COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Redshirt sophomore Chase Nelson created a game-changing play in the return game last Saturday and has been rewarded with the first RMAC weekly honor of his career. 

Nelson was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday by the league office in the final installment of weekly awards this season. It gives the Eagles two consecutive Special Teams Player of the Week winners after Wilson Yee took home the honor last week. 

After CSU Pueblo took a 3-0 first-quarter lead with a field goal, Nelson took the ensuing kickoff and ran untouched through the middle of the ThunderWolves kickoff coverage, angling towards the right sideline and outrushing the Pack for a 92-yard return touchdown.

Nelson's runback is the first kickoff return for a touchdown for Chadron State since the 2017 season. It is the 10^th-longest return in program history and only the 11^th all-time over 90 yards. It is also the fifth-longest kick return in the RMAC this season and the fifth kick return TD in the conference. 

Nelson also added two punt returns for 20 yards for a total of 112 yards in the return game. Nelson's 112 combined return yards are the sixth-most in an RMAC game this year.

On the season, Nelson's 25.6 kick return yards per game rank fifth in the RMAC while his 8.7 punt return yards per game rank fourth in the conference. As a running back, Nelson also has 10 carries for 45 yards and five receptions for 32 yards in 2025. 

With the RMAC season completed, Chadron State (8-3, 8-1 RMAC) has qualified for the NCAA Division II Football Championships as an at-large team. The Eagles will face Pittsburg State, the No. 4 regional seed and No. 6 team in the AFCA Coaches Poll, in the first round at 12 p.m. MT (1 p.m. CT) in Pittsburg, Kansas.