PUEBLO, Colo. – The No. 4/No. 5 ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team returns to the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl this Saturday, Oct. 17, as the ThunderWolves host New Mexico Highlands University for their annual Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game. Kickoff for Saturday's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest is set for 2:05 p.m.
CSU Pueblo comes into Saturday's game riding a six-game winning streak to open the season and sporting a perfect 6-0 overall record and a 4-0 mark in RMAC play following its record-setting 72-7 road victory over Adams State on Oct. 3. Meanwhile, New Mexico Highlands enters Saturday's contest with a 3-3 overall record and a 1-3 mark in conference play following a 52-24 home setback to Western Colorado on Oct. 3.
In addition to this weekend's Homecoming festivities, CSU Pueblo will honor its nine-member Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2026 during an induction ceremony on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. in the Occhiato Student Center Ballroom. This year's induction class includes former student-athletes Lauren Fairchild (women's track and field, 2016-21), Scott Gallas (football, 1977-80), Mike Guenther (wrestling, 1983-85), Oni Lattin (volleyball, 2014-15), Brad Ranson (men's basketball, 1980-83) and John Trahan (football, 1981-84); contributors Donnell Leomiti (football coach, 2007-20) and
Tim Simmons (sports information and historian, 1965-69, 1971-74 and 2021-present); and the 2017-18 women's basketball team. The Hall of Fame inductees will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's Homecoming game against New Mexico Highlands.
Both teams were idle last weekend as all 10 RMAC football programs observed a conference-wide bye week on October 10.
The Pack enters Saturday's contest ranked fourth in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches Poll and fifth in the D2Football.com Media Poll. CSU Pueblo is one of 11 remaining unbeaten teams in Division II and enters this weekend's action riding an NCAA Division II-leading 29-game RMAC winning streak, along with a 15-game regular season winning streak, an 18-game road winning streak and a six-game winning streak, which is tied for the fourth longest active win streak in Division II.
Saturday's game will also give CSU Pueblo a chance to extend its impressive Homecoming winning streak, as the ThunderWolves are 33-6 all-time on Homecoming and have won 17 consecutive Homecoming games since the football program restarted in 2008. The Pack is 3-0 at home this season and is 86-22 in the ThunderBowl since 2008.
"It is a special day here for us on Saturday as it is homecoming. We are going to have three inductees into the CSU Pueblo Athletics Hall of Fame in John Trahan, Scott Gallas, and Donnell Leomiti. Three great representations of the University of Southern Colorado and CSU Pueblo football," CSU Pueblo fourth-year head coach
Philip Vigil said. "We're excited to welcome them back home and into the Hall of Fame."
Vigil, who has compiled a 34-7 record with the ThunderWolves, said his team used last week's bye to continue improving rather than simply resting for the second half of the season.
"I think the leadership in this conference did a really good job of planning that out. And it was a great week for us," Vigil said about the RMAC's league-wide bye week. "It wasn't necessarily so much for us to recover. It was another week for us to find ways to improve and get better. That's really what our focus was last week, finding a way to improve and get better and not waste a week just to try to get our legs back underneath us."
The ThunderWolves are coming off one of the most impressive offensive performances in school history as the Pack rolled to a 72-7 victory over Adams State in Alamosa on Oct. 3. In that contest, CSU Pueblo established a school record with 827 yards of total offense, including a season-high 450 rushing yards and 377 passing yards, while averaging 10.0 yards per play and recording a season-high 37 first downs.
The Pack scored 17 points in each of the first three quarters before adding 21 points in the fourth quarter. CSU Pueblo led 34-0 at halftime and scored the game's final 38 points after Adams State scored its lone touchdown early in the third quarter.
"I was really, really proud of our team and the way we challenged them before the game to not worry about the scoreboard, that the only thing that matters is our standard and being able to play to our standard for four quarters and playing each play to the best of your ability," Vigil said. "I think whether it was our starters or later in the game when we were able to get some other guys in the game, those guys played to our standard. And I think it showed for four quarters."
The Pack's ground attack was led by sophomore running back
Jaedon Matthews (Goodyear, Ariz./Cal Poly), who rushed for a season-high 108 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, while sophomore running back
AJ Merrida (Houston, Texas/Adams State) added 100 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts. The performance marked the first time since the 2018 season against Black Hills State that CSU Pueblo had two 100-yard rushers in the same game.
