PUEBLO, Colo. – The No. 14/13th-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team used strong play on special teams here Saturday afternoon to post a hard-fought 24-21 win over Black Hills State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Breast Cancer Awareness Day at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.

Saturday's win was sealed on a 40-yard field goal by junior kicker Jacob Willig (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) with seven seconds left in the game. Willig's game-winning field goal capped 12-play, 45-yard drive by the Pack that began following a fourth-down stop by the ThunderWolves defense on its own 33-yard line.

With the victory, CSU Pueblo improves to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the RMAC and extends its RMAC win streak to 13 consecutive games, which is currently the second longest active conference win streak in Division II football behind Kutztown's 15-game conference win streak, while Black Hills State falls to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the RMAC.

"What a team win today. I'm so proud of these guys. They battled and battled with different groups making plays today. I've never seen two blocked field goals returned for touchdowns," CSU Pueblo head football coach Philip Vigil said following the game. "Our offense was struggling, but credit Black Hills, they did a great job on both offense and defense, but good teams find a way to win and we found a way today. I am also proud of Jacob as he called his number to win this football game and he did just that."

The Pack offense, which entered the game ranked in the Top 10 in Division II in scoring (46.4 points per game), passing offense (354.4 yards per game), total offense (524.1 yards per game) and offensive first downs (167), was held to a season-low 209 yards of offense as they rushed for 147 yards on 21 carries and averaged 7.0 yards per carry and passed for a season-low 62 yards, which is the lowest passing yard total for the Pack in a game since passing for 94 yards last season at home against Colorado School of Mines. The Pack also finished with a season-low 10 first downs and held the ball for just a season-low 13 minutes and 42 seconds.

"BHSU is a well-coached team. They do a good job with their personnel and also do a good job with shifting and motioning," the Pack coach added. "We're going to have to plan for that now because it is on tape now, but we've to two weeks to fix things before Western Colorado. But we're 7-1 going into the bye week and we've got everything in front of us right now."

But despite those numbers and getting outgained by nearly 300 yards, the Pack were able to earn the victory thanks to their special teams play as senior defensive lineman Cody Ramming (Littleton, Colo./Littleton) blocked two field goal attempts by the Yellow Jackets and both of those blocks were returned for touchdowns of 75 yards by junior defensive back Ben Wilson (Pearland, Texas/Midwestern State) and 55 yards by senior defensive back Eli Pittman (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty). It marked the first time in school history that the Pack returned two blocked field goals for a touchdown in the same game.

The Pack's lone offensive score came on its second possession of the second half as senior running back Howard Russell V (Phoenix, Ariz./Eastern New Mexico) scored on an 18-yard run to cap a five-play, 75-yard drive with 5:38 left in the third quarter. Russell carried the ball on each play of the drive, including opening the drive with a 41-yard run.

Russell's touchdown came five plays after BHSU had tied the game at 14-all following a 5-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-goal play to Kelby Olson from Kade Weber with 7:45 left in the third quarter.

The Pack got into the scoring column on the opening possession of the game as BHSU kicker Ryan Ewing had his 40-yard field goal attempt blocked by Ramming and on the play, Wilson recovered the ball at the Pack 25-yard line and he sprinted 75 yards down the field for a touchdown just four minutes into the game. The 75-yard blocked field goal return was the longest in school history as it bettered the previous record of 72 yards set by Pittman last season at Grand Valley State.

BHSU, who is now 0-12 all-time against the Pack, tied the game at 7-all following a 4-yard touchdown run by Cameron Goods with 2:24 left in the first quarter. The touchdown run capped an 11-play, 63-yard drive by the 'Jackets.

The Pack once again used a play on special teams just five-plus minutes into the second quarter to retake the lead as Ramming blocked Ewing's 48-yard field goal attempt into the hands of Pittman, who sprinted 58 yards down the field for a touchdown to give the Pack a 14-7 lead.

In the opening half of the play, the Pack had the ball for a total of 6:05 and gained just 73 yards (43 rushing and 30 passing) on 17 plays, while BHSU had 264 yards on 54 plays and held the ball for nearly 24 minutes.
BHSU retied the game on is first possession of the second half as they drove 78 yards in 11 plays and capped the drive with Weber's 5-yard pass to Olson.

