By Con Marshall Chadron Record
It took some huge plays, but the Chadron State Eagles made enough of them to squeeze out a 29-27 victory over the Adams State Grizzlies in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football game in Chadron on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles’ big plays included a pair of 57-yard field goals with the wind and a 35-yarder into the wind by Gunnar Jones and a six-yard blast into the end zone by running back Jalen Starks with only 68 seconds remaining on the clock.
The winning TD capped a 67-yard drive the saw Starks carry the ball eight times for 39 yards, as well as a 15-yard pass from redshirt freshman Preston Pearson to tight end Peter Krohn and a 10-yard pick up by Pearson, when he broke free after looking to pass and dove for the first down.
Pearson also threw touchdown passes of 27 yards to tight end Krohn in the first quarter and 33 yards to Ahlonte Hair in the third quarter.
Pearson completed 16 of 24 passes for 177 yards and Starks carried 20 times for 105 yards. The Eagles finished with 361 total net yards and the Grizzlies with 370.
The Adams State attack featured the passing of quarterback Marckel Grayson. He completed 29 of 47 passes attempts for 317 yards and three touchdowns.
Grayson’s scoring passes were for 10 yards to Dequan Hopkins in the first period, 19 yards to Tracey Reynolds in the second and two yards to Kentrell Petite midway in the fourth. All three of those drives covered least 73 yards.
Adams State also scored on a three-yard run by Daylen Boddie early in the third quarter to complete a 69-yard drive, giving the Grizzlies a touchdown in each quarter.
The lead changed hands six times. The Eagles scored on their first possession on the Pearson to Krohn pass. The hosts tried a two-point conversion and failed.
Adams State scored the next two touchdowns, but its PAT attempt after the second TD was blocked. The Eagles tied the count at 13 on the pass from Pearson to Hair and Jones’s conversion kick.
The senior from Alabama broke the tie on the final play of the first half when he booted the first of his two 57-yard shots.
The Grizzlies reclaimed the lead 21-16 with 11 minutes left in the third frame on Boddie’s three-yard run after Marckel had connected with Dom Flores on a 25-yard toss.
Jones kicked field goals to post the next six points to put his team ahead 22-21. The first was the 35-yarder into the stiff west wind with five minutes left in the third quarter and second carried 57 yards again with the wind behind Jones’ back him in the first minute of the fourth.
None of the three field goals cleared the cross bar with much room to spare, but all three were right through the middle of the uprights.
The 57-yarders matched the Chadron State record that was set by Aaron Turner in 2000, also against Adams State on the Eagles’ Elliott Field.
Adams State went 75 yards in 18 plays to reclaim the lead. The drive included passes of 12 and 19 yards from Grayson to Kentrell Petite before the pair connected again on the two-yard toss in the end zone on fourth down. The Grizzlies went for two points on the conversion, but the pass failed to connect, for what proved to be one of the game’s deciding plays.
Chadron State then put together its winning drive that featured Starks, a 6-3, 245-pound bulldozer who has now scored eight of the Eagles’ nine rushing touchdowns this season.
Led by Starks, the Eagles had 184 yards rushing while Adams State had only 53. But the Grizzlies threw for 317 and the Eagles 177. Both quarterbacks were intercepted once. Both teams punted only once.
The Eagles are now 2-5 and the Grizzlies 1-6 for the season.
ASU CSC
First Downs 27 19
Total Net Yards 370 361
Rushes, Yards 36-53 43-184
Passing Yards 317 `177
Passing 29-47-1 16-24-1
Return Yards 47 74
Punts, Average 1-24 1-54
Fumbles, Lost 1-0 0-1
Penalties, Yards 4-37 10-79
Adams State 7 6 8 6 —27
Chadron State 6 10 3 20 —29
CSC—Peter Krohn 27 pass from Preston Pearson (pass failed)
ASU—Dequan Hopkins 10 pass from Markel Grayson (Gunnar Hernandez kick)
ASU—Tracey Reynolds 19 pass from Grayson (kick failed)
CSC—Ahlonte Hair 33 pass from Pearson (Gunnar Jones kick)
CSC—Jones 57 field goal
CSC—Dylan Boddie 3 run (Aaron Johnson pass from Grayson)
CSC—Jones 35 field goal
CSC—Jones 57 field goal
ASU—Kentrell Petite 2 pass from Grayson (pass failed)
CSC—Jalen Starks 6 run (Jones kick)