In addition to Matthews and Merrida, redshirt freshman running back
Caleb Llamas (Centennial, Colo./Grandview) finished with 86 rushing yards on eight carries, while sophomore running back
Russell Patton (Denver, Colo./MLK Jr. Early College) added 68 yards on eight attempts.
Sophomore quarterback
Navi Bruzon (Peoria, Ariz./Highland CC) completed 14-of-23 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns, while also scoring on a 12-yard run to open the scoring. Sophomore quarterback
Evan Powell (San Bernardino, Calif./Chaffey College) added 112 passing yards and two touchdowns and scored twice on the ground to account for four touchdowns in the victory. Powell finished with 145 yards of total offense as he also rushed for 33 yards.
Senior receiver
Dedrek Taylor-Akins (Fontana, Calif./Northeastern State) caught five passes for 109 yards, while sophomore receiver
Nyir Jones (Camden, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas), junior tight end
Colton Rose (Castle Rock, Colo./Valor Christian), junior receiver
Rashawn Jackson (Venice, Calif./UNLV) and sophomore receiver
Cedric Mills (Dallas, Texas/Cedar Hill) each caught touchdown passes. Jones' touchdown came on a 50-yard strike from Bruzon in the first quarter.
CSU Pueblo's defense was equally impressive against the Grizzlies as the Pack limited Adams State to just 147 yards of total offense, including 77 rushing yards and 70 passing yards. The ThunderWolves also held the Grizzlies to just 1-of-14 on third-down conversions, forced two turnovers, and recorded two sacks.
"I thought our guys played disciplined football on defense," Vigil said. "And that forced them to give the ball back to our offense. Our offense had a record-setting day as far as yardage and things of that nature. You're not able to put as many points on the board as we did without your defense making plays."
Special teams also played a significant role in the victory as senior kicker
Jackson Smith (Centennial, Colo./Santa Barbara City College), who was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance against Adams State, connected on field goals of 50, 48, and 25 yards and was perfect on eight extra-point attempts to establish a single-game school record with 17 kicking points.
Through six games this season, CSU Pueblo is averaging 44.0 points and 552.8 yards of total offense per game. The Pack ranks third nationally in total offense, sixth in passing offense and seventh in scoring offense.
The ThunderWolves have also been one of the most efficient offensive teams in Division II as they rank sixth nationally in passing efficiency and 10th in third-down conversion percentage at 52.1 percent.
Leading the Pack's high-powered offense is Bruzon, who has thrown for an RMAC-leading 1,778 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 64.6 percent of his passes. Bruzon also leads the league in passing yards per game (296.3), total offense (319.0 yards per game), passing efficiency (188.3) and points responsible for (132).
Nationally, Bruzon ranks fourth in points responsible for per game (22.0), sixth in passing efficiency, seventh in passing touchdowns and ninth in passing yards.
Bruzon's top receiving targets this season have been Taylor-Akins and junior
Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (Aurora, Colo./Eastern Washington). Taylor-Akins leads the RMAC in receiving yards with 562 and is averaging 93.7 receiving yards per game, while Honeycutt is second in the league with 531 receiving yards and leads the conference with five touchdown receptions.
Defensively, CSU Pueblo is allowing just 15.8 points and 316.0 yards per game and leads the RMAC and is 16th nationally in scoring defense. The Pack has also recorded 18 sacks and seven interceptions and ranks seventh nationally in passing efficiency defense (99.6).
The ThunderWolves' defensive effort has been led by senior defensive end
Jaylen Booth (Merced, Calif./Merced College), who leads the RMAC in sacks (0.92 per game) and tackles for loss (1.42 per game). Booth ranks sixth nationally in sacks per game and 17th in tackles for loss per game.
In addition to Booth, sophomore linebacker
Carter Daniels (Centennial, Colo./Mountain Vista) leads the team in tackles (50) and is second in both sacks (3.0) and tackles for a loss (6.5), while senior safety
Kahden Rullo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) has had 27 tackles and leads the team with four pass break-ups.
Vigil believes his team's continued improvement on both sides of the football has been one of the most encouraging developments during the first half of the season.
"Defensively, I think we're tackling a lot better than we were earlier in the season," Vigil said. "I think we're doing a really good job right now of just understanding what you need to do. I think offensively, as you see the year moving on, you're seeing an offense that can really do both really well. We can throw the ball really well, and we can run the ball really well. But I think the thing that continues to show up is the physicality, and I think that's something that has just continued to get better and better as the season has gone on."
