Eagles notes: Big plays boost Pueblo past Chadron State
Colorado State-Pueblo scored touchdowns on four long plays Saturday afternoon while defeating the Chadron State Eagles 28-3 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played in Chadron under perfect weather conditions.
By News Channel NebraskaCHADRON, Neb. -- Colorado State-Pueblo scored touchdowns on four long plays Saturday afternoon while defeating the Chadron State Eagles 28-3 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played in Chadron under perfect weather conditions.
The first three TDs came in different quarters on long bombs launched by quarterback Chance Fuller. The first was caught by Reggie Retzlaff covering 82 yard and the second was a 77-yarder hauled in by Zack Rakowsky, giving the ThunderWolves a 14-0 halftime lead.
Pueblo also scored on its first two possessions in the third quarter. Fuller connected with Retzlaff in the end zone from 44 yards out for a TD just a minute and 16 seconds into the third frame. About 4 1/2 minutes later running back Kiahn Martinez reeled off a 32-yard scoring jaunt, his team's longest rushing play of the day.
After Jacob Willig kicked his fourth conscutive extra point, the visitors led 28-0.
Pueblo is now 5-3 for the season and 4-2 in the RMAC. The Eagles are 3-5 and 2-4.
The four scoring plays accounted for 235 of the ThunderWolves' 480 total net yards. Fuller completed 24 of 34 passes for 368 yards. Retzlaff caught five of them for 165 yards and Rakowsky four for 94.
A transfer from Fort Hays State in Kansas where he had been on the roster five years, Fuller was not intercepted, while three pilfered passes were Chadron State's biggest offensive stumbling block. Neither team lost a fumble.
Twice in the first half, promising CSC drives were thwarted by interceptions.
On the game's opening possession, the Eagles had driven 58 yards to the ThunderWolves' 22 when linebacker Jon Nuschy grabbed quarterback Preston Pierson toss in the middle of the field.
Although Fuller's 82-yard bomb to Retzlaff late in the first period had put the Wolves ahead 7-0, it appeared the Eagles might tie the count during their first possession of the second frame.
They picked up four first downs while marching 65 yards to Pueblo's 24. But disaster struck again. This time, Pearson was in danger of being sacked and as he was going down backwards threw the ball, which was swiped by cornerback Eli Pittman near the line of scrimmage.
On the first play after the exchange, Fuller found Rakowsky open deep down the field between two Chadron State defenders. Rakowsky caught the pass and completed the 77-yard TD strike.
The Eagles continued to move the ball fairly well the remainder of the first half. At intermission, they had possessed the pigskin 20 minutes and 11 seconds compared the Pueblo's 9:49 and had picked up 14 first downs, six more than the Coloradans, but had no points.
Pueblo dominated the third period. That's when the Pack doubled the score, making it 28-0, outgained the Eagles 139 to 6 yards and out-downed them 7 to 1. The third interception also occurred when safety Daniel Bone stole a pass at the CSC 42.
Giving credit where it's due, the Eagles' defense kept further damage from occurring. After the Wolves managed one first down, they attempted a 44-yard field goal, but it was blocked by CSC's 6-foot-7 Morgan Roper.
The Eagles got their three points with just under four minutes remaining in the game when Wilson Yee kicked a 32-yard field goal. It was set up by Pearson's 12-yard run and a 22-yard pass to Grant Swenson for CSC's second longest play of the day.
Pearson completed 19 of 30 passes for 220 yards. Tommy Thomas was the Eagles' leading receiver with eight for 73 yards, including a 44-yarder that saw him grab a short toss from Pearson from out of the end zone and break a couple of tackles to reach midfield.
Chadron State redshirt freshman Jake Marschall was the game's leading rusher with 18 carries for 89 yards. Martinez, the RMAC's leading rusher entering the game, was limited to 60 yards on 13 carries, despite his 32-yard scoring jaunt.
Besides intercepting a pass, Pueblo's Bone was the game's busiest tackler with 16. Linebacker Joey Geil paced the Eagles with 13.
CSU-P CSC
First Downs 20 19
Total Net Yards 480 320
Rushes, Yards 28-119 33-101
Passing Yards 368 219
Passing 24-34-0 21-33-3
Return Yards 21 65
Punts, Average 5-38.6 7-39.6
Fumbles, Lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties, Yards 7-71 6-65
Colo. State-Pueblo 7 7 14 0 ----28
Chadron State 0 0 3 0 ----3
CSU-P—Reggie Retzlaff 82 pass from Chance Fuller (Jacob Willlig kick)
CSU-P--Zack Rakowsky 77 pass from Fuller (Willig kick)
CSU-P—Retzlaff 44 pass from Fuller (Willig kick)
CSU-P—Kiahn Martinez 32 run (Willig kick)
CSC—Wilson Yee 32 field goal
Rushing: CSU-P—Kiahn Kuhn 13-60, Howard Russell 12-46, Chance Fuller 1-8. Steven Croell 1-1, team 1-minus 3. CSC—Jake Marschall 18-89, Brock Ping 2-7. Preston Pearson 1-3, Tommy Thomas 1-3. Rollin George 1-minus 4.
Passing: CSU-P—Chance Fuller, 24-34-0. 386 yards, 3 TDs. CSC—Preston Pearson 19-30-3, 220 yards; Mason Hamilton 2-3-0, 4 yards.
