Mountaineers topple Mavericks 31-7

“Our players did a great job today”

After coming up short by one point the past two weeks, the Mountaineers’ luck was due to change. Saturday in Mountaineer Bowl, Western State Colorado University football took out their frustration on the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks, defeating the Mavs by a score of 31-7.


“Our players did a great job today,” head football coach Jas Bains said. “They did a great job coming out fast and then finishing the game.”


After trading three-and-out drives to begin the game, Western capitalized on a Colorado Mesa (5-5, 4-4 RMAC) fumble. Western (2-7, 2-5 RMAC) marched 41 yards down the field and capped off the drive with a touchdown by Lane Stuht (Sr., Loveland, Colo.). Stuht, a nose guard, was inserted into the game to plow through the Mesa defensive line on the goal line. It is Stuht’s first career carry and first rushing touchdown.


The Mountaineers again forced a turnover on Mesa’s next drive. Western’s Gerald Coleman (RSo., Richmond, Texas) intercepted Maverick quarter back Aric Kaiser on the Mountaineer 34 yard-line. This time the Mountaineers were forced to settle for a Ryan Winke (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) field goal. Western had a 10-7 lead with 1:33 remaining in the first quarter.


Western’s defense again caused another turnover, this time recovering a fumble on Mesa’s own 10-yard line. After a short pass completion, Austin Ekeler (Fr., Eaton, Colo.) took the ball three yards into the end zone. Ekeler had over 130 yards rushing and 57 yards receiving, and recorded two touchdowns on the day.


Western kicked off to the Mavericks with 35 seconds remaining in the first, up by a score of 17-0. On their fourth consecutive drive, the Mavericks turned the ball over. Western’s Ty Henry (Jr., Centennial, Colo.) forced a fumble, recovered by Zac Stansberry (Jr., Montrose, Colo.).

 On the Mountaineers’ fourth consecutive drive, they put points on the board. Quarterback Brett Arrivey (RFr., Woodinville, Wash.) threw a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Benjamin Kirkwood (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.), to put the Mountaineers ahead 24-0 with 12:05 left to play in the first half.


For the fifth consecutive drive, Western’s defense came up with a turnover. This time it was safety Mike Lopez‘s (So., Centennial, Colo.) turn to get the ball for the opportunistic defense. Lopez intercepted Kaiser on Western’s own 12-yard line.

 The Mountaineers entered halftime with their largest lead all season at 24-0.


Mesa managed to get on the board with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter when Kaiser connected with receiver Daniel Perse for a 50-yard touchdown. 

The Mountaineers squashed any thought of a Maverick comeback with another Ekeler touchdown at the 9:17 mark in the fourth.

 Arrivey threw for over 200 yards and recorded one touchdown.

 The Mountaineer defense recorded seven turnovers, three coming by way of interception and four on fumble recoveries. Jacob Weiss (So., Salida, Colo.) recovered two of those fumbles while interceptions were made by Lopez, Coleman and Stansberry.


Along with his touchdown, Stuht recorded 1.5 sacks and Henry led the team in tackles with 11.

 Western will face a tough test next Saturday when they travel to Pueblo to face undefeated number 3 CSU-Pueblo.