CHADRON – After making two long trips and winning one game 40-34 in double overtime and losing the other 34-31 on a last-minute field goal, the Chadron State College football team will get down to serious business at home on Saturday.
 
The Eagles will open their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule against Colorado Mesa. The Family Day game will kickoff at noon.
 
Of course, the first two games—against Missouri S&T and West Texas A&M—were big ones, too, but the conference championship is always a target for the Eagles and the remaining nine RMAC teams.
 
Colorado Mesa figures to be a formidable foe. There's lots of familiarity between the programs. The Mavericks' head coach is Russ Martin, a stellar linebacker for the Eagles in the mid-1970s, and the defensive coordinator, Todd Auer, handled the same duties at Chadron State for 17 years before moving to Grand Junction a year ago.
 
The Mavericks also are 1-1 for the season. They blanked Menlo College, an NAIA member located in California, 34-0 in Grand Junction to open the season and fell 26-0 to powerful Montana State in Bozeman last Saturday.  The Bobcats are ranked second and third in the Football Championship Subdivision polls.
 
Against Menlo, the Mavs led 21-0 at halftime and had a 409 to 204 advantage in total net yards. At Montana State, the host Bobcats were ahead 19-0 at halftime and out-yarded Mesa 403 to 168.
 
Montana State defeated Chadron State 33-6 in last year's season opener and went on to an 11-2 season. 
 
Last year, the Eagles beat the Mavericks 41-30 in Grand Junction. While CSC outgained Mesa 552 to 298 yards, the Eagles needed touchdown passes of 37 and 54 yards from quarterback Jonn McLain to wide receiver Nathan Ross in the fourth quarter to wrap up the victory.
 
McLain completed 30 of 40 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns against the Mavs' last year.  CSC running backs Glen Clinton and Michael Madkins rushed for 96 and 93 yards, respectively.
 
All three also have the current season off to a good start. McLain has completed 65 of 98 passes for 563 yards and three touchdowns.  Clinton has carried 46 times for 283 yards and four TDs. Madkins has 12 carries for 106 yards and two scores.  
 
Mesa's offensive leader is junior tailback Jake Cimolino, who carried 242 times for 1,365 yards  (5.6-yard average) and nine touchdowns a year ago while earning all-RMAC first-team honors. He carried 17 times for 67 yards against the Eagles last fall.
 
 So far this season, Cimolino, who is 5-11, 200 pounds, has rushed 15 times for 120 yards against Menlo and 15 times for 92 yards against Montana State.
 
Kyle Duran, a redshirt freshman, has taken over at quarterback for the Mavericks, even though last year's starter, senior Jason Haferman, is still on the roster. Duran completed 16 of 29 passes for 142 yards against Menlo and was five of 16 for 41 yards against Montana State, but eventually was replaced by Haferman and another senior, Michael Brady, at quarterback.
 
Both Haferman and Brady were 0-2 while passing against the Bobcats, but Brady also carried twice for 17 yards. Brady is also a starting safety and the Mavericks' punter.
 
Besides Cimolino, two more Mesa players were placed on this year's all-RMAC preseason team by the coaches. They are center Brett Boyer, a 6-3, 255-pound senior, and middle linebacker Jake Edmiston, a 6-2, 195-pound senior.
 
Chadron State head coach Jay Long said the Mavericks are a good team on both sides of the ball. He said Martin, long-time offensive coordinator at Nebraska-Kearney before going to Mesa State, likes to have a running quarterback, and often incorporates "quick screens" in the passing game.
 
Nine former Nebraska-Kearney players are on the Mesa roster.  
 
Defensively, Long said he anticipates that Auer will continue his penchant for bringing lots of pressure. He said the Mavericks also "try to confuse the offense" by using a variety of fronts.
 
Speaking at Coaches' Corner on Monday, Long said he and the other coaches would put lots of emphasis on the fourth quarter in practice this week after West Texas came from behind to outscore the Eagles 18-0 in the final period a AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas., last Thursday night.