By land and air, Eagles bombard Mountaineers, 31-24
The CSC Eagle football team earned its second victory of the season, beating Western State Colorado University, Gunnison, 31-24. The Eagles improved to 2-3 on the season, 1-2 in RMAC play. Western State is now 0-5 overall, 0-3 RMAC.
Offensively, the Eagles racked up over 500 yards, 241 of which were on the ground. Derek Jackson, sophomore of Pueblo West, Colorado, led the attack with 130 yards off 24 attempts. Junior Cody Paul, of Seal Beach, California, was not far behind with 101 yards off 13 attempts.
Matt Vinson, sophomore of Box Elder, South Dakota, who made his first start, completed 25 passes out of 39 for a total of 266 yards. Redshirt freshman, TD Stein, of Chadron, did not play against Western due to an injured left hand. Vinson also threw a five-yard touchdown to Danny O’Boyle, senior of Gering, early in the opening quarter.
“It’s always nice when you can get a win on the road,” Vinson said. “Especially since Western has a really good team. A win like that is definitely a confidence boost. The team really took the pressure off of me since it was my first start. The O-line did a great job all game. And our running backs and receivers made a ton of plays.”
Vinson wasn’t the only player to throw a touchdown pass. Justyn Curtis, sophomore of Richmond, Indiana, tossed a five yard score in the third quarter to Zac Bargen, senior of Chadron.
Vinson said that it makes a huge difference having a lot of playmakers on the field.
“Our running backs have the ability to score every time they touch the ball,” he said. “The offensive line does such a great job of opening running lanes for them. And the receivers have done a really good job this year helping out TD and I. It seems like they catch every ball thrown their way. Knowing that you’re out there with all those playmakers really takes away a lot of the pressure.”
Defensively, the Eagles kept the Mountaineers under control thanks to senior linebacker Dylan Furrier, of Tucson, Arizona, who earned 17 tackles. The twin safeties, Ryan and Brian Wood, juniors of Stockton, California, racked up 19 tackles between the two of them.
The Eagles next game is against the Grizzlies of Adams State, for the 2015 Homecoming game. The Grizzlies are ranked No. 7 in the RMAC with a 1-4 record overall.
“When Saturday rolls around, we will be ready for them,” Vinson said. I’m definitely excited to be starting at home for the first time. There is always a great environment at home and we have great fans.”
Adams State also has the fourth best passing offense in the conference, averaging over 260 yards per game. With a solid defense, the Grizzlies are going to be tough opponent.
“They have a good defense and we expect it to be a really tough game,” Vinson said. “I think it’s going to come down to how well we can execute. We did some good things last week and are looking to improve off of those things this week.”
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., Saturday.