All year long CSU-Pueblo head coach John Wristen has celebrated what he calls a journey to cross a river with 11 stones dropping one in the water after each game to eventually make it across. It is a river that has had its share of sneaky deep holes but each time the Thunderwolves have encountered one they have managed to keep their collective heads above water with a chance to move on to that next stone. A win this week and the Pack will have accomplished their initial goal of winning a RMAC title and landing a berth in the NCAA Division II national playoffs. What is even more enticing is the overall number one seed in Super Region Three and all that goes with it.
Saturday's win over Western State was workmen like in the blustery conditions at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl. Despite trailing after one quarter 3-0 CSU-P showed no signs of panic. In fact they seemed very content to play it close to the vest running the football continually even on obvious passing downs. Coach Wristen's plan was pretty much survive the first quarter playing into a stiff 30mph wind by running the clock at every chance and then take their chances playing with that wind in the second quarter. Kyle Major's 22 yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter tied it at 3-3. Then the defense and wind went to work on the Mountaineers. Three plays and a short punt gave CSU-P great field position at the WSC 31. Five plays later QB Ross Dausin hit Paul Browning on a gorgeous 17-yard back shoulder pass to the goal line to give the Pack a lead they would never relinquish.
On the Mountaineers next possession they faced 4th and one from their own 29 and elected to go for it rather than punt into the wind. The Thunderwolves were up to the challenge stuffing Chase Yeager for a two yard loss giving CSU-P the ball at the WSC 27. Three plays later Dausin hit Tyler Hamlin from two yards out for the junior tight end's first career touchdown.
WesternState had one chance to make a game of it in the second quarter recovering a Jamall Johnson fumble at the Thunderwolves 20. But the Pack defense rose to the challenge sacking Mountaineer QB Jamie Jensen twice on the ensuing series the last of which coming on fourth down. At this point with 1:34 left in the half I opined on the air that surely the Pack would play it close to the vest from their own 36. Boy was I wrong as Marcial Williamson executed a beautiful out and up move down the near sideline and Dausin hit him in stride for all intents and purposes 64 yard game ending touchdown. It was halftime and the Pack led it 24-3.
The second half opened with a little suspense as WSC recovered an onside kick at the Pack 47. But as they did so often all afternoon long the Thunderwolves defense forced a quick three and out. WSC punter Miles Gorham did pin the CSU-P down with a brilliant punt downed at the one yard line. But it would take the Pack only seven plays to march 99 yards with Dausin covering the final 13 yards on a brilliant 13 yard scramble to make it 31-3. A 40-yard Major field goal and a late three yard run in the fourth quarter by Pueblo County Hornet product Gio Rider finalized the scoring at 41-3.
The defensive numbers for CSU-P were staggering as they held WSC to six yards rushing and a meager 100 yards in total offense. They recorded four sacks and a remarkable 10 tackles for loss of yards. About the only negative thing all day was turnover differential as WSC managed to not turn the ball over while forcing just the one CSU-P fumble.
This Saturday Western New Mexico comes to town fresh off a 25-18 win over state rival New Mexico Highlands. Win that game and CSU-P will have achieved a remarkable achievement winning the RMAC outright in just its fourth year of existence. With that will go the number one seed, a first round bye and at the very least two home games granted they keep winning in the postseason. Another distinct possibility would be a third home game in the national semi-final. Wristen wants hear nothing of that. Surely he will have to come up with another rallying cry to follow the 11 stones analogy crossing the river. Those stones in all reality become boulders as the competition and stakes grow bigger with each passing game.
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----------LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER TWO-----Saturday was chalked full of upsets in the Division II top ten rankings. Number two Pittsburg State (KS) fell to number nine Washburn (KS) 43-25. Number three Northwest Missouri State fell to Number 25 Missouri Western State 31-28. Number six St Cloud State (MN) fell to Bemidji State (MN) 19-14. Number one Delta State survived an upset bid by West Alabama winning 36-34. When the smoke clears Monday look for the Thunderwolves to move to number two in the nation. More importantly they will hold on to the number one seed in Super Region Three.
