Eagles fumble first game

Photo courtesy of WCU Sports Information

The Eagles opened their season against Western Colorado University Saturday in Gunnison, Colorado, but a team has to take the loss, which Chadron State took, 23-10. 

“The thing that stood out about this game was too many penalties and too many turnovers,” Head Football Coach Jay Long said. “As far as positive side of things, I thought we ran the football really well and on defense we stopped the run.”

Five minutes in, Running Back Elijah Myles, junior of Hawthorne, California, drove a rush up the middle of the field, running the ball 80 yards and earning the first touchdown of the game.  

With a fumbled punt return for the Eagles, the Mountaineers recovered, leading them to the board with a 49-yard field goal. 

To keep the lead after a second Mountaineer field goal, CSC’s kicker Gunnar Jones, senior of Florence, Alabama, scored a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter. 

Then Western’s Quarterback Connor Desch overthrew his receiver, allowing Bobby Peele, senior of Fresno, California, to intercept the football in the second quarter to potentially return the momentum to the Eagles. 

Desch then drove in two touchdown passes, pushing the Mountaineers to a 20-10 lead before halftime. 

Returning to the field for the second half, the Eagles didn’t put any more points on the board, while the Mountaineers kicked one more field goal in the third quarter, taking the win 23-10. 

“When you look at us as a team, I think we needed to find a way to become more consistent with our passing game on offense,” Long said. “Defense, it came down to us stopping the big play. We had two turnovers on special teams and that’s what we got to do better at.” 

Myles attempted 21 rushes, gaining 164 total yards.

Both Cole Thurness and Montel Gladney received three passes. Thurness had a total of 31 yards while Gladney recorded 14. 

Ali Musa, who received one throw, caught a 35-yard throw, the longest catch of the game for the Eagles. 

Dalton Holst, graduate of Gillette, Wyoming, completed 12 of his 32 attempted passes for a total of 141 yards. Holst was sacked three times, but CSC’s defense was able to return the favor. 

“I thought our defense as a whole played very well,” Thurness said. “They gave up less than a 100 yards rushing. Gabe Perkins, Travis Wilson, and Tayven Bray all played very well for our defense.” 

Gabe Perkins, sophomore of Aurora, Colorado, junior Tayven Bray, and redshirt freshman Xavier Harrell, both of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, were the three Eagles who recorded a sack each. 

Bray recorded six total tackles, three solo and three assisted, and two tackles lost 16 yards for the Mountaineers offense. Perkins also had three solo and three assisted tackles.  

Defensively, Travis Wilson, senior of Fresno, California, recorded 10 tackles, leading the Eagles with the most, five solo and five assisted tackles. Wilson also tackled for a total of 11 lost yards. 

The Eagles will play Angelo State University at 1 p.m., Saturday on Elliott Field at Don Beebe Stadium. 

“We are very excited for the match up this weekend.” Thurness said. “We can’t let this past performance determine how the rest of our season goes. We need to fix our mistakes and more forward with our heads high.”