CHADRON, Neb. – After a topsy-turvy game that came down to the final seconds against New Mexico Highlands, Chadron State football will hope that a return to Elliott Field in front of a homecoming crowd can propel them back into the win column. 

The Eagles (2-4, 1-3 RMAC) are set to battle Fort Lewis (1-5, 0-4 RMAC) on homecoming this Saturday in Chadron. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. 

Saturday's homecoming football game is part of a jam-packed week of homecoming festivities that have been happening all week and will spill over into early next week, including the annual homecoming parade Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. on Main Street in Chadron.

The game will be streamed for free on the RMAC Network. Chadron fans can also listen live to Dave Collins on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 FM and follow along via live stats. 

Looking Back
Chadron State fell to 0-2 on the road this season with a 33-30 loss to New Mexico Highlands. The game featured 951 total yards of offense between the two teams, as well as four fourth-quarter lead changes.

RECAP: New Mexico Highlands

The Cowboys came out on top thanks to a 28-yard pass from Joey Cave to Teneil Nichols that gave NMHU the lead with 1:08 left to play. Chadron State drove down to field goal range, but the Eagles missed a potential game-tying field goal from 40 yards out as time expired. 

Go DJ
While quarterback DJ Ralph couldn't quite take home the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week again after winning it after the Adams State game, he still had a big performance as the offense scored over 30 points for the second straight game. 

Ralph completed 23 of 31 passes for 307 yards, setting season highs in completions, attempts, yards and a season-high in completion percentage (74.1) aside from the season opener against Nebraska where he completed three out of three passes before leaving injured. Ralph also threw for three touchdowns for the second consecutive week, although he did throw his first interception of the season as well. 

The 307 yards against Adams State take Ralph up to 520 for the season. More importantly, Ralph is healthy, with back-to-back standout performances after a shoulder injury limited him to just 12 pass attempts in Chadron State's first four games. 
 
Line In The Sand 
Chadron State's defense has carried the team throughout the season, as the Eagles have the second-best scoring defense in the RMAC, allowing 15.8 points per game. 

The Eagles have stars on the defensive line, with returning First Team All-RMAC performers Hunter O'Connor and Tanner True, but the linebacking corps have also been filling in the gaps and putting up numbers this season. 

Chadron State's starting linebackers in CSC's base 3-3-5 defense – Reed Henkel, Xavier Harrell and Logan O'Brien – all have over 40 tackles this season, ranking first, second and third on the team. 

Reed Henkel, a sophomore out of Arvada, Colorado, leads the team and ranks fourth in the RMAC with 48 total tackles and 8.0 tackles per game. Henkel's 30 solo tackles are the third-most in the conference and his 5.0 solo tackles per game rank 30^th in Division II.

Xavier Harrell, a senior out of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, has racked up 43 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, along with two pass breakups. Harrell is second on the team and tied for eighth in the RMAC in sacks. 

Logan O'Brien, a Kearney, Nebraska native, has 41 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. O'Brien had a season-high 10 tackles, including nine solo stops, against New Mexico Highlands. He also has an interception, which he returned for a touchdown against Adams State.

Air Attack
The Eagles' passing offense has consistently spread the ball around this season, and with the early-season uncertainty at quarterback solved by DJ Ralph's return to health, targets and receptions have multiplied across the board in recent weeks. 

Six Eagle receivers have double-digit receptions this year – Grant Swenson (15), Rollin George III (12), Jake Marschall (12), Jamahd Monroe (11), Peter Krohn (10) and Tommy Thomas (10). Thomas has reached 10 receptions despite playing in only three games. 

Additionally, five different Eagles have hauled in touchdown receptions, with Swenson, George III and Monroe catching two apiece and Krohn and Thomas each catching one. 

A total of 13 different Eagles have caught a pass this season. Redshirt freshman running back Chase Nelson has come on strong as a receiving option, with seven of his eight catches on the year coming in the last two games. 

RMAC Update
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has two undefeated teams remaining in conference play – the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves and the Western Colorado Mountaineers. Chadron State plays those two teams in the final two weeks of the season, traveling to Western on November 9 and hosting CSU-Pueblo in the regular season finale on November 16. 

RMAC Standings

Team	RMAC Record	Overall Record
CSU Pueblo	5-0	6-1
Western Colorado	4-0	6-0
Colorado School of Mines	3-1	5-1
Colorado Mesa	3-1	4-2
Black Hills State	2-2	3-3
South Dakota Mines	2-3	3-4
Chadron State	1-3	2-4
New Mexico Highlands	1-3	1-5
Fort Lewis	0-4	1-5
Adams State	0-4	0-6

 
The biggest result in the RMAC so far came on October 5, when Colorado Mesa upset five-time defending RMAC champions Colorado School of Mines, the Orediggers' first RMAC loss in 23 games. 

Many of the teams at the top of the RMAC standings are still to meet – Western and Mines face off October 26, Pueblo and Western on November 2, Mines and Pueblo on November 9, and Mesa and Western on November 16. 