Saturday's contest will mark the 30th all-time meeting between CSU Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands, with the ThunderWolves holding a 24-5 advantage in the series. The Pack has won 19 of the last 20 meetings against the Cowboys, including 16 of the 17 contests played since CSU Pueblo restarted its football program in 2008.
The ThunderWolves have also enjoyed considerable success against Highlands in the ThunderBowl, compiling a 12-2 home record against the Cowboys.
Last season, CSU Pueblo rolled to a 59-13 victory over Highlands in Las Vegas, N.M., as the Pack held the Cowboys to 309 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers. CSU Pueblo also posted a 67-28 victory over Highlands during its 2024 Homecoming game in the ThunderBowl.
Following Saturday's game, the Pack will hit the road for the second time this month as they travel to Durango, Colo., for a 12 p.m. RMAC contest on Saturday, Oct. 24 against Fort Lewis College (2-3 overall, 1-3 RMAC).
ABOUT NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
New Mexico Highlands comes into Saturday's contest looking to snap a two-game losing streak following its 52-24 home setback to then seventh-ranked Western Colorado on Oct. 3. Before that loss, the Cowboys suffered a 34-23 road setback at South Dakota Mines on Sept. 26.
The Cowboys, who are coached by third-year head coach Kurt Taufa'asau, opened the season with back-to-back non-conference victories over Eastern New Mexico (35-34) and Western New Mexico (55-32), before falling 31-28 in overtime at Fort Lewis. Highlands then earned its lone conference victory of the season with a 44-36 home win over Black Hills State on Sept. 19.
Taufa'asau, who has compiled an 11-17 record with the Cowboys, was named the program's head coach in May 2024 after previously serving as the head coach at New Mexico Military Institute, where he led the Broncos to the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Championship.
Offensively, New Mexico Highlands has one of the most productive attacks in the RMAC as the Cowboys lead the league and rank 11th nationally in rushing offense at 246.7 yards per game. Highlands also ranks second in the RMAC in total offense at 445.2 yards per contest and third in scoring offense at 34.8 points per game.
The Cowboys have scored at least 23 points in all six games this season and have gained at least 430 yards of total offense in five of their six contests.
Highlands' offense is directed by junior quarterback Kadyn Parr, who has thrown for 1,074 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 76-of-129 passes. Parr is also the Cowboys' second-leading rusher with 311 yards and two touchdowns on 65 carries.
Sophomore running back Ashton Bradford leads the Cowboys' ground attack with 528 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 67 carries, averaging 7.9 yards per attempt. Bradford has also caught eight passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.
The Cowboys' receiving corps includes junior Kerya Powell, who has caught 17 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, while Highlands has utilized several different receivers throughout the first six games of the season.
Defensively, the Cowboys are allowing 36.5 points and 454.7 yards of total offense per game, including 262.0 passing yards and 192.7 rushing yards per contest. Highlands has also forced 12 turnovers this season, including seven interceptions, but has recorded just three sacks through six games.
Vigil said he has been impressed with the Cowboys' offensive production and expects a difficult challenge on Saturday.
"This is a good football team we're playing on Saturday. Their offense right now is second in the conference in total yardage, only behind us," Vigil said. "They're ranked first in the league in rushing yards per game. Offensively, they are very difficult to stop. They've done a really good job in recruiting and have recruited some really good skill players. Their quarterback is playing at an extremely high level right now."
Vigil also said the Cowboys' multiple defensive looks will challenge the Pack's offense throughout the contest.
"Defensively, you're going to see a lot of different things. You're going to see an odd structure, an even structure. You're going to see just a lot of different things throughout the entire game that really keep offenses guessing and limit what you can do offensively," Vigil added. "We're going to have our hands full this weekend as we prepare for Homecoming."
For the Pack, Vigil said the keys to Saturday's contest will be playing disciplined football defensively and maintaining offensive efficiency against a New Mexico Highlands team capable of controlling the clock with its rushing attack.
"We have to be extremely disciplined. We have to be extremely sound in our approach," Vigil said. "Offensively, I think because they're able to run the football so much, we've got to be efficient because they can hold on to the football and dominate time of possession. If you're struggling offensively against their defense and they're doing what they need to do offensively, it can turn into a dogfight really quick."
PACK FOOTBALL NOTES