PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo football team hits the road for the final time in the 2023 regular season this Saturday as the ThunderWolves face South Dakota Mines in a late season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up in Rapid City, S.D. Kickoff for Saturday's game is slated for 12 p.m. in Dunham Field at O'Harra Stadium.
 
CSU Pueblo comes into its fifth and final road contest of the regular season having won five consecutive games to push its record to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the RMAC following an impressive 59-20 home win last Saturday over Colorado Mesa. In addition to the win over Colorado Mesa, the win streak began with an 85-7 win at Fort Lewis on Sept. 30, before a 43-10 Homecoming win over Adams State, a 56-7 win at New Mexico Highlands and then a 28-3 win at Chadron State two weeks ago.
 
In the home win over Colorado Mesa, the Pack scored eight touchdowns, including tallying seven offensive touchdowns and a touchdown on a 96-yard kickoff return by redshirt freshman Moosah Alsaffar (Aurora, Colo./Grandview), who was named this week's RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week. The Pack tossed six touchdown passes, scored a touchdown on the ground, and added a touchdown on special teams in the win.
 
The Pack offense gained 563 yards of offense as they finished with 199 yards rushing on 31 carries and were 28-for-40 passing for 364 yards and tossed six touchdown passes and had one interception. In the game, the Pack gained a season-high 30 first downs and averaged 7.9 yards per play in the victory.
 
"I was really pleased with our effort as all three phases came to play on Saturday and it showed up. The middle two quarters were good for us as we scored 29 points in the second quarter and then on the first drive of the third quarter we come out and we go down the field and score," CSU Pueblo head football coach Philip Vigil said. "I was pleased with the way we played, because that was a good opponent we faced."
 
While the Pack offense was strong in Saturday's game, the Pack defense was also dominant as they held the Mavericks just 285 yards of offense as they rushed for 136 yards and passed for 149 yards. The Pack also picked off two passes, forced a total of three turnovers, recorded six sacks, including three from redshirt junior defensive end Cody Ramming (Littleton, Colo./Columbine), who was named this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week and held Mesa to a 4-for-18 effort on third down chances.
 
"Our defense once again did a good job. We held them on third down, had six sacks and 14 quarterback pressures. We got after the quarterback and held them to 3.2 yards per carry rushing," Vigil added. "Everything comes down to stopping the run and getting after the quarterback and we did both of those things on Saturday, and we need to continue those things this coming weekend."
 
Alsaffar's kickoff return changed the momentum of the game as it came after Mesa's Henry Katleman drilled a 23-yard field goal to pull the Mavericks within 24-13 with 1:47 left in the second quarter. Following the field goal, Alsaffar took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a score to give the Pack a 31-13 lead with 1:34 left in the quarter. The 96-yard return was the longest play of the season for the Pack.
 
"I can't speak highly enough about Moose (Moosah) and what he brings to this team. He's lightning in a bottle and finds a way to be productive. This a kid that literally every single day comes to work and does his absolute best whether he's getting a ton of reps in the game or not, he shows up during practice," said the Pack coach. "I was so happy for him, and his future is very bright. We're excited about him and what's he going to be to the Pack not only the rest of this year, but in the years to come."
 
Leading the way for the Pack offense on Saturday was graduate student quarterback Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State) as he completed 68 percent of his passes as he was 26-for-38 passing for 360 yards and tied a season high with five touchdown passes and had an interception. With his five touchdown passes, Fuller pushed his season total to 26, which is fourth on the school's single season chart and pushed his career total to 93, which is fourth among active Division II quarterbacks.
 
Fuller's big target in the passing game was redshirt sophomore receiver Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) as he caught 10 passes for 152 yards and had one touchdown reception. In addition to Rakowsky, junior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) added five receptions for 58 yards and added a touchdown reception for his 11th touchdown catch on the year. Redshirt sophomore receiver Nate Gravagno (Englewood, Colo./Englewood) caught four passes for 57 yards and had two touchdown receptions in the win.
 
On the rushing front, junior running back Howard Russell (Phoenix, Ariz./Eastern New Mexico) carried the ball 13 times for 103 yards and one rushing score and caught four passes for 41 yards and had a touchdown reception. Russell finished with 144 all-purpose yards in the win. Junior running back Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho), who is the leading rusher in the RMAC, carried the ball 12 times for 80 yards.
 
"Both Kiahn and Howard ran the ball extremely hard and anytime you can walk away from a game averaging 6.4 yards per game per carry that is a good day," Vigil stated.
 
The Pack offensive line, which had several players playing in different positions, did not allow a sack for the second straight game. Colorado Mesa entered the game tied for first in the league in sacks.
 
"One of our keys last week was to dominate the line of scrimmage and to establish the run. Mesa entered the game tied for first in the league in sacks, so we had to find a way to protect the quarterback and that is something we were able to accomplish," added Vigil.
 
When analyzing the numbers Saturday's opponent, South Dakota Mines, is very similar to the Pack and will present some challenges on both sides of the ball, according to Vigil.
 
"If you look at the stats, the records, we are very similar in a lot of categories. This is a very, very good opponent we are facing on Saturday," stated Vigil. "Coach Flohr has done a really good job at South Dakota Mines building that place up ever since he's been there. This is a well-coached football team that plays extremely hard and has talent across the board."
 
