Lance Orender is a quarterback yet to be stopped in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season.

The reigning conference offensive player of the week made a strong bid for a second consecutive honor Saturday, as he torched the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks for 538 yards and six touchdowns on 42-of-54 passing in a 45-10 victory for his New Mexico Highlands Cowboys (2-2, 2-0 RMAC) at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

“We definitely have playmakers. I give them a chance, believe in them and trust them to go up and make plays for me, and it makes my job really easy,” said Orender, who leads Division II with 1,909 passing yards through four games. “We’re off to a great start this year, and our offense is clicking on all cylinders.”

Orender’s offense has been a surprise to start the season, especially considering offensive coordinator Chase Holbrook didn’t even join the team until late in the summer. Now, the spread-offense Cowboys are putting up the best offensive numbers in Division II football.

“It’s pretty impressive. Honestly, I expect to do it every week, but it is impressive that we’ve produced so much this quick,” said Orender, who has 20 touchdown passes this season and is just nine away from setting a new school record.

The Skyhawks had no answers to slow down Orender or his arsenal of high-caliber receivers. Tyler Slavin hauled in 17 passes – three shy of matching an RMAC single-game record – for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

“I wish I would’ve known he was only three away. I would’ve given him the ball a few more times,” Orender said of Slavin coming within three receptions of matching the RMAC single-game record of 20, set by N.M. Highlands’ Keylie Martin in 1994. “I think we will have guys up there with that many catches a lot this year.”

Kirt Terry-Springs added two receiving touchdowns and 143 yards on seven receptions, and CJ Grice also topped 100 yards with 113 and one touchdown on eight receptions.

“They threw the ball up, and their receivers just went up and made plays,” FLC head coach John L. Smith said. “I thought, man-for-man, they might’ve been better than we were in certain spots. They threw the ball in the air, and their guy went up and got it.”

FLC (1-3, 0-2 RMAC) started the game with a bang, as quarterback Jordan Doyle led the Skyhawks down the field for the team’s only touchdown drive of the game. The Skyhawks went 73 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 1-yard run by Doyle, who also broke a 44-yard run on the drive.

“We were just really up-tempo, moving really fast, getting set really fast, and (the Cowboys) weren’t able to get set by the time we were running a play, and we took advantage of that,” Doyle said. “We kind of slowed down throughout the game and just messed up little parts of the game, and that will cost you.”

Doyle finished the game 18-of-33 passing for 113 yards, and he was sacked seven times. He rushed 16 times for 73 yards, but the sacks brought his net rushing total down to just 18 yards.

The Skyhawks, the most penalized team in the RMAC, had just 218 yards of offense to 647 for N.M. Highlands, despite not turning the ball over and creating four turnovers of their own.

“They brought some looks we hadn’t seen yet,” Doyle said of the Cowboys’ pass rush. “We should’ve been able to make adjustments to them. We missed some guys. I missed some calls. Some of (the sacks) are my fault.

“We didn’t move the ball, we didn’t score, we should’ve capitalized on those turnovers, and we weren’t able to.”

FLC was just 5-of-16 converting third downs, and the Cowboys, who never punted in the game, went 12-of-18.

“That’s one of the attributes, of course, one of the things we have to do better, and we didn’t do very good. But, you know, talk third downs, we’ve got to do better on first down, second down and third down,” Smith said. “We gotta be able to pick it up.”

It was the constant blitz by the Cowboys that disrupted the Skyhawks the final three quarters of the game. Jared Koster made 15 tackles and accounted for 1.5 sacks. He leads the nation in solo tackles with 34, and he is in second place with 61 total tackles.

“He is unbelievable,” Orender said of Koster. “He has all the energy in the world, and he got the nickname ‘Batman’ when we played Northern Arizona, because he was making every play. He is such a leader in all aspects, not just in tackles.”

Orender said he believes the Cowboys can keep pace with any team in the RMAC, and that included No. 2 CSU-Pueblo (4-0, 2-0 RMAC) and No. 17 Colorado Mines (4-0, 2-0 RMAC).

