PUEBLO, Colo. (Sept. 17, 2022) – (RV) Colorado State University Pueblo (1-2, 0-1 RMAC) opened up its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate with a gut-wrenching 17-10 lossto Western Colorado (1-2, 1-0 RMAC) at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl Saturday afternoon. The ThunderWolves led for the majority of the day, but a hardnosed fourth quarter attack by Western sealed the CSU Pueblo loss.
 
CSU Pueblo started the game with the ball and made an effort to make an impact early. Led by strategic passes and tuck-and-runs from Steven Croell, the ThunderWolves charged down the field. Croell passes to Max Fine and Zach Rakowsky on top of an impressively hard-run 10-yard rush from Austin Bacher allowed the Pack to drive the ball down to the Western 1-yardline. 
 
After three hardnosed attempts at the endzone, the Mountaineers denied the Pack six points and forced a field goal attempt. Sullivan Moon drove the ball through the uprights and put the ThunderWolves on the board after the first drive, ahead 3-0 with 9:04 on the clock.
 
Western was unable to match the Pack on the opening drive, as Daniel Bone made a big third down stop following a Jon Nuschy hit at the line the play before. After a Pack punt though, the Mountaineers turned in a 6-play, 80-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead with just over three minutes in the opening quarter.
 
Strong defensive play soon took over. The Pack and Mountaineers traded possessions through the end of the first quarter and well into the second. Momar Fall and Max Gonzales highlighted a strong defensive stand for the ThunderWolves with a sack on a crucial Western drive. The Pack forced a punt soon after and took over on their own 18.
 
A slow and methodical drive orchestrated by the Pack soon proved to be a momentum-changing possession. After a couple hard Bacher runs, Croell got the Pack moving downfield with a 16-yard pitch-and-catch to Nigel Mitchell. Another Bacher run paired with a Western pass inference penalty got the Pack across the 50-yardline and into Mountaineers territory.
 
Croell made another connection for 16 yards on the next play, this time to Andrew Cook. Croell found his third different receiver in the drive on the next play, connecting with CK Poulos for 17 yards to advance down to the Western 9-yardline. Three plays later, the Pack regained the lead with an 18-yard pass from Croell to Mitchell to cap off an 11-play, 82-yard drive. 
 
CSU Pueblo was able to hold the 10-7 lead over Western through the conclusion of the opening half.
 
The third quarter continued to be stout defense dominating for both the Pack and Mountaineers. Makeah Scippio and Daniel Bone burst through the backfield together to team up for a tackle for loss while Cody Ramming logged himself a QB Hurry off the defensive line in the quarter. In the uneventful third quarter, neither team scored, but Western snapped 20 plays to the Pack's eight while neither team was able to rack up 100 yards. 
 
The 0-0 third quarter sent the game into the fourth with the Pack still leading 10-7.
 
In the final quarter, the Mountaineers domineered possession and held the ball for over nine minutes of the frame. Following a 53-yard Western field goal just five seconds into the quarter, the game was knotted at 10-10. 
 
The Pack were unable to answer and the Mountaineers regained possession. A large bulk of the time used was thanks to an 8-minute, 16-play and 85-yard drive which was capped off by a four-yard touchdown reception. The Mountaineers' late touchdown gave them a narrow 14-10 lead over the Pack with just 4:02 remaining.
 
Despite a promising start to the ensuing Pack possession that saw a 12-yard pitch-and-catch from Croell to Nick Bingham, the Mountaineers stingy defense silenced the loud Pack threat in just 1:07 and sent the ball back to the Western Colorado offense. The Pack were stingy on defense too however, and following a gang tackle on third down led by Cory McLellan and Bone, the Pack got one more chance at the end zone after the Western three-and-out.
 
A long line-drive punt by the Mountaineers pinned the Pack on their own 13 with just over a minute to play, but Croell came out firing. The sophomore quarterback rifled back-to-back-to-back completions. First, Croell hit Rakowsky for 11 yards, then Mitchell for another 16, followed by one more Rakowsky reception for six yards.
 
The magic stopped there for the Pack, unfortunately. Two Pack penalties deenergized the revved up Pack drive and on a fourth down and long play, the Western defense broke up the final ThunderWolves hope.
 
A kneel down from the Mountaineers sealed the Pack's fate 17-10, for CSU Pueblo's second loss on the season. 
 
CSU Pueblo logged 22 first downs on the afternoon to the Mountaineers' 18, but Western was able to get it going on the ground, eventually logging 174 yards to the Pack's 60. 262 yards from Croell allowed the Pack to out-gain the Mountaineers overall on offense with 322 yards to their 304. 
 
Croell was able to pass for 262 yards. Rakowsky pulled in six catches for 59 yards to lead receivers while Mitchell accounted for 44 yards and a score. 
 
Fall led the stout defense with six total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Gonzales roamed the field and tallied a team-high eight tackles and .5 tackles for loss. Isaiah Hereford totaled seven tackles and a pass break-up to go along with McLellan's seven tackles and an interception.
 
Up Next
CSU Pueblo heads back on the road next week to close out its gauntlet that is its opening four games. The Pack head up north for a Saturday matinee showdown at Colorado School of Mines at noon.