Chadron State scored the first 10 points, and despite giving up a 54-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left in the second quarter, trailed Colorado State-Pueblo by just 14-10 at halftime.

However, with a brisk west wind at their backs, the ThunderWolves tallied 28 points in the third period and defeated the Eagles 42-17 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played in Chadron on Saturday afternoon.

Now 4-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference, the Wolves outgained the Eagles 410 to 330 yards, and were aided by three pass interceptions and a strip fumble that they converted into a touchdown on the next play.

“We can’t turn the ball over to a good team like Pueblo and expect to win,” Chadron State Coach Jay Long said. “I’m disappointed. I don’t know what else to say. We did a good job early in the game, but a lot of things went wrong in the third quarter.”

The Eagles are now 2-4 for the season and 2-3 in the RMAC.

Chadron State drove the opening kickoff 66 yards in eight plays before settling for a 26-yard field goal by Gunnar Jones.

The Eagles went ahead 10-0 early in the second quarter after CSC quarterback Dalton Holst connected with Ali Musa on a 46-yard pass that carried to the Pueblo 14. Alternate tailback Dorian Collier scored six plays later on fourth and goal from the one.

The Wolves drove 80 yards in 12 plays for their first touchdown, which came on a three-yard pass from quarterback Devin Williams to Nick Bingham.

The Eagles fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, but stopped that threat when cornerback Bobby Peele made a diving interception at the two-yard line. Chadron State was forced to punt, but Jones’s 60-yard boot, combined with a penalty against the Wolves left them at their own 15 with only 54 seconds left before halftime.

Williams completed four straight passes, the longest a 14-yarder, before connecting with Matt Fine on a 56-yarder for the go-ahead touchdown with just nine seconds left on the clock.

The ThunderWolves also got the third period off to a great start. Chadron State’s first pass of the quarter was picked off by linebacker Patrick Howell and returned 23 yards to the end zone.

Pueblo tailback Michael Roots scored the Wolves’ next three touchdowns, giving his team a 42-10 lead and the end of the third.

He initially scored on the first play after the Eagles fumbled the ball at their own 20 and the Wolves’ Max Gonzales recovered at the CSC two. Just over three minutes later, after a Chadron State punt into the wind went only 11 yards, he caught a 20-yard scoring pass from Williams. Then with 46 seconds left in the third, Roots bolted 56 yards up the middle for the game’s longest play.

Roots, a 5-11, 211-pound senior, finished with 20 carries for 136 yards and four receptions for 37 yards.

The Eagles posted the only points in the fourth frame, when sophomore tailback Jeydon Cox went the final yard after the Wolves’ punt from out of their own end zone went just 10 yards and the Eagles took over on the visitors’ 11.

With the Eagles forced to play without their leading ball carrier, Elijah Myles, because of an injury, Cox took up a lot of the slack. The 5-8, 170-pound sophomore rushed 18 times for 110 yards and caught six passes for 58.

Holst completed 17 of 29 passes for 181 yards, but was intercepted three times after throwing just two picks in 163 attempts entering the game.

Williams completed 23 of 31 passes for 219 yards. Nick Williams, apparently no relation, was the Wolves’ leading receiver with eight catches for 57 yards.

Linebackers Joey Geil and Noah Kerchal combined for 21 tackles to lead the Eagles. Gonzales paced Pueblo with eight.

The Eagles will visit Adams State and Pueblo will play at New Mexico Highlands this coming Saturday, Oct. 16.

CSC—Gunnar Jones 26 field goal
CSC—Dorian Collier 1 run (Jones kick)
CSU-P—Nick Bingham 3 pass from Devin Williams (Dean Faithful kick)
CSU-P—Max Fine 54 pass from Williams (Faithful kick)
CSU-P—Patrick Howell 23 interception return (Faithful kick)
CSU-P—Michael Roots 2 run (Faithful kick)
CSU-P—Roots 20 pass from Williams (Faithful kick)
CSU-P—Roots 56 run (Faithful kick)
CSC—Jeydon Cox 1 run (Jones kick)

Cross Country Teams Compete At Fort Hays State

The Chadron State College cross country teams competed Saturday at the Fort Hays State University Tiger Open, held at Sand Plum Nature Trail in Victoria, Kansas. The women finished 16th of 17 teams in the “Gold” race, on a five-kilometer course, while the CSC men were 14th of 15 running eight kilometers and competing in the “Gold” category.

