 which included a pair of serving aces from Kiley West. The Mountaineers fought back to tie the game at 10, from a serving ace of their own from Hailee Martinez. After a timeout, the CSC went on a 10-3 run to go up 20-13. This run included multiple attacking errors from the Mountaineers' offense, and kills from Fago, Adams, Hurtado, and a serving ace from West. WCU went on a set point run to cut the Eagles lead to 24-20, but an attack error from Olive Rolseth gave the Eagles the second set.
The third set started off hot for the Mountaineers going up 3-0 on the Eagles, but a kill from Fujiyama sparked a 5-0 run for CSC. The Eagles then led for 8 of the next 16 points while five were tied and Western led once. CSC first gained a three-point lead at 15-12, before Western came storming back to tie the game at 15 apiece. The Eagles did not allow the Mountaineers to regain the lead. Chadron State ended on a 4-1 run and the match point was a kill from Hurtado.
The Eagles will be on the road next week as they take on New Mexico Highlands on Friday September 30th at 6 p.m. and Adams State on Saturday, October 1st at 3 p.m.
Eagles finish fourth in Minnesota
MARSHALL, Minn. – September 25, 2022 – The Chadron State College golf team added 25 strokes to its Saturday total, in the second and final round of the Mustang Invite at Marshall Golf Club in Marshall, Minnesota on Sunday. The Eagles started the day tied for first, but fell to fourth, out of 13 teams, in less than ideal weather conditions.
"Today was extremely windy," said CSC Head Golf Coach John Ritzen, and we didn't adapt as well as the other teams. This was a great test for us, and we didn't step up to the challenge. I'm excited to see the ladies continue to compete, because this is a great group. We try to learn from each day, so we'll reflect and try to improve, going into Pueblo."
Through six holes, none of the Eagles' starting five were more than four over par, but that changed on the back nine. All five players had at least three bogeys and at least one double, with a couple of triples in the mix, coming back to the clubhouse.
CSC, which scored no golfer above an 80 on Saturday, had all five starters, in addition to its two individuals, above that mark on Sunday. The team remained in second, statistically, for most holes at even par, after leading the field on Saturday.
Senior Alpine Hickstein finished at 78-81-159 to tie for ninth individually in a field of 82.
Kinsey Smith, a junior, tied for 15th with scores of 77-84-161. She was one stroke behind the leader on par threes at plus-one.
Also in the top 20 was junior Jordan Grasis, who led the way for the Eagles on day one. She fired 75-87-162, for an 18th place tie.
Augustana, which the Eagles tied for the lead on Saturday, lowered its Sunday scores to win the event at 310-306-616. The Vikings' Molly Stevens won the individual crown at 76-72-148.
The Eagles have one more stop to make in the fall portion of the schedule. They travel to Pueblo Country Club in Colorado, in just over two weeks, to play in CSU-Pueblo's Sam Proal Invite.
CSC Individual Scores:
T9, Alpine Hickstein, 78-81-159; T15, Kinsey Smith, 77-84-161; T18, Jordan Grasis, 75-87-162; T22, Kenzey Kanno, 80-83-163; T44, Aubree Heinsma, 87-83-170; T44, Payton Wise, 82-88-170; T64, Allison Acosta, 89-90 179.
Team Scores:
1, Augustana, 310-306-616; 2, Minnesota State "A", 320-316-636; 3, Concordia-St. Paul, 321-320-641; 4, Chadron State, 310-335-645; 5, Wayne State (Neb.), 323-328-651; 6, Gustavus Adolphus, 330-323-653; 7, Minnesota State "B", 320-339-659; 8, Sioux Falls, 334-341-675; 9, Southwest Minnesota State, 341-338-679; 10, Minnesota-Crookston, 343-338-681; 11, Bemidji State, 352-334-686; 12, Minnesota State-Moorhead, 351-341-692; 13, Jamestown, 360-357-717.
