CSU Pueblo rallies to stun Western Colorado in RMAC football showdown

Staring down a 21-point deficit in the second quarter, the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves didn’t blink.

Instead, the seventh-ranked ThunderWolves ripped off 24 unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half quarters to stun sixth-ranked Western Colorado, 24-21, in a showdown of RMAC football heavyweights on Saturday in Gunnison.

Jackson Smith drilled the game-winning 32-yard field goal as time expired, and CSU Pueblo (8-1, 7-0 RMAC) handed Western Colorado (8-1, 6-1) its first loss with two weeks left in the regular season.

Regis Jesuit product Kiahn Martinez punched in a pair of touchdowns, and senior quarterback Roman Fuller hooked up with George Washington High School grad Marcellus Honeycutt Jr. for an 88-yard touchdown to fuel the ThunderWolves’ comeback from down 21-0.

Fuller finished with 317 yards on 14-of-27 passing, with Honeycutt catching three of those balls for 144 yards. Martinez had 47 yards on 16 carries, with the second of his two touchdowns tying the score at 21-all with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

Western Colorado put together a 14-play, 43-yard drive to get within field goal range after that, but Jusiah Sampleton blocked Zac Grable’s 47-yard attempt. The ThunderWolves then marched 58 yards on 10 plays to set up the winning kick.

Freshman running back Damien Nevil scored a pair of touchdowns for the Mountaineers — one rushing and the other on a 2-yard pass from Drew Nash — and Jevon Young scored on a punt block return TD to put Western ahead 21-0 with 5:30 left in the second quarter.

Western didn’t put any more points on the board after that, however, and now must hope Pueblo stumbles over the next two weeks with a visit to Colorado School of Mines (6-3, 4-3) next Saturday and home game against fellow conference unbeaten Chadron State (7-2, 7-0) on Nov. 15. Western travels to Chadron State next Saturday before its regular-season finale at home against Colorado Mesa (5-4, 4-3) on Nov. 15.

RMAC football

Saturday’s scores