By Con Marshall BOX SCORE
Colorado State-Pueblo scored touchdowns on four long plays Saturday afternoon while defeating the Chadron State Eagles 28-3 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played in Chadron under perfect weather conditions.
The first three TDs came in different quarters on long bombs launched by quarterback Chance Fuller. The first was caught by Reggie Retzlaff covering 82 yard and the second was a 77-yarder hauled in by Zack Rakowsky, giving the ThunderWolves a 14-0 halftime lead.
Pueblo also scored on its first two possessions in the third quarter. Fuller connected with Retzlaff in the end zone from 44 yards out for a TD just a minute and 16 seconds into the third frame. About 4 1/2 minutes later running back Kiahn Martinez reeled off a 32-yard scoring jaunt, his team’s longest rushing play of the day.
After Jacob Willig kicked his fourth conscutive extra point, the visitors led 28-0.
Pueblo is now 5-3 for the season and 4-2 in the RMAC. The Eagles are 3-5 and 2-4.
The four scoring plays accounted for 235 of the ThunderWolves’ 480 total net yards. Fuller completed 24 of 34 passes for 368 yards. Retzlaff caught five of them for 165 yards and Rakowsky four for 94.
A transfer from Fort Hays State in Kansas where he had been on the roster five years, Fuller was not intercepted, while three pilfered passes were Chadron State’s biggest offensive stumbling block. Neither team lost a fumble.
Twice in the first half, promising CSC drives were thwarted by interceptions.
On the game’s opening possession, the Eagles had driven 58 yards to the ThunderWolves’ 22 when linebacker Jon Nuschy grabbed quarterback Preston Pierson toss in the middle of the field.
Although Fuller’s 82-yard bomb to Retzlaff late in the first period had put the Wolves ahead 7-0, it appeared the Eagles might tie the count during their first possession of the second frame.
They picked up four first downs while marching 65 yards to Pueblo’s 24. But disaster struck again. This time, Pearson was in danger of being sacked and as he was going down backwards threw the ball, which was swiped by cornerback Eli Pittman near the line of scrimmage.
On the first play after the exchange, Fuller found Rakowsky open deep down the field between two Chadron State defenders. Rakowsky caught the pass and completed the 77-yard TD strike.
The Eagles continued to move the ball fairly well the remainder of the first half. At intermission, they had possessed the pigskin 20 minutes and 11 seconds compared the Pueblo’s 9:49 and had picked up 14 first downs, six more than the Coloradans, but had no points.
Pueblo dominated the third period. That’s when the Pack doubled the score, making it 28-0, outgained the Eagles 139 to 6 yards and out-downed them 7 to 1. The third interception also occurred when safety Daniel Bone stole a pass at the CSC 42.
Giving credit where it’s due, the Eagles’ defense kept further damage from occurring. After the Wolves managed one first down, they attempted a 44-yard field goal, but it was blocked by CSC’s 6-foot-7 Morgan Roper.
The Eagles got their three points with just under four minutes remaining in the game when Wilson Yee kicked a 32-yard field goal. It was set up by Pearson’s 12-yard run and a 22-yard pass to Grant Swenson for CSC’s second longest play of the day.
Pearson completed 19 of 30 passes for 220 yards. Tommy Thomas was the Eagles’ leading receiver with eight for 73 yards, including a 44-yarder that saw him grab a short toss from Pearson from out of the end zone and break a couple of tackles to reach midfield.
Chadron State redshirt freshman Jake Marschall was the game’s leading rusher with 18 carries for 89 yards. Martinez, the RMAC’s leading rusher entering the game, was limited to 60 yards on 13 carries, despite his 32-yard scoring jaunt.
Besides intercepting a pass, Pueblo’s Bone was the game’s busiest tackler with 16. Linebacker Joey Geil paced the Eagles with 13.
CSU-P CSC
First Downs 20 19
Total Net Yards 480 320
Rushes, Yards 28-119 33-101
Passing Yards 368 219
Passing 24-34-0 21-33-3
Return Yards 21 65
Punts, Average 5-38.6 7-39.6
Fumbles, Lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties, Yards 7-71 6-65
Colo. State-Pueblo 7 7 14 0 —-28
Chadron State 0 0 3 0 —-3
CSU-P—Reggie Retzlaff 82 pass from Chance Fuller (Jacob Willlig kick)
CSU-P–Zack Rakowsky 77 pass from Fuller (Willig kick)
CSU-P—Retzlaff 44 pass from Fuller (Willig kick)
CSU-P—Kiahn Martinez 32 run (Willig kick)
CSC—Wilson Yee 32 field goal
Rushing: CSU-P—Kiahn Kuhn 13-60, Howard Russell 12-46, Chance Fuller 1-8. Steven Croell 1-1, team 1-minus 3. CSC—Jake Marschall 18-89, Brock Ping 2-7. Preston Pearson 1-3, Tommy Thomas 1-3. Rollin George 1-minus 4.
Passing: CSU-P—Chance Fuller, 24-34-0. 386 yards, 3 TDs. CSC—Preston Pearson 19-30-3, 220 yards; Mason Hamilton 2-3-0, 4 yards.
Receiving: CSU-P—Andrew Cook 6-57, Reggie Retzlaff 5-163, Zack Rakowsky 4-94, Howard Russell 4-19, Tyler Dvorrak 3-10, Kiahn Martinez 2-13. CSC—Tommy Thomas 8-73, Rollin George 3-46, Ro Abercrombie 3-40, Grant Swenson 3-30, Brodie Roden 2-19, Peter Krohn 2-11.
Kickoff Returns: CSU-P none; CSC—Brodie Roden 4-55. Punt Returns: CSU-P—Andrew Cook 4-8. CSC—Tommy Thomas 1-10. Interception Returns: CSU-P—Jon Nuschy 1-8, Daniel Bone 1-5.
Tackles: CSU-P—Daniel Bone 7-9, 16; Jon Nuschy 5-3, 8; Gary Seidenberger, 2-3, 5. CSC—Joey Geil 4-9, 13, Logan O’Brien 3-5, 8; Sutton Pohlman 3-4.7; Xavier Harrell 4-2, 6; Reed Henkel 1-4, 5.