The Mustangs were 3 for 3 in the red zone Saturday, allowing WNMU to capture their first conference win of the 2010 season. The Mustangs defeated Mesa State, 20-10. The Mustangs improve to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

 

Mesa State falls to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in RMAC play.

 

Solid defensive stops and forced turnovers limited the Mavericks scoring opportunities. Mesa State had four fumbles, three of which were lost, and one interception that prevented a first half score.

 

Junior Jacob Cross (Bakersfield, CA, Centennial High School, Bakersfield Junior College) led the Mustangs defensively with 10 tackles. Seven of those were marked as solo. Cross' roommate, Joey Bertrand (Bakersfield, CA, Centennial High School, Bakersfield Junior College), followed with nine tackles along with one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry. 

 

WNMU limited the Mesa State offense to just 173 yards. The purple and gold's offense, however, had a big turnaround from previous weeks, producing 109 yards on the ground and 253 yards in the air for a total of 362 yards. 

 

Quarterback Chris Voller (Albuquerque, NM, Valley High School) hit his target 15 out of 33 attempts for 246 yards. He also gave up the ball once. Fellow quarterback Antoine Young (Oakland, CA, Encinal High School, Chabot College) looked more like a running back than a quarterback. He rushed for 78 yards on eight carries, averaging 9.8 yards per carry. 

 

Special teams Kameron Drawhorn (San Diego, CA, Fallbrook High School) did a superb job as a kicker and punter. He made two field goals from 38 and 29 yards respectively. He also had two point-afters along with seven punts, averaging 37.7 yards, and five kickoffs, averaging 66 yards.

 

Mesa State's Michael Mankoff threw for 116 yards. Will Halboth rushed 15 times for 57 yards.

 

Things didn't start out well for the Mustangs. On the third play of the day, CJ Gardner (Safford, AZ, Safford High School, Arizona State University) coughed up the football at midfield, giving the Mavericks good field position. The mistake did not have an effect on the Mustang defense though. They allowed only one first and 10 and shut the Mavericks down at the WNMU 27 after that. Mesa State was forced to try a 45-yard field goal, which made the WNMU fans shudder after the Fort Lewis loss two weeks ago. It was up and good. Mesa State held the 3-0 advantage early on. 

 

The second and last Maverick score of the day was also after a WNMU turnover. With 3:33 left in the first half, Chad Benkelman got a freebie from Voller to return in 13 yards to the WNMU 27. Four plays later, Kris Means marched the ball into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. The point after was good.  WNMU was now down, 10-0.

 

WNMU knotted things up on back-to-back drives midway through the second quarter. Voller found Gardner for 31 yards to set up a 38-yard field goal for Drawhorn with 9:13 left in the half. Then a Maverick turnover, recovered by Niko Skawinski (San Diego, CA, Poway High School, San Diego Mesa College), set up a Salvador Garcia (Anthony, TX, Anthony High School) touchdown from Voller on the next drive.

 

The two teams walked into the locker room with fire in their eyes and the score tied at 10.

 

The score remained deadlocked in the third quarter, but the flood gates opened for the Mustangs at the top the final 15 minutes. With Young at the helm, the “young” quarterback tucked the ball in and rushed three times for 24 yards. He also threw once to Christopher Miranda (Peoria, AZ, Peoria High School, Phoenix Community College) for seven yards, allowing Mario Wren (Bessemer, AL, Bessemer City High School) to run in for a four-yard touchdown with 12:31 left to play. 

 

The Mavericks continued to do little with their possession. They went 51 yards in nine plays and 5:20 but still could not score. The Mustangs, on the other hand, tacked on a field goal for good measure with 2:15 remaining. 

 

Knowing WNMU's past struggles in the secondary, Mesa State tried to go to the air on their last ditch effort but found little success.