Rachel Heaton
The Paw Print
A nine-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore Michael Carl (Rush, Colo.) pushed Adams State University past Black Hills State University in a 20-17 victory on Saturday in Spearfish, S.D. The Grizzlies, who accumulated 402 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers in the final drives of the game, advance to 2-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play and 4-2 overall.
Following a scoreless first quarter for both teams, Black Hills put points on the board first in Saturday’s contest with a one-yard quarterback keeper by Ward Anderson with 8:17 to play in the half. On the following drive, the Grizzlies were unsuccessful in the red zone and turned the ball over on downs to BHSU.
The ASU defense then forced the Yellow Jackets to go three-and-out. On the first play of the Grizzlies’ ensuing drive, Eggleston completed a pass to senior Scott Kellogg (Littleton, Colo.) that was good for 45 yards and an ASU touchdown. This tied the score at 7-7, which would be the score moving into halftime.
The Yellow Jackets would score on the opening possession of the second half. They went 75 yards in 11 plays and found the end zone on another one yard run by Anderson, giving themselves a 14-7 lead.
Adams State would then take over, but their drive was cut short when senior Trevor Eggleston (Tucson, Ariz.) and fumbled the ball. The fumble was recovered by Black Hills on the ASU 11 yard line. The Grizzly defense then came on the field and held the Yellow Jackets to a field goal by Devin Rounds.
This gave Black Hills a 17-7 lead with the clock at 8:45 left in the third.
On the Grizzlies’ next possession, Eggleston would go down with an injury and have to leave the game to be examined at a local hospital. Junior Cody Davies (Bozeman, Mont.) would come in to replace Eggleston for the remainder of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies would tally 13 unanswered points to complete a come from behind win. The first of these points came in the first drive of the quarter on a 41 yard field goal from senior David Van Voris (Elizabeth, Colo.). He was also successful on the Grizzlies’ next possession, this time from 40 yards out. With 9:56 remaining in the game, the Grizzlies only trailed by 4 points.
A few drives later, senior James Ackel (Riverside, Calif.) intercepted a pass off of Anderson and returned it 8 yards to set the Grizzlies up on the BHSU 32. However, the Grizzlies were unsuccessful and went three-and-out. The Grizzlies’ defense kept at it, as senior Brent Lush (Tucson, Ariz.) forced the Yellow Jackets to fumble on their next possession. The fumble was recovered by junior Vince Coach (Indianapolis, Ind.).
This time, the Grizzlies capitalized on the turnover, marching 44 yards down the field for the go ahead touchdown by Carl. A successful extra point by Van Voris set the score at 20-17 in favor of ASU.
Black Hills was unable to make anything happen on their final drive of the game, and Anderson was intercepted once again, this time by senior Mario Moore (Moreno Valley, Calif.).
Carl led the Grizzlies on the ground, racking up 111 yards in 12 carries. Redshirt freshman Dominique Matthews added 66 yards on 9 attempts. Eggleston was 13-21 and threw for 109 yards before leaving the game. Davies went 12-20 and had 82 yards passing.
Kellogg led the Grizzly receivers with 71 yards in 7 receptions. Junior Harry Adjei (San Jose, Calif.) had 43 yards on 5 catches while senior Ron Gaudin (Miami, Fla.) added 34 yards on 6 receptions. Van Voris was named RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season, after going 2-3 on field goal attempts and making both of his extra point attempts.
This Saturday, the Grizzlies host the Cowboys of New Mexico Highlands University for homecoming. The Cowboys enter the contest as co-leaders of the RMAC, with an undefeated RMAC record and a 5-1 overall record. The game will kick-off at 1 p.m. at Rex Stadium.
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