Led by some huge plays by its defense, the Chadron State College football team wrapped up its season Saturday afternoon by defeating South Dakota Mines 27-19 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest at Elliott Field in Chadron.  

              The outcome gives both teams 5-6 season records and a 4-5 RMAC marks.  It also allows the Eagles to regain the Eagle-Rock Trophy that the Hardrockers claimed last year for the first time in 16 games.  This year's game was the 73^rd in the rivalry that dates back to 1912.  Chadron State has now won 53 of them    

              Both teams had problems with turnovers and neither posted impressive offensive numbers Saturday.  The Eagles turned two interceptions into touchdowns and the Hardrockers did that same with their lone pick.  Chadron State also fumbled a punt that resulted in one of Mines' two touchdowns. 

              Most of the fireworks happened in the second quarter.  

              Mines opened the scoring on a 22-yard field goal by Connor Taylor on the second play of the second period. It occurred after the Hardrockers had sacked Chadron State quarterback Mason Hamilton for a 20-yard loss and he also lost possession of the ball at his own 11-yard line.  To the credit of the CSC defenders, they were able to force the visitors to settle for a field goal.

              During the next 12 ½ minutes the Eagles scored three touchdown and the Hardrockers two. All but Chadron State's second TD were aided by gifts from the opponents.

              The Eagles were forced to punt on their first second-period possession, but Brodie Eisenbraun's 45-yard boomer went out of bounds at the Mines' two-yard line.  Three plays later, the pass thrown by Hardrockers' quarterback Jayden Johannsen's went directly into the midsection of CSC defensive tackle Kobe Whipple, who was rushing the passer and took about two more steps into the end zone to get credit for three-yard interception return. 

              About four minutes later, the Eagles went 60 yards for their second touchdown. A 22-yard pass from Hamilton to Tommy Thomas launched the drive.  Two plays later Jeydon Cox carried a short pass 24 yards into the end zone, although he was scrambling to stay on his feet much of the way after nearly being tripped up by a Mines defender soon after he'd caught the ball.  As he neared the goal line, Cox finally gave up and somersaulted into the end zone. 

              The Eagles had some more good fortune prior to their third touchdown. Johannsen's pass was tipped near the line of scrimmage by two CSC defenders and finally grabbed by linebacker Joey Geil, who carried it 25 yards before he was shoved out of bounds at the Mines' 10. 

              A half the distance to the goal penalty was also called on the Hardrockers and on the next play Hamilton threw a short pass in the end zone to Thomas. Wilson Yee's extra point kicks made the score 21-3 with 6:36 left in the second frame.

              Before the first half ended, the turnover trend shifted in favor of the Hardrockers, not just once, but twice. The visitors were forced to punt, but the Eagles' muffed it and Mines' Jarin Allen claimed the ball at CSC 25.

After three Mines' passes netted just five yards, the South Dakota team attempted a 36-yard field goal.  It was not good, but the Eagles were called for roughing the kicker. That gave Mines new life and Johannsen immediately hooked up with wide receiver Max Hoatson on a nine-yard touchdown toss with just under two minutes left in the half.

              On the Eagles' ensuing possession, they were confronted with a third and long following a holding penalty.  Alternate quarterback Preston Pearson's pass was tipped and then caught by Mines' defensive lineman Caleb Franklin at the Eagles' 15. 

 Three plays later after the Eagles were called for pass interference, Johannsen hit tight end Henry Dryden in the back of the end zone for what officially was a two-yard TD pass.  Chadron State blocked the extra point attempt, making the halftime score 21-16.

              Although five touchdowns were scored in the second quarter, three field goals accounted for the only scoring in the second half. 

               Yee's 52-yard field goal that put the Eagles ahead 24-16 came late in the third period. Taylor answered with a 33-yard shot early in the fourth frame, making it a one possession game again.  

              Both teams were forced to punt on their next possessions, but the Eagles eventually drove 70 yards in 11 plays and took 5 ½ minutes off the clock. A 23-yard pass from Pearson to Thomas was the big gainer. Redshirt freshman Jake Marschall also had a 10-yard run up the middle for a crucial first down. 

