Saturday's football game went 15 minutes too long in the eyes of the Mustangs. With a 31-21 Mustang lead going into the fourth quarter, two WNMU fumbles, 64 yards worth of penalties, and one interception in the final 15 minutes helped the Mesa State Mavericks tack on 22 points and the victory.

Overall, offensive yardage was almost equal. The Mustangs produced 472 yards; whereas, the Mavericks had 490. A difference maker number of the game, however, was sacks. The Mustangs were sacked six times for 32 yards. The Mustangs posted only one sack for six yards in the 42-37 loss.

WNMU got on the board near the end of the first quarter when quarterback Dennis Havrilla (North Concord, CA, Mt. Diablo High School, University of Nebraska - Kearney) threw the first of three long passes and first of four touchdowns to Markis Sumpter (Oceanside, CA, Fallbrook High School), good for 54 yards. Transfer student Colin Lund (Mililani, HI, Mililani High School, New Mexico State University) missed the point after attempt. Lund went 0-3 in the category.

Havrilla kept the scoring going on the opening drive of the second quarter. After four minutes of possession and 76 yards, the senior quarterback found Bubba Tuinei (West Valley, UT, Cottonwood High School, Eastern Arizona College) in the end zone. The two-point conversion to Scotty Crespin (Socorro, NM, Socorro High School) was good. The Mustangs were up, 14-0.

The Mavericks had their opportunity to get on the scoreboard on their next control, but kicker Michael Sweeney missed a 27-yard field goal wide to the left.

It only took Havrilla four more minutes to nail his third touchdown of the day. This time Crespin was the target. Crespin finished the day with a team-high 93 yards receiving. Lund's point after was no good. The Mustangs were now up by 20.

With the clock winding down in the half, Mesa hurried to put six plays together in just 51 seconds. The quick offense paid off as the Mavericks posted an 11-yard touchdown to walk into the locker room down by only 13.

The Mustangs got off to a slow start in the second half. WNMU was riddled with penalties for 37 yards. This allowed the Mavericks to have perfect field position on the WNMU 46 yard line. It took only one play for Mesa to score. Quarterback Robert Felberg connected with Griffin Chernoff for a 46-yard touchdown. The Mavericks were now down by only six.

It was three plays and out on WNMU's next chance to score, but Eric Zuniga (Rio Rico, AZ, Nogales High School) got the ball back into the Mustangs' hands with 8:38 left to play in the third. Zuniga posted an interception at the WNMU 44 and returned it for 12 yards. Kevin Breaker (Stockton, CA, Lincoln High School, Delta College) and Havrilla finished off the drive with a combination of rushes and passes. Havrilla received credit for the rushing touchdown and the rushing two-point conversion.

The Mustang defense could not stop the Mavericks from scoring. At the 3:17 mark, Mesa posted another touchdown to be within seven again. The WNMU offensive line had a tough time with the Maverick defense on his next drive. Havrilla was sacked twice for 12 yards and faced a 4 and 15 situation at the Mesa 25. After talking it over in a timeout, Lund hit a 42-yard field goal to go up 31-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Mesa State put up 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter thanks to the two fumbles, 64 yards of penalties, and one interception. Finally, with 1:45 left in the game, the Mustangs got things back on track and posted a touchdown after five plays and 49 yards. But once again, Lund's point after attempt was no good.

The Mustangs needed to get the ball back immediately, and they did. Cooper Bowman (Los Lunas, NM, Los Lunas High School, University of New Mexico) recorded a successful on-side kick that was recovered by WNMU on their own 43, but two incomplete passes and two sacks ended the game for the Mustangs.

Havrilla threw for 364 yards after completing 21 of his 32 attempts. Breaker averaged 3.2 yards per carry. He finished the day with 58 yards.

Salvador Garcia (Anthony, TX, Anthony High School) retuned six kickoffs for 173 yards. He led all players with 245 all-purpose yards.

Christopher Collins (San Jose, CA, Silver Creek High School, San Jose City College) led the Mustang defense with five solo tackles and five assist tackles. He also had one tackle for a loss of five yards.

Click here for complete statistics.