CHADRON, Neb. – October 27, 2018 -- Chadron State College football scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns off of consecutive turnovers by New Mexico Highlands University, and the Eagles held on for a 43-38 win at home Saturday afternoon on Elliott Field. The win was the third time this season CSC has come back from a fourth quarter deficit, and it locked up an undefeated home record for the 2018 squad.

"I'm proud of our team for going 5-0 at home this year," said Head Football Coach Jay Long. "That was one of our goals. It all started with the leadership of our seniors. We've got a great group this year. They're mature and they're great leaders. That's why we've played so well in the fourth quarter this year."
 
The game underwent several twists and turns after CSC gained the upper hand in the first quarter on Dalton Holst scoring passes to Tevon Wright and Brandon Fullerton.
 
The Cowboys responded with 21 unanswered points in the second frame, but the Eagles reduced their halftime deficit to four with a Will Morgan field goal as the first half expired, to make it 21-17.
 
Chadron State retook the lead on the first play of the third quarter. Cole Thurness returned the opening kickoff of the second half 38 yards to near midfield, and he was then the recipient of a 42-yard touchdown strike from Holst after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave CSC starting field position on its opponents' side of the field.
 
Down 24-21, Highlands tied the game on an Israel Farfan field goal from 36 yards after going 60 yards in nine plays on its first offensive possession of the half.
 
The Cowboys wrestled control of the game back with 4:45 left in the third quarter when quarterback Danny Cameron found Emmanuel Lumanze wide open in the middle of the field and he bounded in for six points.
 
True freshman Elijah Myles would capitalize on some hard-nosed running by senior Kevin Coy, Jr, just two minutes later, leaping into the endzone for a score, but CSC came up just short of tying the game when its extra point attempt bounced off the upright. Coy went 63 yards in four plays, three of which went for first down yardage, on the drive to set up the 12-yard touchdown jaunt by Myles which cut NMHU's lead to 31-30.
 
A Highlands fumble on the very next second-down snap gave the ball to Chadron State, recovered by Merritt Crabtree at the NMHU 46 with 2:04 left in the third. Coy made the Cowboys pay for their mistake, after the quarter break, with a 16-yard touchdown run to take a 37-31 lead with 14:23 remaining in the game.
 
The Cowboys were driving on the following possession when a Cowboy receiver was hit hard near the sideline, fumbled and it was recovered by Eagles safety Malik Goss who ran it back 62 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles up 43-31 at the 10:57 mark.

Goss's fumble return would prove to be the winning score, as the Cowboys' DJ McFadden, who led all receivers in the game with 139 yards on 10 receptions and two scores, was the last to find paydirt for NMHU, capping the game's scoring at 48-43. The CSC defense held Highlands to just 14 yards on its final possession, and churned out yardage on the ground to run out the clock and burn the remaining NMHU timeouts.
 
The Cowboys outgained the Eagles 553-517 in total yardage, though Chadron State's effort was well balanced with 262 yards passing and 255 rushing. CSC backs averaged 5.9 yards per tote on 43 carries.

Coy rushed for 148 to put himself over the 2,000-yard mark for his career in the victory, getting to 2,120 over four years and coming within 121 of Hall-of-Famer Mike Fackrell, who is 10th in school history. He moved up to sole possession of ninth place with 26 career touchdowns, and he edged into 10th place all-time with 4.9 yards per carry.
 
Cameron had a huge day for the Cowboys, going 26-for-39 for 391 yards, five touchdowns to four different receivers and one interception. McFadden finished with 10 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns, Zach Drew-Toles had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown and Lumanze and Nick Edwards each added touchdown grabs.
 
Cowboys running back Dion Alston had 135 yards on 22 attempts to help him cross the 1,000-yard mark on the season at 1,021.
 
On defense, redshirt freshman Brendan Brehmer of Alliance shared the team lead for tackles with senior Chadron native Keenan Johnson at 11. Linebacker Tyler Lewis had eight tackles and one interception.
 
Chadron State improved to 6-2 overall and in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, while New Mexico Highlands fell to 3-6 (3-5 RMAC).

Seniors were honored for their final home game in the pre-game announcements, and at halftime, the eight individuals being inducted into the CSC Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday evening were honored. They are: Ryan Deterding, Jeremy Eardley, Matt Strand, and Jeff Turman for football; Dustin Elliott and Will Farrell for rodeo; Janelle Hutt for women's basketball; and Zak Kennedy for men's basketball. Strand also competed two years in men's basketball.
 
Chadron State heads to Rapid City, South Dakota, next Saturday, November 3, where it will meet with South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (4-5), which led NCAA Division II in total offense at the start of the weekend.
 
Score by Quarters       1           2           3           4           Total
N.M. Highlands            0           21         10         7           38
Chadron St.                14            3          13        13          43