LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The 12th-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team continued its winning ways on the road here Saturday afternoon as the ThunderWolves collected an impressive 59-13 win over New Mexico Highlands in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at Sanchez Family Stadium.

With the victory, the Pack extends its win streak four straight games and its RMAC win streak to 20 consecutive games and improves its record to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the league, while New Mexico Highlands falls to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC. The 20-game RMAC win streak is currently the longest active conference win streak in Division II, while the Pack also extended its road win streak to 12 straight wins, which is also the longest active road win streak in Division II.

The Pack defense held the No. 1 team in Division II in total offense to just 309 yards, which was 188 yards off its season average of 497 yards. In addition, the Pack defense also held the No. 2 rushing offense in Division II to 147 yards rushing. The Cowboys entered the game averaging 349.5 rushing yards per game.

Additionally, the Pack defense forced three turnovers to push its season total to 20, including collecting its Division-II leading 13th interception of the season on an interception in the fourth quarter by sophomore cornerback Oliver Welch (Los Angeles, Calif./Venice). The Pack also had four sacks and 11 tackles for loss in the win.

"I'm just proud of our group. This team scared us. They were 3-1 and were running the ball really well offensively, but I was really proud of our defense today," CSU Pueblo head coach Philip Vigil said following the game. "Coach (Caid) Faske and the defensive coaching staff had a great game plan today. Our defense was flying around and we kept smothering them."

Along with its defensive performance, the Pack offense also continued its strong play as they finished with 451 yards of offense as they rushed 31 times for 223 yards and averaged 7.2 yards per carry. In addition, the Pack passing attack went 16-for-28 for 228 yards and had three passing touchdowns, all of which came from senior quarterback Roman Fuller (Decatur, Texas/University of Tulsa). Fuller finished the game going 14-for-26 passing for 217 yards and three touchdown passes, and added a seven-yard run to finish with 224 yards of total offense. Fuller's three touchdown passes pushed his career total to 34, which tied with his cousin, current Pack quarterback coach Chance Fuller, for third on the school's all-time chart. 

Redshirt senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) caught six passes for 92 yards and had two touchdown receptions to push his career total to 32. In addition to Retzlaff, senior Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) hauled in four passes for 71 yards.

With his six receptions, Retzlaff moved to second in career receptions with 145 and also pushed his career receiving yardage to 2,438 yards and is now just seven receptions and 69 yards shy of Paul Browning's career school records of 152 receptions and 2,507 yards. The 32 touchdown receptions is tied for eighth on the state of Colorado's all-time charts.

The rushing attack was paced by redshirt freshman running back Russell Patton (Denver, Colo./Dr. MLK Jr. Early College) gained 84 yards on nine carries and scored the Pack's final touchdown of the game on a 48-yard run with 2:24 left in the game. Along with Patton, senior running back Devin Cross (Pflugerville, Texas/Midwestern State) added 67 yards rushing on nine carries and scored two touchdowns.

"As those two continue to get more carries and as the year goes on, they just keep getting better," Vigil said when asked about Patton and Cross' performances on Saturday.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the game came on the Pack's first possession of the game as junior kicker Jackson Smith (Centennial, Colo./Santa Barbara City College) connected on a school record 60-yard field goal just four-plus minutes into the game. The field goal was the tied for the fifth-longest field goal in the state of Colorado history and bettered the old school record of 55 yards set by Mitch Johnson against Adams State on Sept. 20, 1975.

Smith's record-setting field goal came after the Pack took the opening kickoff and drove the ball to midfield, but the drive stalled, and the Pack turned to Jackson's leg to put the ThunderWolves on the scoreboard. Jackson drilled the field goal to give the Pack an early 3-0 lead.

Cross gave the Pack a 10-0 lead following his 1-yard touchdown run with 3:10 left in the first quarter. Cross' run capped an 8-play, 86-yard drive for the Pack.

The Pack's special teams got into the scoring column just 81 seconds into the second quarter as sophomore linebacker Shallum Peter (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands) blocked a NMHU punt and sophomore safety Tre Jordan (Tomball, Texas/Midwestern State) scooped up the ball and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown to give the Pack 17-0 lead.

The Pack pushed its lead to 24-0 following a 1-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Retzlaff with 4:57 left in the second quarter. The touchdown capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive by the Pack.

On the ensuing kickoff, NMHU's Ashton Bradford mishandled the kick and redshirt junior defensive lineman Jaylen Booth (Merced, Calif./Merced College) recovered the fumble at the NHMU's 20-yard line yard. Six plays later, the Pack took a 31-0 lead following a 4-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to junior receiver Dedrek Taylor-Akins (Fontana, Calif./Northeastern State).

NMHU would finally dent the scoreboard just five seconds into the fourth quarter as Tevita Valeti capped a 19-play, 80-yard drive by the Cowboys with a 1-yard touchdown run. That scoring drive lasted nearly 12 minutes.

The Pack, though, responded on its next possession as they drove 70 yards in eight plays and capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Cross with 10:47 left in the fourth quarter.

On Highlands' ensuing possession, sophomore cornerback Oliver Welch (Los Angeles, Calif./Venice) picked off a Collin Stucki at the NMHU 41-yard line and returned it 20 yards to the NMHU 21-yard line. Two plays later, the Pack pushed its lead to 45-7 following a 28-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Retzlaff.

After a three-and-out on NMHU's ensuing possession, the Pack drove 53 yards in seven plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman quarterback Cam McGuire (Dallas, Texas/Woodrow Wilson) to give the Pack a 52-7 lead with 4:48 left in the game. The big plays on the drive were a 19-yard run by McGuire and a 14-yard pass from McGuire to junior receiver Verlis Smith (Modesto, Calif./Ceres).

About two-plus minutes later, following a fumble recovery by junior defensive tackle Micah Lutu (Kalihi, Hawai'i/Saguaro), Patton scored on a 48-yard touchdown run to give the Pack a 59-7 lead.

The Cowboys, though, capped the scoring on a 70-yard touchdown pass from Ike Udengwu to Mike Jones to drop the Pack's lead to 59-13.

In the fourth quarter, the Pack scored 28 points and gained 234 yards, and they rushed for 140 yards and passed for 84 yards in the period. 

Junior linebacker Bryson Torrie (Denver, Colo./Vista Peak), who was named this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, paced the Pack defense with 11 tackles and a tackle for a loss, while junior safety Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview) added nine tackles in the win. 

Stucki was 7-for-8 passing for 75 yards and an interception, while Udengwu was 4-for-6 passing for 87 yards and had a touchdown pass for the Cowboys. Stucki also added 58 yards rushing on 25 carries, while Jones caught five passes for 103 yards in the loss. NMHU played without freshman running back Jeffery Jones, who entered the game leading Division II in rushing yards with 893 yards. 

CSU Pueblo will look to make it five straight wins as they return home next Saturday, Oct. 11, to the ThunderBowl as the Pack hosts Fort Lewis College (1-4 overall, 0-3 RMAC), who fell 49-10 at home on Saturday against seventh-ranked Western Colorado, for its annual Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m.