Sports

CSC quarterback Preston Pearson, redshirt freshman of Kearney, holds on tight to the ball after being swarmed by a pack of Oredigger defenders during last weekend’s game against Colorado School of Mines at Don Beebe Stadium.

Photo by Kayden Singpiel

At 0-5, Eagles desperate for first win

u By Eben Rosentrater

Sports Editor

The CSC football team are looking to end a five-game losing streak in Fort Lewis on Saturday after losing in another harsh 45-9 game against the Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines.

“This game was like a lot of our other games, we do some things that are really positive,” CSC Head Football Coach Jay Long said, “and then we just do some things that don’t make a lot of sense.”

The Eagles surprised many when they finished the first quarter of Saturday’s game with the lead. However, it would be the only success the Eagles would have in the game. The Orediggers offense was relentless for the rest of the game scoring 45 unanswered points.

“We stopped their strong run game, passing was being minimized,” Long said, “But they settled in and figured us out. We got one-dimensional and they took advantage of it.”

Eagle punter Brodie Eisenbraun, redshirt freshman of Sturgis, South Dakota, saw the most action he’s seen all season punting 9 times for 341 yards. Punting was the story of the game for Eagles, but even that couldn’t save the team from disaster. One of the biggest blunders of the game came after a botched punting attempt. Late in the second quarter, Eisenbraun caught the snap and immediately kicked the ball into the back side of another Eagle special teams player, giving the Orediggers great field position to score their second touchdown of the game.

Please see, Football, page 14

Athletes Weekof the

Preston Pearson

Hometown: Kearney Class: Redshirt Freshman Sport: Football

Pearson, despite being the Eagles’ third-string quarterback, played well during this weekend’s game against Colorado School of Mines. He recorded 195 passing yards on 18 attempts, including a 12-yard passing touchdown.

Amber Harvey

Hometown: Centennial, Colorado Class: Sophomore Sport: Volleyball

Harvey led the Eagles in both matches last weekend against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State. Despite the stiff competition, she was able to record 18 kills and 3 blocks between the two matches.

2022 SEASON FOOTBALL STANDINGS sponsored by

As of Sept. 21, 2022 1. Black Hills State 2. Colorado School of Mines 3. Western Colorado 4. South Dakota Mines 5. New Mexico Highlands 6. CSU Pueblo 7. Adams State 8. Colorado Mesa 9. Chadron State 10. Fort Lewis

2022 SEASON VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS

As of Sept. 21, 2022 1. MSU Denver 2. Regis 3. Colorado School of Mines 4. CSU Pueblo 5. Colorado Mesa 6. Colorado Christian 7. Chadron State 8. Fort Lewis 9. Westminster 10. UCCS 11. Adams State 12. South Dakota Mines 13. New Mexico Highlands 14. Westerm Colorado 15. Black Hills State

14 Oct. 6, 2022 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Sports

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek CSC linebackers Xavier Harrell (left), sophomore of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Heamasi Latu III (right), junior of Oakland, California team up to tackle Colorado School of Mines wider receiver Mason Karp, senior of Spring, Texas during Saturday’s game against the Orediggers. The Eagles lost the game 45-9 Football from Page 13

The second quarter in particular held the Eagles’ biggest blunders. A long punt return from the Orediggers, the aforementioned punting issue, a sideline interference call against the Eagles, and a handful of offensive errors allowed Colorado Mines to take a quick 24-9 lead going into the half.

“Part of it’s youth, part of it is, we need to get players in the right positions to make a play,” Long said, “But it mainly comes down to that second quarter. Throughout the season, we have struggled the most in the second quarter, and it has hurt us a lot.”

The second half wasn’t any better. The Orediggers scored another 21 points and held the Eagles to zero for rest of game. The Eagles lost in another lopsided game 45-9.

As for the offense, the Eagles were led by third-string quarterback Preston Pearson, redshirt freshman of Kearney. Pearson had a tall order placed in front of him facing the nationally ranked Orediggers in his first career start. He threw for 195 yards on 18 completions and one passing touchdown. His inexperience showed, however, as he also threw two interceptions. The offensive line was not too stout in stopping Pearson from being pressured as he was sacked seven times.

The rushing game struggled the most only netting 38 total yards on 31 attempts, averaging 1.2 yards a carry. The passing game was slightly more successful. The receiving core was led once again by wide receiver Ahlonte Hair, junior of Live Oak, Florida, who recorded 65 yards on three receptions.

Defense struggled again, but they were led by linebacker Xavier Harrell, sophomore of Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Harrell recorded a total of 12 tackles. Harvey Reynolds, junior of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Bobby Peele, graduate student of Fresno, California also combined for 17 tackles.

“Every game just seems to be a little bit different,” Long said, “We just have to get better every day and hope that it’ll be enough to turn this season around.”

The Eagles hope to bounce back as they travel to Durango, Colorado to face the similarly ranked Skyhawks of Fort Lewis on Saturday, at noon, at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek CSC linebacker Xavier Harrell (28), sophomore of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, holds on tight trying to drag Colorado School of Mines quarterback John Matocha (10), senior of Magnolia, Texas, to the ground during Saturday’s game against the Oredigger at Don Beebe Stadium.

