CHADRON, Neb. – After battling No. 8-ranked Western Colorado last week, Chadron State football will face a top-10 nationally-ranked opponent for the second week in a row when the Eagles host reigning RMAC champions CSU Pueblo for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Elliott Field at Don Beebe Stadium.

The Eagles (1-2, 0-1 RMAC) will face CSU Pueblo (3-0, 1-0 RMAC) in what will be Chadron State's first RMAC home game since the Eagles lost in double overtime at the ThunderBowl to end last regular season in what was a de facto RMAC championship game. This year's ThunderWolves are ranked No. 5 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 7 D2Football.com media poll entering Saturday's action.

Numbers to Know

• 50: Yards on career-long field goal made by Shay Prichard last Saturday
• 5: Consecutive seasons CSC has made a 50-plus yard FG after Prichard's kick
• 26: Consecutive RMAC games won by CSU Pueblo entering Saturday's game, the longest active streak in Division II
• 18.7: First downs per game by opponents against CSC's defense, third-fewest in the RMAC

Promotional Notes
Saturday will be K-12 day at Elliott Field. Chadron State athletics will recognize local K-12 administrators during the game and certain K-12 students will be selected to participate in a halftime challenge.

Saturday's game will also be a "cardinal-out," with fans encouraged to wear CSC's primary color of cardinal/maroon.

How to Go
Season tickets, single-game tickets, tailgate slots and parking passes remain for sale at chadroneagles.com/tickets. 

How to Tune In
Saturday's game, along with every CSC football game for the remainder of the regular season, will be livestreamed on the RMAC Network.

Fans can purchase monthly subscriptions to the RMAC Network for $25 or annual passes for $130. Those prices are both unchanged from the 2025-26 season, which was the first for the RMAC Network's pay-per-view model.

PURCHASE: RMAC NETWORK

A radio stream of the game will take place on Double Q Country 97.5/105.9 FM and doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Finally, Eagle fans can follow along via live stats for free or keep track on social media (@cscfootball on X/Twitter and Instagram) for updates.

Looking Back
Chadron State football opened the conference season with a 30-9 loss at the hands of No. 8-ranked Western Colorado last Saturday.

STORY: Eagles Held in Check by No. 8 Western Colorado

The Eagle defense generated three takeaways, forcing two Western Colorado fumbles while Jahmir Everett snagged his first interception of the season and second of his career. Despite the turnovers, Western Colorado out-gained Chadron State 433-157.

Chadron State led 6-3 early in the second quarter and trailed by seven points – 13-6 – at halftime before Western Colorado opened up the margin in the game's second half.

5-for-5
Under a new eligibility ruling passed by the NCAA this summer, all NCAA student-athletes will have five years of eligibility while developmental redshirts and medical waivers that previously could grant another year of eligibility have been eliminated.

To accommodate this new system, Chadron State is changing how student-athletes are labeled on the football roster – using the term "freshman" for a player in their first year of college, "sophomore" for a player in their second, "junior," "senior," and "fifth-year," regardless of whether the player has previously received a redshirt year.

For example, a player now being referred to as a "junior" has been with Chadron State or another college football program for two seasons (regardless of if they played or not during those seasons) and has three years of eligibility remaining, including 2026.

Long Bombs
Shay Prichard provided all of CSC's points against the Mountaineers, kicking two 26-yard field goals in the first half before booting a 50-yard field goal for Chadron State's final points in the fourth quarter.

The 50-yarder is a career long for Prichard, but the Eagles are no stranger to having kickers with that type of leg, as Prichard's kick made it five consecutive seasons dating back to 2022 that a Chadron State kicker has made a kick of over 50 yards.

Prichard's predecessor, Wilson Yee, drilled a school-record 61-yarder in 2023 and made 57-yard kicks in each of the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Before Yee, there was Gunnar Jones, who was good from 57 during the 2022 season. Prior to the rush of long kicks in recent seasons, alum Aaron Turner held the school record with a 57-yard kick from 2000.

Prichard has been accurate in addition to flexing his distance last week. The junior is 5-5 on field goals and 5-5 on PATs this season, and including a 2-for-2 performance on PATs in relief during the 2025 season, Prichard still has yet to miss a kick in his young career.

Sharing the Wealth
Chadron State's receiving corps had a tough task entering the season to replace the production of graduating All-American Tommy Thomas. Through three games, the Eagles have operated with depth as 10 players have recorded multiple catches in 2026.

Garet Schlabs is the leading receiver in quantity, snagging 10 balls for a total of 71 yards. Devon Sundgren has been the big-play threat, with his five catches ranking second on the team but going for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Sundgren is averaging 32 yards per reception.

Aside from the top two, passes have been completed to tight end Koye Gilbert (four), redshirt freshman Camden Walker (four), Richard Okuno (three), running backs Devon Rivers and Chase Nelson (three) and the trio of Parker Schwarting, Darias James and Daytuawn Pearson (two each).

