Holst hoists Eagles to win

Chadron State football pulled off a 38-34 upset over number two ranked Colorado Mesa, in Grand Junction, Colorado, Saturday, in a thriller where the teams combined for 1128 yards.

For the second week in a row, the Eagles’ defense sealed the victory with an interception. 

After going up 38-34 late in the fourth, Mavericks’ quarterback Eystin Salum, senior of Denver, lead his offense down to the Eagles’ red zone but was intercepted by safety Tyree Fryar, junior of Burlington, New Jersey. 

After watching his opponents complete a 65-yard, 13-play fourth-quarter drive that ate up four minutes, 20 seconds of clock, to retake the lead, Eagles’ quarterback Dalton Holst, sophomore of Gillette, Wyoming, answered with a touchdown drive of his own. 

The Eagles’ offense marched downfield and Holst capped the drive with a 35 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jackson Dickerson, junior of Chadron, for the go-ahead score. 

“We knew we needed to score, but we needed to score a touchdown to go ahead by four and put the game on our defense,” Holst said about his mindset on the final drive.

The Eagles trailed 14-24 at halftime after two second-quarter touchdown passes from the Maverick’s Salum. 

Early in the second half, the Eagles wasted no time getting back on the scoreboard as Cole Thurness, sophomore of Rapid City, South Dakota, caught a 29-yard touchdown early in the third quarter

The Eagles’ offense put up 645 yards led by RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, Dalton Holst, who threw for 403 yards and three touchdowns. 

Wide receiver Tevon Wright, junior of Miami caught five passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. Running backs Stevann Brown, junior of Casper, Wyoming, rushed for 118 yards while Kevin Coy, senior of Davenport, Florida added another 77 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. 

On defense, linebacker Tyler Lewis, junior of Arvada, Colorado continued his impressive season with 12 tackles and one sack.

Wide receiver Peter Anderson, junior of Centennial, Colorado, caught 11 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns for the Mavericks. Mesa ended their day with 483 yards on offense.

The Eagles will host the Western State Mountaineers on Saturday for Homecoming. Chadron State currently stands at second place in the RMAC with a 3-1 overall record (3-1 conference), while the Mountaineers sit in tenth place with a 0-4 overall record (0-3 conference).