Sports

Eagle eSports team starts of season with win

u By Eben Rosentrater

Sports Editor

The CSC eSports team kicked off its fall Rocket League season strong after winning their first varsity contest of the year 3-2, against the Lions of Emerson College

“It felt great to kick off the Rocket League season with a win,” CSC eSports Student Head Coach Drew Kurtenbach stated in a text, “We had really just done a couple of scrimmages and got a forfeit up to this point so getting into a match was a huge test. But it definitely got us moving in the right direction for the season.”

The Eagle Rocket League team was set to start off its season on Sept. 30 against the Vikings of Missouri Valley College, but, due to player issues, the Vikings were forced to forfeit, giving the Eagles their first win of the season. This meant that the Eagles would officially kick off their season against Emerson College.

The Eagles struggled in the first two games of the contest. On the verge of being swept in the third game, the team rallied back and took the next three games to win the contest in a “reverse sweep” as Kurtenbach stated. Like volleyball, Rocket League matches are scored based on a best three-out-of-five system where five games are played and the first team to win three takes the match.

Kurtenbach and the eSports club are proud of the great start to the Rocket League season and hope that it will be an example of the team’s performance later in the season.

“I really like the energy the team brings into the room,” Kurtenbach stated, “You can tell they want to win, and more than anything, continue to improve.”

The Eagle Rocket League team will be back in action on Oct. 24 when they take on the Spartans of Michigan State University.

CSC Photo Archive Members of the 2021 Eagle eSports team ride in the back of a pick-up holding up signs to promote the club during the 2021 homecoming parade.

Rodeo team struggles, despite individual success

u By Eben Rosentrater

Sports Editor

Despite a handful of top seven placers, the CSC rodeo team finished last weekend in mediocre fashion at the Sheridan College rodeo in Sheridan, Wyoming.

The Eagle men’s team struggled to find their footing throughout the weekend. Grant Turek, freshman of St. Paul and Jake Chasek, freshman of Mitchell, who finished first in tie down roping and team roping respectively in the last two competitions, were nowhere to be found on the final results.

However, the Eagles did have some strong performers over the weekend. Jack Skavdahl, junior of Harrison, finished the competition fifth in saddle bronc riding with an overall score of 74. Colton Storer, senior of Arthur, also performed well after finishing sixth in tie down roping.

The Eagle women’s team saw their only success in the barrel racing event. Shailey McAbee, senior of Hyannis, led the Eagles finishing sixth overall. Sierra Lee, senior of Rhame, North Dakota, placed for the second rodeo in a row finishing seventh overall.

Overall, the men’s and women’s teams finished fifth and seventh respectively. CSC had no cowboys or cowgirls in the running for overall top honors, an unfamiliar sight for the Eagles.

The team will look to improve when they compete next at the Lamar Community College rodeo this weekend in Lamar, Colorado.

16 Oct. 6, 2022 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Sports

Eagle RMAC win streak ends on the road

u By Kennie Gable

Reporter

The CSC volleyball team’s five game RMAC winning streak came soaring down after being swept in both road matches against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State last weekend.

The team traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to take on the Cowgirls of Highlands on Friday.

The game did not go the Eagles’ way, evident after taking a three-set loss. With the scores of 25-16, 25-19, 25-23, the team could not get a footing in the match and Cowgirls took the win.

The Eagles finished the game with 22 errors in the match. Along with 27 kills, four blocks, and six aces in the three sets.

Rylee Greiman, junior, from Windsor, Colorado, found herself a stat leader in almost every measurable category. She was the third in kills with four. She was also on the leaderboard for assists, blocks, and aces. Rylee has 64 kills on the year so far, along with 165 digs.

The team continued the weekend with a matchup in Alamosa, Colorado, on Saturday. The Eagles, coming off a hard loss, had their work cut out for them against Adams State, a team who had previously beat them earlier in the season.

The game was tight throughout but did not go Chadron’s way. The threeset scores were 25-18, 29-27, and 25-21 securing the win for the Grizzles.

Overall, the team had 38 kills, five blocks, 36 assists, three aces, and 52 digs, along with 15 errors in the match spread evenly among each set.

Amber Harvey, sophomore of Centennial, Colorado, led the Eagles with 11 kills and two blocks.

Two freshmen found themselves on the leaderboard as well.

Kiley West, freshman of Colorado Springs, Colorado, had 17 assists along with one ace.

Kiera Alfred, freshman of Phoenix, Arizona, led the team in digs with 20.

The Chadron State Volleyball team finds themselves 7-10 on the season overall and 5-3 in the RMAC.

The Eagles continues their season, Friday at home in the Chicoine Center at 6 p.m. against the top-ranked MSU Denver Roadrunners.

Photo by Kamryn Kozisek Lexi Hurtado (2), junior of Aurora, Colorado, and Aiyana Fujiyama (14), sophomore of Wahiawa, Hawaii keep their eyes on the ball after a teammate lands a set during a match at the Chicoine Center.