              The drive finally died before reaching the end zone, but Yee kicked a 20-yard field goal with 1:13 left on the clock to give the Eagles' an eight-point advantage. 

              There were still lots of anxious moments for both teams.  Johanssen, who was playing in his fourth game against the Eagles, has definitely earned their respect.  He was sacked once by CSC all-star Hunter O'Conner and had passes broken up by Dax Yeradi and Sutton Pohlman,  but Johannsen also completed four passes in the next minute.  

Two of them went to Mason Galbreath for 18 and 14 yards, another to Will Lester for 13 and the fourth to Ben Noland for 11.  The latter gave the Hardrockers a first down at the CSC 26.  

              Johannsen launched two missiles in the remaining 10 seconds. The first barely sailed over Hoatson's head as he ran out of the back of the end zone after it and the last one was broken up in the southeast corner of the end zone by JJ Hair. 

              The Eagles had prevailed.

              Chadron State managed just 179 total net yards and Mines 230.   Both teams lost more than 25 yards on quarterback sack.  Marschall was the Eagles' leading rusher with a tough 62 yards on 32 carries, while Jalen Frye led Mines with 39 on 13 rushes.  Johannsen completed 19 of 39 passes for 157 yards to go with his two TD passes and the two costly interceptions.  

              Hamilton, the Eagles' quarterback in the first half before he was injured while being sacked, connected on 11 of 18 passes and the TDs to Cox and Thomas.  He was not intercepted.
              Thomas caught four passes for 57 yards and Cox four for 34.  Noland grabbed nine passes for 68 yards to lead the Hardrockers.

              There were many busy tacklers.  Freshman Tucker Peterson at safety and linebacker Xavier Harrell with 10 apiece paced the Eagles. Logan O'Brien had eight, Geil seven and O'Conner six.
              For the Hardrockers, Hunter Newsom was credited with 11, Jacob Schwab nine, Nathan Krebuhler eight and Eli Bowman, Casey Knutsen and Franklin six apiece

SDM                                  CSC
First Downs                         15                       12
Total Net Yards               230                     179
Rushes, Yards                  36-73                   34-57
Passing Yards                     157                    122
Passing                              19-42-2               14-25-1
Return Yards                        11                         69
Punts, Yards                     7-32.7                  6-42.3
Fumbles, Lost                       1-0                         3-3
Penalties, Yards                 5-40                         8-84
South Dakota Mines      0          3         13        3       ---19
Chadron State                 0        21           3        3       ---27
 
Second Quarter
SDM—Connor Taylor 22 field goal
CSC—Kobe Whipple 3 interception return (Wilson Yee kick)
CSC—Jayden Cox 24 pass from Mason Hamilton (Yee kick)
CSC—Tommy Thomas 5 pass from Hamilton (Yee kick)
SDM—Max Hoatson 9 pass from Jayden Johannsen (Taylor kick)
SDM—Henry Dryden 2 pass from Johannsen (kick blocked)
Third Quarter
CSC—Yee 52 field goal 
Fourth Quarter
SDM—Taylor 33 field goal
CSC—Yee 20 field goal

Playoffs next for CSC volleyball team

The Chadron State College volleyball team wrapped up its regular-season schedule by sweeping New Mexico Highlands in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match in the Chicoine Center on Saturday afternoon.  The scores were 25-19, 25-18 and 25-20.

              The win gives the Eagles, coached by Jennifer Stadler, a 15-11 season record and an 8-6 RMAC mark.  That's their most overall victories since they finished 17-11 in 2003—20 years ago. In addition, it will be the only time the Eagles have advanced to the RMAC's post-season tournament, which has eight participants, since then. 

The playoffs will begin Tuesday, Nov. 14, when the sixth place Eagles will meet the third-place Regis University Rangers in Denver at 7 p.m. The other first-round pairings Tuesday have No. 8 Westminster at No. 1 Metro State in Denver, No. 5 Colorado State-Pueblo at No. 4 South Dakota Mines in Rapid City and No. 7 Colorado Christian at No. 2 Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction. 

