Courtesy of Adams State Athletics
ALAMOSA, Colo. - The Chadron State College Eagles ran for 249 yards and held on to the ball for more than 38 minutes as they used a pair of third-quarter touchdown scoring drives on back-to-back positions while holding on to a 21-10 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over host Adams State College, Saturday afternoon here at Rex Stadium.
The Eagles, who trailed 3-0 at the intermission, marched 83 yards on 13 plays on their first drive of the second half to take the lead for good, 7-3 and then extended the lead to 14-3 when redshirt freshman quarterback Jonn McLain found a wide-open Nathan Ross for a 63-yard touchdown catch-and-run with 1:31 left in the period.
Meanwhile, the Eagle defense, ranked first in the RMAC, held the Grizzlies to just 145 yards of total offense as the visitors claimed their fifth straight win in the series between the teams. The victory allowed the Eagles to improve to 3-1 overall and to 2-0 in RMAC play, good for a share of the RMAC lead.
The Grizzlies, who put up another solid defensive effort, fell for the third straight game and are now 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Eagle redshirt freshman tailback Glen Clinton did a lot of the damage as he ran for 155 yards on 32 carries. He also was the Eagles' top receiver as he caught six passes for 52 yards. Clinton, who did fumble the ball five times, only one of which was recovered by the Grizzlies, also had a 100-yard day last Saturday in his first career start.
Meanwhile, McClain ran an effective offense using a shovel pass to Clinton numerous times while finding Ross for the Eagles only true big play as the Eagle youngster the day completing 16 of 25 passes for 155 yards and a score. Dominic Morris also provided a spark for the Eagles running 14 times for 84 yards and their first touchdown as he broke tackles while darting in from 19 yards out with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
With the Eagles on top 14-3, things turned bizarre in the fourth quarter as the Eagles tried to run time of the clock.
On a 3rd-and-10 with a little more than eight minutes, left, Grizzly junior safety Will Naas (Tucson, Ariz.) laid a big hit on Clinton that forced him to cough up the ball. Fabrice Nolen (Mesquite, Ariz.) picked up the fumble and returned it 46 yards for the touchdown as the Grizzlies closed to within 14-10 on the ensuing David Van Voris (Elizabeth, Colo.) point after.
The Grizzly defense then forced a punt on the ensuing possession. However, Adams State was pinned inside the 10-yard line by Eagle punter Kevin Berg. Unable to move the ball, the Grizzlies had to punt for the eighth time as the Eagles took over inside Grizzly territory.
The Grizzlies then forced yet another Clinton fumble on the ensuing drive. However, the Eagles' Brandon Gunter was Johnny-on-the-spot and picked it up and running it for 15 yards and a game-clinching score with 1:30 left.
The first half was a true defensive battle although the Grizzlies were moving the ball well on their first two possessions, one of which was ended by a fumble. The second drive that went 28 yards on eight plays was then capped by a 34-yard Van Voris field goal giving the Grizzlies the only points of the opening 30 minutes.
The Grizzly defense, which also came up with a Jeremiah Van Valkenburg (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) interception late in the first quarter, was paced by junior middle linebacker Rocco DeLorenzo's (Arvada, Colo.) game and career-high 17 tackles. James Ackel (Riverside, Calif.) also tallied 11 stops while junior linebacker Daniel Dodd (Gilmer, Texas) chipped in another nine stops.
James Belville made nine stops to lead the Eagle defense that held the Grizzlies to just 54 yards on the ground and another 91 through the air.
The Grizzlies play another Nebraska team next week as they face defending RMAC Champion Nebraska-Kearney next Saturday (Oct. 2) at 1 p.m. CDT in Kearney, Neb. The Lopers entered a Saturday afternoon contest at Western State with 2-1 overall and 1-0 RMAC records.