GUNNISON, Colo. – The Black Hills State University football team was unable to withstand a stretch of 35 unanswered points by No. 5/6 Western Colorado on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 56-17 at the Mountaineer Bowl. After a turnover led to a touchdown late in the first half for Yellow Jackets to cut the deficit within a possession at the break, the Mountaineers scored on each of their first four possessions of the third quarter, with each possession taking less than two minutes to take control of the contest.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 17, No. 5/6 Western Colorado 56
Team Records: Black Hills State 1-6 (1-4 RMAC), No. 5/6 Western Colorado 6-0 (4-0 RMAC)
Attendance: 2,711
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Black Hills State offense started quick after receiving the ball to start the contest, and following an offsides call on Western Colorado, Cameron Goods took the handoff on the first play of the game 38 yards around the outside to the WCU 32-yard line. The big play would set up a 49-yard field by Ryan Ewing that split the uprights with 13:18 to play in the first quarter.
• The Yellow Jacket defense withstood a pair of drives that the Mountaineers looked to score into scoring opportunities in the first quarter, as Adam Tasei missed field goal attempts from 48 yards and 27 yards within the first ten minutes of game time.
• Following Mason Crosby's third punt of the first quarter, WCU made quick work of a drive starting at midfield, as on just the second play of the drive Drew Nash found Caden Measner in the right flat and he proceeded to use his speed to tight rope the sideline into the end zone on a 51-yard receiving touchdown with 2:03 to play in the opening quarter. Tasei added the extra point to make it a 7-3 ball game.
• The Green & Gold looked to have an answer the ensuing drive as Luke Duby completed passes to TJ Chukwurah for 22 yards, Kelby Olson for 18 yards, and Carter Ochoa for 15 yards to move the ball into the red zone. After being unable to move the chains again, Ewing was called onto the field for 33-yard attempt that would miss off the right upright with 11:26 to play in the second quarter.
• The Mountaineers took advantage of the missed field goal and a roughing the kicker call on the ensuing drive and converted it into six points as Nash found Measner for his second receiving touchdown of the game, this time s 7-yard reception into the right flat that led him to the pylon. WCU capped the 8-play, 80-yard drive with Tasei's extra point to make it 14-3 with 8:31 remaining in the first half.
• After three consecutive drives ending in a punt, the Yellow Jacket defense swung the momentum prior to the halftime break as Cooper Brown found his way around the outside edge of the offensive line, recording a sack fumble on Nash, and Luke Clay fell on the ball at the BHSU 44-yard line.
• The BHSU offense then moved the ball through the air to capitalize off the turnover, as Duby found Olson for a 23-yard reception, and then found Chukwurah for a 14-yard reception and capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Chukwurah through a pair of WCU defenders with 1:00 left on the clock. Ewing's extra point cut the deficit to 14-10 entering the halftime break.
• After the late first half momentum swing, Western Colorado's offense came out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders as they scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions in the third quarter, with each scoring drive under two minutes. On the first three drives Nash tossed touchdown passes of 60 yards to DJ Allen, 36 yards to Measner, and one yard to Ricky Freymond. On the fourth drive of the third quarter, Nash converted a goal line QB sneak to push the score to 42-10 with 5:08 to play. Following Nash's rushing touchdown, the Mountaineer defense got in on the action with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown by Easton Peterson with 3:36 to play in the third quarter as the score became 49-10.
• Black Hills State snapped the streak of 35 unanswered points by Western Colorado as Kade Weber found Chukwurah in one-on-one coverage down the right sideline for a 75-yard receiving touchdown with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter. Ewing tacked on the extra point to cut the deficit to 49-17.
• WCU concluded the scoring in the contest with the lone score of the fourth quarter as Cole Kerr capped a 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive that consumed 4:31 of game time, the longest drive of the day for the Mountaineers, by finding Yasir Berry for a 23-yard receiving touchdown with 9:36 to play in the game. Tasei's extra point brought the score to 56-17.
• A pass interference call against the Mountaineers that negated an interception returned for a touchdown and helped the Yellow Jackets moved the ball into WCU territory one final time in the game, however, BHSU would turn the ball over on downs at the WCU 45-yard line with 5:44 remaining in the game.
• Western Colorado ran the ball 24 yards down the field the ensuing drive, setting up a 46-yard field goal attempt by Zac Grable that would miss wide left with 2:47 left on the clock.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 14-of-24, 159 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown
Cameron Goods: 8 rushes, 62 rushing yards
TJ Chukwurah: 6 receptions, 137 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
Vincent Friend: 7.0 total tackles
Kellen Collier: 7.0 total tackles, 1.0 tackle-for-loss
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will face their second consecutive top-10 opponent next weekend as they welcome No. 9/9 CSU Pueblo to Lyle Hare Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, October 18, on Hero's Day.
  Read Full Article