Following Olson's score, Russell gave the Pack a 21-14 lead with his 18-yard touchdown run. Russell, who is the leading rusher in the RMAC this season, finished the day with 15 carries for 102 yards and scored his 10th rushing touchdown of the season.

The 'Jackets offense would find the end zone one more with a little under seven minutes left in the game as Luke Duby hooked up with Charlie Bump for a 15-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-10 play from the Pack 15-yard line. Bump's touchdown tied the game at 21.

After the Pack offense was forced to punt after losing four yards in three plays on the possession after BHSU's tying score, the Yellow Jackets took the ball over at their own 47-yard line with 5:42 left in the game. The 'Jackets would drive 20 yards in six plays, but on a fourth-and-1 play from the Pack 33-yard line, Goods was stopped for no-gain by sophomore linebacker Gary Seidenberger (Fredericksburg, Texas/Fredericksburg) and sophomore defensive lineman Jusiah Sampleton (Giddings, Texas/Giddings).

Following the turnover on downs by the 'Jackets, the Pack took over the ball with 2:10 remaining in the contest. The game winning drive began with a 4-yard pass completion from senior quarterback Devin Larsen (Gilbert, Ariz./Western New Mexico) to senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College). After a penalty pushed the Pack back five yards, Larsen carried the ball 13 yards on a third-and-8 play to give the Pack a first down at their own 48-yard line. On first down, Larsen ran for four yards and then completed a 14-yard pass to Retzlaff to give the Pack the ball at BHSU's 34-yard line. Two plays later on a third-and-9 play, Larsen would once again call his number as he carried the ball 16 yards to the BHSU 17-yard line. Later in the drive on a third-and-13 play, Larsen would throw the ball to Retzlaff in the end zone, but the 'Jackets broke up the pass, but on the play, the Pack was called for a holding that pushed the ball back to the BHSU 30-yard line. On the next play, which was a third-and-23, Larsen hooked with Retzlaff for an 8-yard gain to put the ball at the BHSU 22-yard line with 12 seconds left. On fourth down, the Pack turned the game over to Willig and he drilled a 40-yard field goal with seven seconds left to give the Pack a 24-21 lead.

"Jacob's battled injuries all year and has worked his way back into the starting kicking position and we he got his opportunity, he made the most of it. I am just proud of him," said Vigil, who improved to 15-4 as the Pack's head coach.

Larsen, who did not start at quarterback in Saturday's game, was 5-for-10 passing for 32 yards and gained 30 yards rushing on four carries. Junior Roman Fuller (Decatur, Texas/University of Tulsa) started at quarterback against BHSU and was 4-for-11 passing for 30 yards and had a 15-yard rush in the game.

Retzlaff caught five of the Pack's nine completed passes for 35 yards.

Duby paced the Black Hills offense as he was 29-for-43 passing for 244 yards, while Weber was 5-for-5 passing for 48 yards and added 79 yards rushing. Damien Boozer caught seven passes for 84 yards, while Connor Boyd also had seven receptions for 58 yards.

For the game, Black Hills State rushed for 213 yards and passed for 292 yards as they finished with 505 yards of offense. In addition, they had 30 first downs and held the Pack without a sack in the game. The Pack entered the game tied for the league lead in sacks with 22.

Senior defensive back Thomas Webb, Jr. (Tucson, Ariz./Central Oklahoma) and Seidenberger paced the Pack defense with 13 tackles each, while senior linebacker Jon Nuschy (La Junta, Colo./Northern Colorado) added 11 tackles, and senior defensive back Daniel Bone III (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) had 10 tackles in the win.

The Pack will now take a week off before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 2 with a RMAC showdown in Gunnison, Colo., against eighth-ranked Western Colorado, who improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the RMAC on Saturday with its 35-24 come-from-behind home victory over South Dakota Mines. The Mountaineers will play next Saturday at 12th-ranked Colorado School of Mines, before hosting the Pack in two weeks.