Freshman Alissa Wieman ran her season’s best 5,000 meters to lead the Eagles women, finishing in 19:55.1 to place 87th. Junior Sydney Settles, the most veteran on the team, ran a collegiate best 20:08.6, placing 100th out of 176 runners.

The men’s team’s best time belonged to Cale Schafer, who completed his race in 26:20.7 for 78th of 193 who entered. The freshman beat his previous 8k best by more than a minute and a half. Joaquin Venzor and Logan Moravec were two returners who each improved their fastest career times.

Westminster College was victorious in the women’s standings, which included mostly teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Mid-America Athletic Association. The men’s champion was Adams State University.

Top honors individually went to female runner Caroli Cunningham of Northwest Missouri State University and male Andrew Amor of New Mexico Highlands University.

CSC Individual Results:
Women
87, Alissa Wieman, 19:55.1; 100, Sydney Settles, 20:08.6; 150, Kassyl Swinney, 21:51.2; 165, Morgan Jaggers, 24:01.2; 170, Taylor Lindstrom, 31:27.6.

Men
78, Cale Schafer, 26:20.7; 101, Joaquin Venzor, 26:52.7; 104, Logan Moravec, 26:56.0; 123, Rhett McMasters, 27:25.3; 129, Blaine Johnson, 27:37.5; 130, Noah Burtis, 27:39.6; 148, Logan Andrews, 28:10.5; 165, Kyson Miller, 29:11.7.

Team Results:
Women
1, Westminster, 99; 2, St. Mary, 111; 3, Adams State, 113; 4, Nebraska-Kearney, 119; 5, Northwest Missouri, 128; 6, Fort Hays State, 131; 7, Washburn, 140; 8, Central Missouri, 145; 9, Oklahoma Christian, 224; 10, Friends, 292; 11, South Dakota Mines, 294; 12, N.M. Highlands, 304; 13, Emporia State, 326; 14, Cameron, 402; 15, Central Oklahoma, 404; 16, Chadron State, 470; 17, Newman, 500.

Men
1, Adams State, 84; 2, Nebraska-Kearney, 90; 3, Northwest Missouri, 93; 4, St. Mary, 108; 5, N.M. Highlands, 133; 6, Central Missouri, 178; 7, Washburn, 196; 8, Emporia State, 219; 9, Fort Hays State, 222; 10, South Dakota Mines, 230; 11, Oklahoma Christian, 298; 12, Cameron, 319; 13, Newman, 355; 14, Chadron State, 372; 15, Friends, 379.

Eagles Score Final 4 Points In Thrilling 5-Set Homecoming Victory

The Chadron State College volleyball team closed out Homecoming on a high note Saturday night as they scored the final 4 points in a thrilling 5-set win over Adams State.

The win improves the Eagles to 4-11 on the season and 2-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while Adams State slips to 7-10 and 3-5.

The Grizzlies attacked first when they won set one 25-14. They held the Eagles to a negative hit percentage while scoring 13 kills and only one error out of 23 total attempts for a .522 hitting percentage.

CSC quickly turned it around, winning sets 2 and 3 by identical scores of 25-23. In set 3, they had 16 kills and 3 errors on 38 attempts for a .342 hitting percentage. Middle hitter Aiyana Fujiyama had 9 kills and only one attack error in those two sets.

Adams State would bounce back to take set four 25-14 with an efficient attacks of 11 kills and zero errors.

In set 5, the teams traded early leads before the Grizzlies looked to be in command up 13-11, but the Eagles came out of a timeout to get a side out when outside hitter Olivia Moten-Schell landed a kill from a set from Audrey Bennett to make the score 13-12.

They tied it on a kill by outside hitter Kaydrin Quest after a Breshawna Kelly serve, then took the lead 14-13 with a kill by outside hitter Alli Keisel. The match-winning kill followed from Moten-Schell on a perfectly set ball by Kelly, who had all 4 assists in the final run.

Multiple Eagles had season-best performances. Olivia Moten-Schell had a season-high 17 kills, 3 more than her previous best set just the night before in Friday’s loss to New Mexico Highlands (7-11, 3-5 RMAC). Aiyana Fujiyama also had a season high for kills with 13 while Audrey Bennett added a season-high 4 services aces.

“It was a total team effort tonight,” said Head Volleyball Coach Jennifer Stadler. “Players really battled, didn’t give up, and stayed aggressive. [I’m] proud of how they believed in themselves.”

T he Eagles will be on the road next weekend to take on MSU Denver (14-2, 8-0 RMAC) and Colorado Christian (7-9, 4-4 RMAC) on Friday and Saturday.