Stat Selections

• Chadron State's defense ranks eighth in scoring (31.0 points allowed per game) and fifth in total defense (403.7 yards allowed per game) in the RMAC. 
• CSC's offense ranks 10^th in scoring (16.7) and 10^th in total (281.0). The Eagles rank eighth in the league in both rushing yards (122.3) and passing yards (158.7).
• CSC's defense ranks eighth in scoring (31 ppg) and fifth in total (403.7 ypg allowed)
• Devon Rivers ranks 10^th in rushing in the RMAC with 123 yards (3.5/carry)
• Aiden Kuester ranks tied for second in the RMAC with 16 solo tackles. He ranks ninth in the RMAC with 8.7 tackles per game. 

In the Polls
In the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, released July 22, Chadron State was picked to finish fourth out of 10 RMAC programs. The Eagles received one first-place vote, one second-place vote and three third-place votes in the poll. 

CSU Pueblo finished in first place in the poll, with eight first-place votes, followed by Western Colorado (one first place vote), Colorado School of Mines and Chadron State. Behind CSC, Colorado Mesa was fifth while New Mexico Highlands, South Dakota Mines, Black Hills State, Fort Lewis and Adams State rounded out the poll.

Last year, the Eagles were picked seventh in the preseason and went on to finish second in the conference standings.

The RMAC has two nationally-ranked programs this week – CSU Pueblo, ranked No. 5 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the D2Football.com media poll, and Western Colorado, ranked No. 8 in both.

Preseason Plaudits
The RMAC released a Preseason All-RMAC team alongside their preseason polls back on July 22, based on the leading vote-getters from last year's all-conference voting that return to the league. 

Chadron State had four players honored, tied for the third-highest total in the RMAC – quarterback Aidan Thompson, offensive lineman Dominic Castanon, linebacker Cooper Walton and defensive end/edge rusher William Stemler.

Stemler also made an appearance on the D2Football.com Elite 100 watchlist as a "squad" member of the defense, one of six RMAC honorees across the national 100-player listing.

Stemler's selection marks the fourth consecutive year that an Eagle defensive player has made the Elite 100 preseason list, joining alumni Dax Yeradi (2025) and Hunter O'Connor (2023, 2024).

Coaches' Corner
Head Coach Jay Long returns for his 15^th season at the helm of CSC Football in 2026. In his previous 14 seasons at Chadron State, Long boasts a 70-68 record. He is 85-83 overall in his 17-season head coaching career.

Notably, the Eagles' 8-4 record in 2025 was a substantial turnaround from a 3-8 record in 2024. Chadron State's eight wins in 2025 is tied officially for the most in a single season during Long's tenure, alongside eight-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.

For his efforts last season, Long was voted by his head coaching peers as both the RMAC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region Five Coach of the Year, each for the first time in his career. Coach Long was one of only five AFCA award recipients in Division II and one of only 25 recipients among all levels of college football.

Chadron State's head coach (Jay Long) and all three coordinators – Micah Smith (offense), Clint Sasse (defense) and Mitch Collicott(special teams) are all Chadron State football alumni. 

Quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Tommy Wilson also returns for a fourth season at CSC, while coaching assistant for defensive backs Deunte Moody returns for a second season. 

In year one on the CSC staff are coaching assistants Cole Cartwright (running backs), Reed Henkel (linebackers), Abe Hestdalen (defensive line), Seth Moore (offensive line) and Fred Pillivant (wide receivers). Henkel makes a move to the coaching staff after playing for the Eagles from 2022-25.

Scouting the ThunderWolves
by Con Marshall
Colorado State-Pueblo has won its first three games, all by sizable margins. The ThunderWolves have won the past two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships and were voted the favorite again during this summer's preseason poll of the conference coaches.
 
Last year, the Pack had a close call in its final RMAC game, winning 30-27 against a gallant CSC Eagles team in Pueblo. Both teams entered that game 8-0 in the conference. The score was knotted at 17-17 at the end of regulation. Both teams scored touchdowns during the first overtime period before the Eagles settled for a field goal in the second overtime and lost on a walk-off touchdown to Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr.
 
Pueblo has built its 3-0 record by defeating Central Missouri 44-25 and Fort Hays State 35-17 in non-conference play and Colorado School of Mines 45-17 in the RMAC opener for both teams last Saturday. 
 
The ThunderWolves are pass-oriented. Their new quarterback, Navi Bruzon, a 5-10, 195-pound sophomore who transferred to Pueblo this year after stints at Arizona State and Highlands CC, has completed 61 of 87 passes (70%) for 1,022 yards and 11 touchdowns. 
 
Last Saturday against the Orediggers, Bruzon connected on 22 of 27 passes for 421 yards and four TDs. He was named both the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week and the National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter's Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Honeycutt Jr., a 6-1, 190-pound junior who was Pueblo's only offensive player placed on the RMAC's preseason team for this fall, caught seven of the passes for 156 yards and two TDs versus Mines. Pueblo's leading rusher has been Russell Patton, who has 40 carries for 228 yards and one TD. He's a 6-foot, 222-pound sophomore. 
 
The Pueblo defense has four seniors listed as probable starters. While Pueblo is averaging 524 yards a game on offense, the defense has yielded 385 yards a game. 
 
The ThunderWolves are coached by Philip Vigil, who entered is fourth season this fall with a 28-6 overall record and a 25-2 RMAC mark.