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----------COACH OF THE YEAR-----As the regular season draws to a close it means the beginning of all conference, all American and Coach of the Year season. The campaign has begun for one such award for national coach of the year. For the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, winning is only part of the equation. Created in 2006, the award recognizes one college football coach from each NCAA division (I-FBS, I-FCS, II and III), rewarding them for their sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence.Winners will receive $50,000 to donate to a charity of their choice, a $20,000 grant to each school's alumni association and the Coach of the Year trophy. The first portion of this nomination belongs to the fans. The top 15 vote getters advance to the finals. From their and elite committee will make the choice. The campaign for John Wristen has just begun and as of tonight finds himself 400 or so votes out of the top 15. Remember you can vote once per day. Wristen's charity is The Campaign for the Breast Center of Excellence at St Mary Corwin. Here is the link to find out more about this award and to get your votes counted http://www.coachoftheyear.com/default.aspx#fbid=AOPIlQ-2AHP
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----------GROUND FOX-----Despite all the whining and moaning about the officiating by Raider Nation, Denver's win was all about old fashioned hit you in the mouth over and over running game. In the most recent chapters in this storied AFC West rivalry it has been Oakland who has ran the ball down Denver's throat. But today despite falling behind by 10 points on two occasions the Broncos stuck with the power running game spearheaded by Willis McGahee's 163 yards and much maligned QB Tim Tebow's 118 yards. Although his passing numbers were a pedestrian 10-21 for 124 yards it did include two strikes for touchdowns. On this day it was retread Carson Palmer who was inaccurate launching three interceptions. And as usual the Raiders committed stupid penalties at all the wrong times.
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----------THEN THERE WAS ONE-----Pueblo West will be the only local team in the high school playoffs and realistically it will be a one and done proposition as the Cyclones draw number one ranked juggernaut Valor Christian on the road. PW won the free trip to Valor by defeating South in a spirited regular season finale at the Thunderbowl Friday night 34-20. The Colts played with spirit and dogged determination on both sides of the ball despite falling behind 7-0 after PW scored on their first drive of the game. This reporter was not very appreciated by the South hierarchy after perhaps unfairly calling them on the carpet after last weeks lackluster effort vs Fountain-Fort Carson in a 36-6 loss. South showed grit on defense and clever imaginative play calling on offense building a 14-7 halftime lead. But it all came crashing down early in the third quarter following a bad snap in punt formation. PW scored one play following that to tie it. Then junior sensation running back Derek Jackson ripped off a 82 yard touchdown run to put the Cyclones up for good. PW poured it on late scoring on an ill fated half back option pass interception for six and another Jackson TD run. On a bright note South did score on the last play of the season as Clayton Smith hauled in a pass at the goal line as time expired. By our count the Colts only suited up 27 players for the last game which volumes to the injuries and general attrition this team went through all season long. Nobody in Pueblo ever feels sorry for South with the exception of their "mostly" loyal fan base on the cities south side. Make no mistake Colt Nation should still be proud of the effort the battered lineup put out on Friday night. And for those of you who think my critique of the Fountain game was misguided and heavy handed (Coach Ryan Goddard in particular) then so be it. The criticism was aimed pretty squarely at the play calling and not the effort put out by the players. I always welcome feedback whether it be here in the comments field or on my Facebook fan page. I have reminded Coach Goddard on a few occasions that his predecessor faced a withering assault after his first year at the helm. It was downright ugly at times. But Mark Haering fought back the only way he knew how and that was by accepting nothing short of total team effort and discipline. Goddard was dealt a rotten hand this year. But he is young and I have total confidence he and his team will bounce back by applying those principles. He wont achieve it by aiming his wrath at a certain someone through third parties. That process started by the effort they put forth Friday night.
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----------PROGRAM REMINDERS-----Wednesday night the John Wristen Show presented by Miller Lite will air from Buffalo Wild Wings at 706pm on 590KCSJ-AM and www.590kcsj.com . As always the program is piped through the restaurant on BWW's sound system so that you can listen to the show while enjoying dinner and the beverage of your choice. Saturday's pregame show is set for 130pm and kickoff at 200pm on KCSJ. CNM Comcast 19 will have primetime football broadcasts every night this week. On M-W-F at 700pm the CSU-Pueblo vs Western State game will air. On T-TH at 7pm the South vs Pueblo West game will air. If you want the other airtimes drop me a note at jabrooksy@aol.com .
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----------COMMENTS-----I welcome your comments below. But if you dont want your comments open for public consumption then leave me a note the email address mentioned above. And as always everyone in Facebook land can access me on my fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Brooks-Fan-Page/233638253346424
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