Story by
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Highlands crushed by No. 4 CSU-Pueblo
- Story byThe Santa Fe New Mexican
- Highlands crushed by No. 4 CSU-Pueblo
Staff Reports
Navi Bruzon passed for 283 yards and six touchdowns, leading NCAA Division II's fourth-ranked Colorado State-Pueblo to a 77-17 rout of visiting New Mexico Highlands on Saturday afternoon in Pueblo, Colo.
Advertisement
The ThunderWolves (7-0, 5-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) found the end zone on 10 of their first 11 drives, forcing four NMHU punts, three Highlands turnovers and one failed fourth down attempt in the process.
The Cowboys (3-4, 1-4) have lost three straight games and have given up at least 31 points in every game this season.
Highlands quarterback Collin Stucki passed for 222 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off once and completed only 10 of his 22 pass attempts.
NMHU took the opening kick and went nowhere, turning the ball over on downs at their own 19 less than two minutes into the game. The ThunderWolves needed just one play to take a lead they would never relinquish as running back Jaedon Matthews went all the way for a touchdown on CSU-Pueblo's first snap.
Advertisement
Stucki didn't start for Highlands. He took over after Jordan Parr's initial drive, but he didn't fare much better as the Cowboys went three-and-out for their first punt.
The floodgates opened from there as CSU-Pueblo marched 77 yards in just eight plays to make it 14-0. One of NMHU's bigger issues was a complete inability of the defense to get off the field on third down; the ThunderWolves were 9 for 13 in those instances.
Their 616 yards of offense included 246 on the ground four different players had at least 40 yards rushing.
Eight of CSU-Pueblo's touchdowns came on passing plays as backups Evan Powell and Cam McGuire each threw for a score. The other was a 91-yard kickoff return by Nyir Jones, a play that answered an 8-yard touchdown reception from NMHU's Kerya Powell in the third quarter. The Jones return made it 63-17.
Highlands will return home next week to face Chadron State.