In the Polls
There are three RMAC teams ranked in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) national poll, all in the top 15 –Western Colorado at No. 8, Colorado School of Mines at No. 12 and CSU Pueblo at No. 14. The D2Football.com poll has Western at No. 10, Pueblo at No. 13 and Mines right behind at No. 14. 

Chadron State was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team RMAC in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches. Each coach ranked opposing programs without voting for their own. 

Colorado School of Mines, who have won the last five RMAC titles but need to replace Harlon Hill-winning quarterback John Matocha, were picked to finish on top again, receiving seven out of 10 first-place votes. Western Colorado was picked second, receiving three first-place votes. 

The other teams picked ahead of Chadron State by the coaches were CSU Pueblo, Colorado Mesa, Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. After the Eagles in seventh, the poll is rounded out by Adams State, New Mexico Highlands and Fort Lewis. 

Opponent Preview
by Con Marshall
For the second year in a row, the Chadron State College football team will have the Fort Lewis Skyhawks as its Homecoming opponent this Saturday. The game will kick off at 1 o'clock.

At the midpoint of the season, both teams are hoping for a victory that can spark them to more success in the remainder of the schedule. The Eagles are 2-4 after losing a hard-fought game at New Mexico Highlands last Saturday, 33-30.  Fort Lewis is 1-5 and still searching for its first RMAC win of the season.

The Skyhawks lost 40 consecutive games from the middle of the 2019 season through their season opener of 2024, but they snapped that skid earlier this year by defeating Arizona Christian 17-12 to improve to 1-1 on the season. Since then, the Skyhawks have dropped their four RMAC contests. The setbacks were to Black Hills State 33-7, South Dakota Mines 49-33, Western Colorado 44-8 and CSU-Pueblo 58-24.

The six opponents have outgained the Skyhawks by an average of 253.5 to 114.7 yards and outscored them 18-7 in rushing touchdowns. Fort Lewis has had more success throwing the ball, averaging 170 yards per game through the air while giving up 212.3 yards passing per game. Still, the Hawks trail 13-6 in TD passes.

The primary quarterback is Stone Walker, a 6-3, 175-pound redshirt freshman from Texas. He has completed 86 of 174 passes for almost exactly 50% and 873 yards.  He's thrown for five of the team's six touchdowns and five of the eight interceptions.  Walker is also the Skyhawks' leading rusher with 74 carries and 271 net yards. He has rushed for five touchdowns.

The defensive leader is Jacob Penney, a 6-0, 200-pound sophomore who has participated in 67 tackles, 26 more than any of his teammates. He had seven unassisted tackles to pace his team defensively against the Eagles a year ago. 

Chadron State won last year's homecoming game against Fort Lewis 57-20, led by then-quarterback Preston Pearson, who completed 14 of 16 passes for 306 yards and five touchdowns. 

Seven of the passes were caught by Tommy Thomas, who became the fifth Chadron State receiver to take four pass receptions to the end zone in a game. They covered 78, 66, 12 and 29 yards.  His three additional catches netted 40 yards, giving him a total of 225 yards, sixth-most all-time in a single game for the Eagles.

It's good news for CSC that Thomas, who missed three games with injury earlier this season, and new quarterback DJ Ralph, who missed two, are both back healthy for Chadron State. Thomas scored his first touchdown of the season at Highlands, while Ralph completed 23 of 31 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns, besides scoring on a 12-yard rush. The week before that, at home against Adams State, Ralph earned the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award by hitting on 20 of 29 passes for 183 yards and three TDs and rushing for 63 yards, including a 41-yard scoring jaunt.

Since 1969, when verified records are available, Chadron State has a record of 36 wins, 17 losses and one tie on homecoming.  The Eagles have won 18 of their 23 homecoming contests since the year 2000. Against Fort Lewis, the Eagles are 33-5 all-time. The Skyhawks last won in 2019, three weeks before FLC's eventual 40-game losing streak began after a 3-2 start.

Coach's Corner
Chadron State head coach Jay Long is in his 13^th season leading the Eagles in 2024. He is an alum of the university, earning two RMAC All-Conference selections at center during his playing career. 

Coach Long went 25-8 on the field across his first three seasons in charge of the CSC program from 2012-2014, although NCAA violations by the previous coaching staff and not connected to Long led to the first nine of those wins being vacated. 

During Long's coaching tenure the Chadron State program has seen 10 All-America selections, 11 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, numerous All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and All-Region awards, one Harlon Hill Trophy Finalist, and the first NFL draft pick that CSC has produced since 1989 when offensive lineman Garrett Gilkey was picked in the seventh round by the Cleveland Browns in 2013. 

Prior to coaching at Chadron, Long spent three seasons as the head coach at Black Hills State University while the Yellow Jackets were transitioning from NAIA to Division II. He was also an assistant coach at BHSU for six seasons, serving as the offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator over that time frame. 

Entering the 2024 season, Coach Long is 59-56 at Chadron State. He has a career record of 74-71 as a head coach between three seasons at Black Hills and 12 seasons at CSC.