Receiving: CSU-P—Andrew Cook 6-57, Reggie Retzlaff 5-163, Zack Rakowsky 4-94, Howard Russell 4-19, Tyler Dvorrak 3-10, Kiahn Martinez 2-13. CSC—Tommy Thomas 8-73, Rollin George 3-46, Ro Abercrombie 3-40, Grant Swenson 3-30, Brodie Roden 2-19, Peter Krohn 2-11.
Kickoff Returns: CSU-P none; CSC—Brodie Roden 4-55. Punt Returns: CSU-P—Andrew Cook 4-8. CSC—Tommy Thomas 1-10. Interception Returns: CSU-P—Jon Nuschy 1-8, Daniel Bone 1-5.
Tackles: CSU-P—Daniel Bone 7-9, 16; Jon Nuschy 5-3, 8; Gary Seidenberger, 2-3, 5. CSC—Joey Geil 4-9, 13, Logan O'Brien 3-5, 8; Sutton Pohlman 3-4.7; Xavier Harrell 4-2, 6; Reed Henkel 1-4, 5.
Eagles lose five set thriller to Griffins
CHADRON, Neb. -- The Westminster Griffins defeated the Chadron State College volleyball team in five sets Saturday evening in the Chicoine Center, winning 25-20, 20-25, 8-25, 25-17 and 15-11.
CSC falls to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Both teams traded scores early in sets one and two before a scoring run determined the winner. In set one, the Eagles led 12-9 before the Griffins scored 11 of the next 13 points to gain the lead and set victory.
Set two saw Westminster leading 16-14 before CSC scored eight of the next ten points to gain the lead and set victory.
The Eagles dominated set three with multiple scoring ones. Tied 1-1, CSC scored the next eight points to gain a 9-1 lead. Midway through, the Eagles scored ten straight points to extend their lead to 21-5 before winning the set.
The Griffins scored the first four points and five of the last six in set four on their way to tying the match at two sets apiece.
CSC led 10-9 in the fifth and final set before the Griffins ended the set with a 6-1 scoring run that included five kills for the visitors. Westminster used the scoring run to earn the match and set victory.
Chadron State and Westminster finished the match hitting .219 and .218, respectively.
Lexi Hurtado, a graduate student from Aurora, Colorado and Mayson Fago, a senior from Evans, Colorado each had 12 kills to lead CSC.
Aiyana Fujiyama, a junior from Wahiawa, Hawaii, had a hitting percentage of .636 to go along with her eight kills. Mailei Myers led both teams with 14 kills and an attack percentage of .700 for the Griffins.
Chadron State's setter Kendyl Kirkwood had 42 assists in the loss.
Defensively, three Eagles finished with double-digit digs, led by Alondra Hernandez. Hernandez, a junior from Provo, Utah had 27 while Hurtado and Avery Lacy, a freshman from Windsor, Colorado, added 15 and 10, respectively.
Bella Adams, a sophomore from Pueblo, Colorado, led CSC with three blocks and added nine kills offensively.
The Eagles are on the road next Friday and Saturday for matchups with New Mexico Highlands and Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado. The matches are apart of an RMAC Pod so do not count towards teams RMAC records.
Both matches will begin at 6 p.m.
CSC Cross Country teams finish 13th
DENVER, Colo. -- The Chadron State men's and women's cross-country teams both finished in 13th place in the field of 15 teams at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at Washington Park in Denver, Colorado, Saturday.
Adams State won the women's team title with 32 points, while Colorado School of Mines won the men's, also with 32.
Topi Alahuhta led all Eagles with a finish in 44th place finish for the men. Alahuhta, a sophomore from Pueblo, Colorado, ran the 8k race in 25:52.6.
Finishing in 61st place was Charles Fossey, a sophomore from Rock Springs, Wyoming. Fossey was 34 seconds behind Alahuhta, finishing in 26:18.3.
Nate Mann, Cale Schafer and Kyle Shirley were the final three that counted towards the men's team score, finishing in 80th, 83rd and 88th place, respectively.
Mann, a junior from Queen Creek, Arizona crossed the finish line in 27:08.6. Schafer, a junior from LaSalle, Colorado and Shirley, a senior form Queen Creek, Arizona, ran 27:25.7 and 27:50.7, respectively.
Josie Diffendaffer, a sophomore from Berthoud, Colorado, paced the CSC women in the 6k race, finishing in 24:02.4 and receiving 61st place.
The next to cross the finish line for the lady Eagles was Lydia Peters in 25:02.7. Peters, a sophomore from Sidney, crossed the finish line in 74th place.
Three Eagles crossed the finish line in a row, placing them 76th – 78th. Samantha Rodewald, a freshman from McCook, Nebraska was the first of the trio in 25:05.3.
Katelyn Beshara, a freshman from Rapid City, South Dakota, and Alissa Wieman, a junior from Box Elde,r South Dakota, ran their races in 25:15.5 and 25:25.9, respectively.
Andrew Amor from New Mexico Highlands won the men's competition while Brianna Robles of Adams State was the women's winner.
The Eagles will run at South Dakota Mines next week before competing in the Regional Championships at the beginning of November.