CHADRON, Neb. – After blasting off with a 100-yard return of the opening kickoff, nearly everything went exceedingly well for the Chadron State College football team as it rolled past Adams State 69-0 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played at Elliott Field in Chadron in gorgeous weather on Saturday afternoon.
It was a banner day for the Eagles (2-5, 1-4 RMAC), who had a brutal first-half schedule facing only teams picked in the top half of the RMAC Preseason Poll, but came out energized after a bye week last Saturday and could not be stopped against the Grizzlies (0-7, 0-5 RMAC). The 69-0 point spread is Chadron State's fourth largest in the last 60 years.
After
Chase Nelson's length of the field touchdown return, the first in Eagles' history, they scored eight more touchdowns while senior kicker
Shay Prichard went two-of-two on field goal attempts and made all nine of his point-after kicks. CSC also had just one turnover, on special teams, and was penalized only twice for 20 yards while accumulating a season-high 539 yards of total offense.
Meanwhile, Chadron State's stellar defense also was highly successful while pitching a shutout. The Eagles came away with four turnovers by recovering two fumbles and intercepting two passes, one of which linebacker
Liam Blaser returned for a 40-yard touchdown.
The Grizzlies, who had 241 yards of offense, threatened to score twice late game, but fumbled the ball away inside the five-yard line the first time and had a 31-yard field goal blocked with 13 seconds left to play.
Nelson's kickoff return paved the way for an array of exceptional performances by Coach
Jay Long's team. The 100-yard kickoff return is the longest in CSC history, edging the 99-yard return by J.D. Hill against Midland Lutheran in 1980 and 98-yard jaunts by Mark Sholtz versus Minot State in 1977 and Maurice Threatts in 2008 against Mesa State. Nelson, a senior from Castle Rock, Colorado, previously returned a 92-yard kickoff for a TD against CSU Pueblo a season ago.
The Eagles went ahead 10-0 late in the first period when Prichard kicked a 32-yard field goal to salvage a lengthy drive that saw the Eagles drive down to the 1-yard line before a CSC fumble that the Eagles recovered for a loss of nearly 15 yards, leading to the three-point attempt.
Chadron State scored five TDs in the second quarter. Running back
Devon Rivers scored the first on the initial play of the quarter by racing 15 yards up the middle after alternate quarterback
Wyatt Sprague had rushed 22 yards on the final play of the first period. Sprague threw consecutive passes of 20 and 15 yards to
Richard Okuno, the second in the end zone for a touchdown, to cap a 61-yard drive in six plays for CSC's second TD of the quarter.
The Eagles went 69 yards in three plays midway through the quarter when Sprague connected with wide receiver
Garet Schlabs on a 42-yard pass before senior running back
Jake Marschall, receiving his first carries of the 2026 season, ran 21 yards up the middle and then went to his right for the final six yards into the end zone.
Thompson, the starting quarterback, returned and directed a seven-play, 73-yard scoring drive. He initially hit Schlabs with tosses of 14 and 12 yards and then threw a 33-yard strike to freshman
Ethan Latta, who caught the pass while running into the end zone.
There were just 62 seconds left before halftime when Adams State received the ensuing kickoff. The Grizzlies completed two passes, but the third was intercepted by Blaser, who sprinted the other way 40 yards to the end zone to put the Eagles ahead 45-0 at halftime after Prichard booted the extra point.
Adams State received the second half kickoff and ran 10 plays for 68 yards to the CSC 3-yard line before fumbling away the ball, with CSC linebacker
Jarred Marquez recovering at the Eagles' seven. Thompson soon ran for 11 yards, then threw a short pass that Rivers took 76 yards down the south sideline before being downed a yard shy of the goal line. Rivers completed his journey with his second rushing touchdown of the day on the next play.
The Eagles' defense set up Chadron State's next TD when
Aiden Kuester forced a fumble that Blaser recovered at the Adams State 39. With Sprague back at quarterback, he threw a short pass to Marschall, who carried it 27 yards to the Grizzlies' eight. Sprague took the ball to the goal line on the next play, putting the home team ahead 59-0.
The Eagles scored again on the final play of the third frame.
Kasey Jones, a senior from Alamosa, Colo., home of Adams State, took over as the CSC quarterback. Jones ran eight yards, then completed a nine-yard pass to tight end
Colter Hanft and hit Latta with a 15-yarder before Nelson, the 100-yard kickoff returner, took a handoff for a seven-yard rushing TD.
Prichard's 23-yard field goal accounted for the only points in the fourth quarter, when numerous young Eagles saw their first action of the season. One of them, freshman
Kelian Allen, carried the ball eight times for 50 yards and became the Eagles' leading rusher. No one else for CSC carried more than five times, but the Eagles rushed 36 times for 220 yards, a six-yard average per carry.
Thompson completed half of his 14 passes for 176 yards, Sprague was 6-for-8 for 119 yards and Jones completed both of his tosses for 24 yards. Nine Eagles caught passes for 318 yards. Schlabs (68 yards), Latta (55) and Okuno (54) all had three receptions while Rivers's 76-yard romp on his only catch gave him the most receiving yards.
Twenty-one Eagles were credited with making at least one tackle, led by linebacker
Cooper Walton with 10. Blaser had six to go with his fumble recovery and 40-yard interception return.
The Eagles, 2-5 overall and with an emphatic RMAC victory to their credit, will play at New Mexico Highlands this coming Saturday, Oct. 24 and will have the Fort Lewis Skyhawks for their Homecoming foe on Oct. 31.
