By Paxton Ritchey
CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State football went toe-to-toe with a top five team in the nation last weekend, and now will seek to maintain that momentum when they play away from home for the first time in the 2024 season.
The Eagles (1-2, 0-1 RMAC) will be in Grand Junction, Colorado this weekend to face the Colorado Mesa Mavericks (1-2, 0-1 RMAC). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Chadron State and Colorado Mesa both opened the RMAC season last weekend by losing to nationally ranked opponents – Colorado School of Mines and CSU Pueblo, respectively. In fact, both of CMU’s losses have come to teams ranked in this week’s national top 25 poll.
Opponent Preview
by Con Marshall
After Chadron State football has played its first three at home this season, the Eagles will travel to Grand Junction to meet the Colorado Mesa Mavericks on Saturday. Both teams have 1-2 records.
The Eagles have played three low-scoring games. Nebraska-Kearney defeated CSC in the opener 18-6 before Chadron State scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat Jamestown 17-10. Colorado School of Mines edged the Eagles 13-12 last Saturday.
Colorado Mesa won its opener at Texas A&M-Kingsville 16-13 but fell to No. 13/9 Central Washington 28-12 at home and No. 22/24 CSU Pueblo 38-14 on the road in its RMAC opener.
Both teams have had difficulty running the ball. Chadron State has rushed for 379 yards, or an average of 126.3 yards, in three games, but that’s more than double Mesa’s average so far. The Mavericks have rushed for 327 yards, but have lost 136, giving them 191 total net yards, or 63.6 per game, on the ground. Mesa’s leading rusher, Aiden Taylor, has 26 carries for only 74 yards, despite having a 29-yard run to his credit.
Stats show that quarterback Liu Aumavae, a transfer from San Diego State, is a capable passer. He’s completed 30 of 53 attempts for 373 yards and two touchdowns. One of his TD tosses was a 43-yarder to Jack Burke with 1:24 remaining at Pueblo last Saturday. For the season, Mesa’s leading receiver is Quezon Villa with 10 receptions for 144 yards. Both Villa and Burke, who has caught both Mavs’ touchdown passes, are freshmen.
Mesa’s opponents have rushed 132 times for 561 yards and seven TDs, while completing 39 of 62 passes for 410 yards and two scores.
Chadron State leads the all-time series with Mesa by a 20-13 margin, but the Mavericks have won eight of the last 10 matchups and each of the last five, two of them in overtime.
One of the overtime contests was two years ago in Chadron, when the Eagles were ahead 24-3 at halftime, but were outscored 28-7 in the second half to knot the score at 31-31. Mesa’s final touchdown in regulation came with 22 seconds remaining. Mesa had first possession in overtime and scored on a 19-yard pass and kicked the extra point.
The Eagles also scored in OT on a two-yard plunge by massive tailback Jalen Starks. A personal foul was called on Mesa on the touchdown play, moving the ball only 1 ½ yards from the goal line for the conversion. That prompted the Eagles to give the ball to Starks again, but he was immediately met at the line of scrimmage by a pair of Mavericks, who stopped him shy of the end zone, giving Mesa a 28-27 verdict.
Last year, when the game also was in Grand Junction, Mesa scored the first 38 points and the Eagles the final 22. The Mavs led 17-0 at halftime, then intercepted three passes and converted each of them into touchdowns in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half.
The game will be streamed for free on the RMAC Network.