The Aggies and most of their fans wore black for the "Blackout" game against CSU-Pueblo.—Christina Cobos photo
By Scott Puryear
Goodwell, Okla. — The ThunderWolves of Colorado State University-Pueblo visited Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday night and topped the Aggies 26-14. It was the opening football game of the season for both teams, and 28 of the game’s 40 points were scored in a wild opening quarter.
The Aggies began the night well enough with a 12 play, 64-yard drive capped by a five-yard Kevin Lauchland to Doug Williams scoring pass. A ThunderWolf defender was all over Williams on the play, but the 6’5 senior (an All-American last year) juggled the ball and got control of it just before he hit the ground. The PAT was good and the Aggies held a 7-0 advantage with less than seven minutes gone.
However, the Timberwolves responded very quickly with a pair of touchdown runs of ten and 51 yards by tough running back Jesse Lewis, a 55-yard scoring strike from Ross Dausin to Bernard Jackson, and three PATs by Kyle Major to take a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Defense was what things were mostly about in the second quarter as the only scoring came on a safety for the ThunderWolves and the teams went to the halftime break with the Aggies trailing 23-7.
The scoreless third period kept the scoreboard at 23-7.
Hard hitting continued on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter and two minutes into it, Lauchland hit Isaiah Warren with a nice 22-yard touchdown pass, thanks to a very nifty move by Warren near the goal line. Carlos Nieto’s second extra point got the Aggies within nine at 23-14.
On the ensuing possession, Major’s 26-yard field goal increased the ThunderWolves’ advantage to 26-14, which was also the final score.
In the statistics department, the Aggies had the edge in total yards (339-300), first downs (21-16), and controlled the ball nearly 16 more minutes than did their opponents. However, the Aggies were penalized 18 times for a whopping 264 yards compared to a dozen penalties for 100 yards for the ThunderWolves.
Lewis led all rushers with 133 yards in 22 attempts and his two touchdowns. Jose Mendoza was the leading ball carrier for the Aggies with 40 yards in nine carries.
Williams spent most of the evening dogged by two and sometimes three defenders, but still led the Aggies in receptions with eight for 70 yards, while teammate Tyler Northcutt grabbed six for 49 yards.
Dausin connected on 12 of 30 passes for 169 yards, while the Aggies’ Lauchland was 24-44 for 233 yards. Dausin was intercepted twice and Lauchland was intercepted three times. Jose Huerta and Chris Robinson had the OPSU interceptions. Huerta returned his pick for nine yards and Robinson raced 40 yards with his.
Defensive back Jihad Wright was in on ten tackles for the Aggies, Huerta was in on six stops, and Quentin Green and Gus Overstreet were each in on four tackles. Both Overstreet and Will Turnbo had quarterback sacks. Aggie head coach Mike Wyatt said that in the overall picture, he liked what he saw from his defense, especially in the second half.
Wyatt was displeased with the penalty numbers posted against his team, but gave the Thunderwolves due credit, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Though there was a bit of “first game jitters” with both teams, and Wyatt added that he was pleased with the overall leadership and toughness shown by Lauchland in his debut as the Aggie starting quarterback.
For Wyatt, in his fourth year as the OPSU head coach, there are never any “silver linings” or moral victories in a loss. And though it was a loss for the Aggies, it was against a well-coached and talented ThunderWolf team.
There were some raindrops on and off during the evening, but over 2,000 fans enjoyed the game and a hamburger cookout, both sponsored by EPIC PCS, a fine friend and patron of OPSU.
Next up for the Aggies (now 0-1 on the young season) will be a Saturday game against Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. It will be the initial game of the year for Southwestern and also the very first game in their new stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