Vigil is no stranger to South Dakota Mines head coach Charlie Flohr as the two worked together at Northwest Missouri State in 2010-11 when Vigil was a graduate assistant coach working with the running backs and Flohr was the Bearcats' quarterbacks coach. Flohr spent 14 seasons at Northwest Missouri State in various coaching roles as he was the team's offensive coordinator from 2013-19 and was the assistant head coach from 2019-22 and was the quarterbacks coach from 2009-12 and receivers coach from 2006-08. Flohr is in his fourth season with the Hardrockers and has recorded a 20-15 overall record and a 14-11 mark in RMAC play.
 
"I have known Coach Flohr for a long time and have a lot of respect for what he does and how he does it," Vigil added.
 
Much like Fuller with the Pack, South Dakota Mines has a quarterback, redshirt junior Jayden Johannsen, that ranks in the Top 10 among career active Division II players in passing yards (7,823), touchdown passes (70), total offense (9,419) and total touchdowns responsible for (95) and is one of five active Division II quarterbacks that has passed for 4,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 yards.
 
"Their quarterback is a very good player, plus they have one of the top receivers in the RMAC, are talented at the running back position and are very good up front on the line and will present some issues with what they do offensively to our defense," the Pack coach said. "Defensively, they are stout against the run. We're going to have to play our best football on Saturday to walk out of there with a win, because it's probably going to be cold, windy and it's a long trip, but we've got to find a way to get things done."
 
Vigil says that some of the biggest keys for the Pack on Saturday is being able to protect the ball on offense, create turnovers and hold them on third down on defense.
 
"We've got to protect the ball on offense and we've got find a way to create turnovers on defense and that's been a big point of emphasis for us this week," the coach added. "We need to have them defend every blade of grass, stretch the field and establish our vertical run game offensively and defensively, we've got to continue to be strong on third down, but we also have to find a way to limit them on first and second down, because they have really good in the department this year."
 
Entering Saturday's game, the Pack are second in the RMAC and 14th nationally in Division II in third-down conversion percentage defense as the Pack's previous eight opponents are converting just 28.5 percent (37-for-130) of its third downs this season.
 
"Once our team gets to third down, we are one of the best in the country at getting teams off the field," added Vigil.
 
Vigil talks every week about the progress his team has made from the start of the season and that is something he is really proud of as a coach.
 
"Our teams continues to improve and get better each day and every week we've done that. They look more comfortable on both offense and defense and special teams are making plays when the opportunity arises," the coach said. "We have to be playing our best football right now because we're playing some really good teams to end the season and we've got to be at our best and not get complacent."
 
Saturday's game with South Dakota Mines will mark the seventh-ever meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 2016. The Pack are a perfect 6-0 all-time against the Hardrockers, including being 3-0 in Rapid City. Last season, the Pack earned a 45-20 win in the ThunderBowl. Additionally, the Pack are 18-0 all-time against football playing schools from the state of South Dakota.
 
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
South Dakota Mines comes into its final home game of the 2023 season sporting a 5-4 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the RMAC. The Hardrockers, though, have won two straight games, including a 63-9 win last Saturday at Adams State, which came after a 48-10 home win two weeks ago over Fort Lewis. The Hardrockers losses in league play have been at home to Colorado Mesa (38-30) and Western Colorado (43-20) and at Mines (45-22).
 
The Hardrockers boost on the top offenses and defenses in the RMAC as they are third in the league in both total offense (440.7 yards per game) and scoring (36.6 points per game) and are fourth in total defense (325.8 yards per game) and scoring defense (23.1 points per game). In addition, they are fourth nationally in fewest sacks allowed as they have allowed just six in nine games and are fifth in the league in sacks with 21 and are the least penalized team in the league as they average just 4.56 penalties per game and have been flagged just 41 times on the season.
 
On offense, South Dakota Mines is led by Johannsen at quarterback, along with junior receiver Ben Noland and graduate student running back John Frye. Johannsen is completing 68.5 percent of his passes as he is 196-for-286 passing for 2,170 yards and has tossed 25 touchdowns and thrown eight interceptions and has gained 341 yards rushing on 78 carries and has scored six rushing touchdowns. He is averaging 279.0 yards of total offense per game, which is second in the league.
 
Johannsen's big target in the passing game has been Noland as he has caught 74 passes for 972 yards and leads the league and Division II with 14 touchdown receptions, while the Hardrockers running game is led by Frye, who is second in the league in rushing with 634 yards and averages 70.4 yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry and has scored five touchdowns.
 
"Their quarterback is a really dynamic player and does a good job both passing and running the football," Vigil said. "Their receiver (Noland) is very good and they do a good job of moving him around and putting him in different positions and find ways to get him the football. He's very similar to Mines' receiver (Max McLeod) as he is a taller player, has good body control and strong hands and finds ways to make plays."
 
Meanwhile, defensively, the Hardrockers have recorded 21 sacks, seven interceptions and are allowing just 113.6 rushing yards per game to go along with allowing just 325.8 yards per game.
 
The leader of the South Dakota Mines defense is junior linebacker Hunter Newsom, who has recorded 64 tackles, including 38 solo stops and has had nine tackles for loss, four sacks and has had both an interception and a forced fumble. In addition to Newsom, junior defensive tackle Caleb Franklin has had 24 total tackles, seven tackles for a loss and a team-leading 4.5 sacks.
 
On special teams, junior kicker Connor Taylor has made all three of his field goal attempts and is 42-for-45 on extra point attempts and is second in points scored with 51. The punter is Johannsen as he averages 41.2 yards per punt and has put five of his punts inside the 20-yard line and has had three 50-plus yard punts.
 
The kickoff returns have been handled mostly by sophomore running back Ty Harris as he is averaging 15.2 yards per return, while Noland has returned 13 punts and is averaging 9.6 yards per punt return.
 
PACK FOOTBALL NOTES