In a game with not a lot of defense but a lot of lightning and a game delay, Western New Mexico came out on the losing end versus Colorado School of Mines by the score of 52-38 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) football action on Saturday afternoon at Ben Altamirano Memorial Stadium. 

It did not start out as WNMU head coach Bernie Busken had hoped. The CSM Miners scored a touchdown on their first two drives. The WNMU defense held CSM for the rest of the first quarter, but it did not take long into the second quarter before the Miner offense scored their third touchdown of the game. CSM marched down the field for 77 yards and 12 plays to go ahead, 21-0.

The Mustangs had a short possession on their next opportunity. It was three plays and a minus-10 yards and then punter Colin Lund (Mililani, HI, Mililani High School, New Mexico State University) was forced to kick one of his five punts of the day. Lund averaged 48.6 yards on his punts. Next CSM earned three quick first downs, but the Mustang defense held at the WNMU 10-yard line to force a CSM field goal. The Miners went up by 24.

With 2:42 left in the first half, the Mustangs finally got on the board with a safety. Joseph Faifili (Laie, HI, Kahuku High School, Eastern Arizona College) sacked CSM quarterback David Pesek in the end zone for the two points.

The Mustangs cut the Miner lead to 14 just before the half ended. Quarterback Dennis Havrilla (North Concord, CA, Mt. Diablo High School, University of Nebraska - Kearney) connected with Cory Ramos (Concord, CA, Ygnacio Valley High School, Tusculum College) for a 32-yard reception to put WNMU on the CSM two-yard line. Senior Jake Morales (Silver City, NM, Silver High School) then caught the touchdown with five seconds remaining. Havrilla went for the two-point conversion and tacked on the two points when he found Christopher Miranda (Peoria, AZ/Peoria HS) in the end zone.

The Mustangs were down, 24-10, going into intermission

In the third quarter, it was score, score, score from both teams until the game was delayed because of lightning with 5:11 remaining in the quarter. Prior to the delay, each team scored on each their possessions. The score was 45 to 23 at the break. It was one hour and 35 minutes before play resumed again.

The rest did not help the Mustangs. On the second play after the break, Havrilla fumbled the ball on the WNMU 37 to put the Miners into great field position. A nine-yard pass to Adam Saur put CSM up, 52-23.

The WNMU defense did their job in the fourth quarter. They limited CSM to only three first downs in the final 15 minutes of play, but the WNMU offense had to play catch-up. The Mustangs brought the score to 52-31 with 12:37 left to play after Terron Sumpter, Jr. (Fallbrook, CA, Fallbrook High School) posted an interception on the CSM 11. Havrilla then connected with Scotty Crespin (Socorro, NM, Socorro High School) for the touchdown.

Havrilla took just under three minutes to score another touchdown, but the clock was winding down. An onside kick with three minutes left to play allowed CSM to run out the remainder of the clock.

Havrilla threw for 267 yards on the day (25-44-1). His main receiver was Crespin who finished with 91 yards and one touchdown.

Ramos and Salvador Garcia (Anthony, TX, Anthony High School) took care of most of the returns. Together they combined for 287 all-purpose yardage.

On defense, WNMU was led by Derrick Perrault (San Diego, CA, Helix High School, Grossmont College). He recorded four solo tackles and four assists. Isaac Tuilaepa (Aurora, CO, Aiea High School, Eastern Arizona College) chipped in with seven total tackles.

For Mines, Jahre Cheeseman recorded 132 rushing yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Adam Saur was the leading receiver with 111 yards and two touchdowns.

CSM improved to 2-1 overall (1-0 RMAC) while the Mustangs dropped to 1-1 overall (0-1 RMAC). 

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