Con Marshall Chadron Record Box Score
Quarterback Hunter Raquet connected with wide receiver Andrew Cook for four touchdown passes as homestanding Colorado State-Pueblo defeated Chadron State 34-12 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles came in banged up. Coach Jay Long said they were missing seven starters, including the three wide receivers who started the early games.Â
After Chadron State posted the game’s opening touchdown, the first of the Raquet-to-Cook TD passes was a 12-yarder that came as the first quarter was ending and tied the score at 6-6.
Since both teams’ extra point attempts were blocked, both also missed field goal attempts and neither got much going offensively in the first half, it was still 6-6 at halftime. Pueblo had just 156 yards and Chadron State only 104 at intermission.
The Eagles scored their touchdown with 4:38 left in the opening quarter on a seven-yard pass play from quarterback Heath Beemiller to wide receiver Grant Swenson, who caught the ball at about the five and spun past two defenders into the end zone.Â
The 30-yard drive began when CSC defensive tackle Trevon Smith forced a ThunderWolves’ back to fumble and also recovered the bobble.
Chadron State had another golden opportunity to score in the final minute of the first half when all-star cornerback Bobby Peele picked off Raquet’s pass and raced 35 yards with it before the Pueblo quarterback tackled him at the three-yard line.Â
However, the Wolves’ highly-respected goal line defense wouldn’t budge and forced the Eagles to attempt a 19-yard field goal that was wide to the left.
The Eagles’ disappointment may have carried over into the second half. Raquet and Cook were definitely hot in the third period, when they hooked up on TD passes of 31, 10 and 63 yards to give their team a 27-6 lead.
Raquet also ran three yards with three minutes left in the game for the game’s final touchdown.
Earlier in the final frame, the Eagles drove deep into Pueblo territory twice, but had to settle for field goals of 27 and 28 yards by Gunnar Jones.
Pueblo finished with 443 total net yards and Chadron State with 234. Neither team was productive on the ground. The ThunderWolves ran the ball 36 times for 110 yards the Eagles 35 for 75.
Jalen Starks paced CSC with 18 carries for 61 yards and Austin Bacher led Pueblo with 12 for 55.
Among the game’s standouts was the Eagles’ sophomore defensive end Hunter O’Connor, who was credited with 3.5 quarterback sacks, broke up a pass and participated in a game-high 10 tackles. Next on the Eagles’ tackle chart was senior safety Brendan Brehmer with eight.
“We changed our defensive front this week,” said Long, “from a tight formation to a wider one. Hunter has really provided a great rush in that formation. Today was one of those days he really stood out.”
Although he was sacked five times. Raquet, a senior transfer from Jacksonville State via his hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif., completed 17 of 27 passes for 333 yards. Cook, a sophomore from Tucson, had five receptions totaling 159 yards, including the four that went for touchdowns. Senior Max Fine also caught seven of Raquet’s passes for 146 yards.
Chadron State got a gutsy performance from its quarterback, Beemiller, who completed 24 of 36 passes for 159 yards and the TD. Swenson, a sophomore, did a great job of helping fill in for the missing starting receivers, catching nine passes for 70 yards.
A transfer from Northern Arizona, Beemiller started and played nearly all of the Eagles’ first three games before suffering a knee injury that sidelined him from the next three contests.
His initial replacement, sophomore Mason Hamilton, played most of the fourth game before departing with a dislocated shoulder that apparently has ended his season.
That brought on redshirt freshman Preston Pearson, who guided the Eagles to wins over Fort Lewis and Adams State the last two weeks, but he sustained a foot injury late the second game that makes his availability questionable for the rest of the schedule.
Beemiller left the field late in Saturday’s game favoring the knee he had previously injured. During his post-game interview, Coach Long said he was concerned that the new injury may be serious, meaning the Eagles may have to use their fourth-string quarterback this coming Saturday when they host New Mexico Highlands.Â
                                              CSC                         CSU-P
First Downs                               15                             19
Total Net Yards                         235                           443
Rushes, Yards                         35-75                       36-110
Passing Yards                          159                           333
Passing                                 24-37-1                    17-27-1
Return Yard                               52                            89
Punts, Average                        7-38.1                      4-32.8
Fumbles, Lost                          1-0                          1-1
Penalties, Yards                       8-80                       11-105
Chadron State                   6          0          0        6    —12
CSU-Pueblo                      6          0        21        7     —34
CSC—Grant Swenson 7 pass from Heath Beemiller (kick failed)
CSU-P—Andrew Cook 12 pass from Hunter Raquet (kick failed)
CSU-P—Cook 31 pass from Raquet (Sullivan Moon kick)
CSU-P—Cook 10 pass from Raquet (Moon kick)
CSU-P—Cook 63 pass from Raquet (Moon kick)
CSC—Gunnar Jones 27 field goal
CSC—Jones 28 field goal
CSU-P—Raquet 3 run (Moon kick)