The Skyhawks will play their fourth game on the road in five weeks at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Western New Mexico (1-3, 0-2 RMAC) in Silver City, N.M. Both teams will play for their first conference win.

“It is what we have to do. That’s the schedule,” Smith said of the heavy dose of travel to open the season, including trips to Davis, California, Goodwell, Oklahoma, and Spearfish, South Dakota, to start the season. “At least you can say this is the shortest trip we’ve taken so far. It is only seven hours one way instead of 27, or whatever it’s been.”

jlivingston@ durangoherald.com

ThunderWolves bite Mustangs in second half

Tied at 7 after one quarter and up just 14-7 at halftime, the second-ranked team in Division II football appeared to have a fight on its hands in Silver City, New Mexico.
That was, until the second half started.
The CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves (4-0, 2-0 RMAC) scored 31 unanswered second-half points to claim a lopsided 48-7 win against Western New Mexico (1-3, 0-2 RMAC).
It was the second consecutive week the ThunderWolves have been tested after surviving a road trip to Gunnison last week with a 26-23 win in the final minute of the game.
Cameron McDondle rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 23 rushing attempts for CSU-Pueblo, and Chris Bonner was 14-of-29 passing for 146 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to J.B. Matthews.
Mitch Glassmann was 18-of-45 for 167 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for the Mustangs. Stephen Dickens intercepted two of those passes for the ThunderWolves, and he returned one 30 yards for a touchdown.
CSU-Pueblo will return home next week for a game against Adams State. The Mustangs will host Fort Lewis College (1-3, 0-2 RMAC).
No. 17 Colorado Mines 48, Black Hills State 21
The Yellow Jackets weren’t able to sustain any momentum built with a win against FLC in their RMAC opener.
The Orediggers (4-0, 2-0 RMAC) remained unbeaten this season with a homecoming victory against Black Hills State (2-2, 1-1 RMAC).
Colorado Mines sophomore quarterback Justin Dvorak was 36-of-46 for a career high 539 yards and four touchdowns. Senior running back Tevin Champagne led the Orediggers with 138 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Diamond Gillis had 158 receiving yards and a touchdown on a 90-yard score for Mines.
Avery Llewellyn, a Durango High School alumnus, connected on a 51-yard field goal as part of a 2-for-2 day kicking.
Mines will hit the road next week to face the potent offense of New Mexico Highlands (2-2, 2-0 RMAC), which won in a rout in Durango on Saturday. Black Hills State will host Colorado Mesa (2-2, 1-1 RMAC).
Chadron State 24, Colorado Mesa 13
After losing their conference opener to No. 17 Colorado Mines, the Chadron State Eagles responded with a big road win Saturday in Grand Junction.
Chadron State (2-2, 1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) picked up a key 24-13 victory against Colorado Mesa (2-2, 1-1 RMAC),
Cody Paul rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for the Eagles, and Michael Madkins added another 83 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. The Eagles rushed for 235 yards as a team to 136 for the Mavericks.
Chadron State quarterback John McLain was 13-for-33 passing for 123 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Aric Kaiser was 12-of-30 for 135 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Colorado Mesa.
Colorado Mesa will travel to play Black Hills State (2-2, 1-1 RMAC) next week, and Chadron State will return home to face a tough Western State (2-2, 1-1 RMAC) team.
Western State 39, Adams State 37
The Mountaineers outscored the Grizzlies 13-6 in the fourth quarter to rally from behind and earn a two-point victory Saturday in Gunnison.
Adams State (1-3, 0-2 RMAC) scored 17 points to claim a 31-26 lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies couldn’t hang on to win on the road, as a 9-yard touchdown to Travis Haney from Brett Arrivey resulted in the game-winning score with just 6 seconds to play.
Austin Ekeler rushed for 233 yards and two touchdowns on 44 carries for Western State. Adams State combined to rush for just 142 yards.
Arrivey finished the game 22-of-34 for 228 yards and two touchdowns to go with two interceptions.
Lamar McKnight completed 16-of-28 passes for 324 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Western State will hit the road next week to face Chadron State (2-2, 1-1 RMAC). The Grizzlies will travel to face No. 2 CSU-Pueblo (4-0, 2-0 RMAC).
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