SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University football team fell behind by 21, but scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to make things interesting before falling to Chadron State, 21-13, Saturday afternoon in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action inside Ben Altamirano Field.


Both teams struggled to get going offensively in the first quarter, with the teams battling to a scoreless tie.


CSC (4-4, 4-2 RMAC) finally broke the seal on the scoreboard, as they began a drive at just under 14 minutes to play in the second quarter.


The Eagles would end up tallying 83 yards on 13 plays and taking over six minutes off the clock in putting the ball in the end zone. During the drive, CSC came through with big third down pickups, including a third-and-nine, third-and-17 and then Glen Clinton capped the drive with a nine-yard rushing TD. The extra point was good giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead with nearly seven minutes to play before halftime.


The Eagle defense then forced a three-and-out by the WNMU (4-4, 3-3 RMAC) offense, giving CSC the ball back out near midfield.


CSC would capitalize, taking just six plays to drive 55 yards, as Cody Roes caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Gorsuch and after the extra point, built the lead to 14-0 with under four minutes to go before halftime.


The Mustang defense came through with a big stop before halftime, as after WNMU had to punt the ball back to CSC, the Eagles were on the move, getting the ball down to the Mustang 30.


But, a three-yard loss on a pass play, and two pass incompletions forced a punt and would send the teams into halftime with CSC ahead, 14-0.


The teams would battle again in the trenches throughout the third quarter, with the Mustang defense forcing the only turnover of the game out near midfield.


With CSC faced with a third-and-seven at their 49, Gorsuch dropped back to pass, but had no time as Dashaun Briggs (AZ/) nailed the quarterback for a sack and in the process forced a fumble in which Jacob Cross (Bakersfield, CA/Centennial HS) recovered at the Eagle 47.


WNMU would move the ball to the Eagle 36 on an 11-yard strike from David Ingram (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge HS) to Markis Sumpter (Oceanside, CA/Fallbrook High School), but that would be as close as the Mustangs would get, as two incompletions and a sack forced a WNMU punt.


The ensuing drive, CSC found the end zone again, as after getting out to their 48 on four plays, the fifth one was a big one, as a play-action pass from Gorsuch hit a wide-open Jeff Alcorn in stride down the middle of the field for a 52-yard score. After the extra point was good, the Eagles had built a 21-0 lead with five minutes to go in the third.


The Mustangs' offense came to life early in the fourth quarter, as they got the ball back on a turnover on downs at their own 26 with 13 minutes to go in the contest.


Ingram started the drive with an 11-yard pass to Koa Pahia (Hauula, HI/Kahuku HS) out to the 37.


Sumpter and Sal Garcia would get into the act, as Sumpter collected a seven yard pass and then a 15-yard pass to Garcia placed the ball at the Eagle 28.


After a pass interference play, Brent Courtney (Oceanside CA/Carlsbad HS) collected a screen pass for 14 yards down to the four, in which Sumpter would finish off on a pass to the near corner of the end zone from Ingram and after Kameron Drawhorn (San Diego, CA/Fallbrook HS) added the extra point, CSC held a 21-7 lead with under nine minutes to play.


The Mustang defense came through with a big stop, giving WNMU the ball back on offense at their 11.


Penalties came up big on the drive, as after Daveon Barner (Long Beach, CA/Long Beach Polytechnic) caught a nine-yard pass from Ingram, a 15-yard personal foul face mask moved the ball out to the 35.


On third-and-10, Ingram found an open Donald Byrd (Long Beach, CA/Long Beach Poly) for 19 yards and another first down.


Ingram would find Byrd on the next snap for 15 more yards down to the Eagle 31.


A pair of incompletions would lead to a third-and-10. Ingram, looking to pass, ran out of time and scrambled for nine yards, just short of the first down at the 22.
On fourth-and-one, Barner got the call and picked up two big yards for a first down.


Then, the first of two big pass interference calls would come into play.


On third-and-16, Ingram's pass to Shamone Fletcher (San Diego, CA/Mira Mesa HS) was incomplete, but a pass interference call in the end zone moved the ball 15 yards to the 11.


After a sack for a loss of two, another Ingram pass to the end zone, this time intended for Sumpter drew another pass interference penalty moving the ball to the two for a first-and-goal.


The next play, Ingram rolled out to the right and found a wide open Pahia in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point failed leaving WNMU down by eight, 21-13, with 2:33 left to play.


With still two timeouts, the Mustangs elected to kick the ball deep and after the return, CSC had the ball at their 30.


A four yard rush and then a three yard pickup setup a big third-and-three at the 37.


WNMU burned their final two timeouts on the plays to save the clock and on third down, Clinton took the carry up the middle and twisted his way for four yards and a first down ending the game.


CSC tallied 456 yards of offense, with 279 coming through the air. WNMU had 258 yards, with 214 coming through the air.


Barner led the ground attack, chewing up 40 yards on 11 carries.


Passing-wise, Ingram connected on 26-of-46 for 214 yards and two touchdowns.


Byrd had six receptions for 73 yards, while Barner also caught six passes for 25 yards. Sumpter had four catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.


Defensively, Cross had 19 tackles, seven solo stops, while Nicholas Cook (Winnetka, CA/Bishop Alemany HS) and Mike Davis (Lancaster, CA/Antelope Valley HS) had nine total tackles apiece.


WNMU will hit the road next Saturday as they will travel to Nebraska to play Nebraska-Kearney with kickoff set for 12 p.m. The gametime may also change, as UNK may move the time depending on the start of the University of Nebraska kickoff. Updates will be posted on wnmumustangs.com.


                               Box Score (Final)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Chadron State.......  0 14  7  0  - 21       Record: (4-4,4-2)
  Western N.M.........  0  0  0 13  - 13       Record: (4-4,3-3)
 
  Scoring Summary:
  2nd 07:19 CSC - Glen Clinton 9 yd run (Alex Ferdinand kick), 13-83 6:32, CSC 7 - WNMU 0
      03:26 CSC - Cody Roes 8 yd pass from Brandon Gorsuch (Alex Ferdinand kick), 6-55 2:19, CSC 14 - WNMU 0
  3rd 05:14 CSC - Jeff Alcorn 52 yd pass from Brandon Gorsuch (Alex Ferdinand kick), 5-80 2:02, CSC 21 - WNMU 0
  4th 08:42 WNMU - Markis Sumpter (Oceanside, CA/Fallbrook High School) 4 yd pass from David Ingram (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge HS) (K. Drawhorn kick), 10-74 4:31, CSC 21 - WNMU 7
      02:33 WNMU - Koa Pahia (Hauula, HI/Kahuku HS) 2 yd pass from David Ingram (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge HS) (K. Drawhorn kick failed), 14-89 3:43, CSC 21 - WNMU 13
 
                                      CSC     WNMU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       24       19
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   38-177    26-44
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      279      214
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  33-19-0  46-26-0
 TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   71-456   72-258
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      1-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     5-28     2-30
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-78     3-48
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      0-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-31.5   8-41.9
  Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      0-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     8-92     6-40
  Possession Time...............    31:29    28:31
  Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 16  5 of 16
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   2 of 3
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-2      2-2
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     6-37     1-10