              The four first-round winners will advance to the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17.  The championship match will be played the next day. The Eagles are on the bottom side of the bracket along with Colorado Christian and Mesa. 

              Regis has a 20-6 overall record and finished 12-2 in the RMAC.  Although Chadron State won the first set when those teams met in Denver on Oct. 7, the Rangers won the next three sets.

              Ironically, the 2003 Eagles finished with a 9-10 regular-season RMAC record and advanced to the conference playoffs.  The previous season, they had a 10-9 conference mark, but were not among the eight qualifiers for the playoffs. This year's CSC team is the first to have a winning conference record since 2002. 

              The Eagles had balanced hitting while defeating the Highlands Cowgirls on Saturday night. They had 41 kills and 16 hitting errors in 100 attempts for a .250%.  Highlands had 26 kills, 16 hitting mistakes in 93 hits for a .108%.

              Lexi Hurtado, one of the four seniors recognized prior to the match, led CSC at the net with 10 kills and no infractions during 19 attempts for a .526 hitting percentage. Other seniors Rylee Greiman and Mayson Fago had eight and seven kills, respectively. 
 

              Junior Aiyana Fujiyama had six kills and only one hitting error in 14 swats for .357 figure and also was credited with the team's only solo block and five assisted blocks. Hurtado and sophomore Bella Adams each had four assisted blocks. 

              CSC freshman Avery Lacy had a match-high 14 digs. Junior Kendyl Kirkwood was credited with 19 set assists, while sophomore Rylee Ward had 11.

              Freshman Jaylee Gonzalez paced the New Mexico team in the front row with nine kills and only one hitting error for a .444%

              Highlands finished its season with a 3-35 season record and won only one of its 14 conference matches.  

Chadron State men beat Texas team 109-70

The Chadron State College men's basketball team made 40 of its 81 field goal shots and had a 62-31 rebounding advantage while rolling past Texas A&M-Kingsville 109-70 in a game played in Chadron on Saturday night. 

              The Eagles led 57-40 at halftime and outscored Kingsville 52-30 in the second half.  Five Chadron State players scored in double-figures, led by guard Bryce Latimer with 25 points, 17 of them in the first half. 

              The other double digit scorers for Coach Shane Paben's team were Dalton Peterson, 15; Josh Robinson, 14; Jalen Patterson, 13; and Raul Nunez, 12.  Peterson was 5-of-12 on three-point shooting. 

              Latimer was eight of 17 from the field and made all nine of his free shots. Robinson was the game's high rebounder with 13. He also handed out five assists, as did Patterson.   

              Kingsville put nine of its players in the scoring column, but only C.J. Smith with 14 points and Isaiah Payne with 11 reached double digits.  

              The Eagles are 1-1 after the first weekend of the season. Texas A&M International from Laredo edged them 80-78 Friday night.  Saturday night's win was the first over either school in six games that Chadron State has played against them in the the last three years. 

              CSC's next game will be on Saturday, Nov. 18 at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The following Tuesday they will be back home to meet Bethel College of Kansas. 

              Texas A%M-Kingsville—CJ Smith 14, Isaiah Payne 11, Jordan Henderson 8, Dillon Gooding 7, Zyon Little 7, Kendrick Washington 5, Kevon Booker 5, Jason Clark 5, Andre Walker 4, Kaden Pierce 2, Marcus Jones-Green 2. Totals: 27-72 (6-16) 10-16 70 points, 31 rebounds, 7 turnovers.

              Chadron State—Bryce Latimer 25, Dalton Peterson 15, Josh Robinson 14, Jalen Patterson 13, Raul Nunez 12, Martin Poznanovic 8, Porter Anderson 6, Jarrett Taylor 6, Trey Ballard 6, Julio Phipps, 4. Totals: 40-81 (13-32) 16-19 109 points, 62 rebounds, 12 turnovers. 
 

Texas A&M-Kingsville            40         30         ---70

Chadron State                         57         52       ---109 

3-pointers: Kingsville—Smith, Washington, Gooding, Clark, Hendrickson, Walker, all  1.  CSC—Peterson 5, Taylor, Ballard, Nunez, Patterson, all 2.