ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Adams State Grizzlies were thumped by their RMAC rivals Colorado Mesa Saturday afternoon 35-13, in what was an injury plagued game that saw both Grizzlies starting quarterback
John Buksa go out with injury in the first quarter, and receiver
Tariq Bitson sat out with the injury that he suffered a week ago. The Grizzlies are now 4-6 on the season, with one final game remaining against Dixie State next weekend.
With Bitson out, the Grizzlies relied on a conservative, ball control approach to start the game, and gave the Mavericks a heavy dose on their running backs early on. The feature player in this attack was number 22
Otumus Payemanu, who had his best day of the season thus far, rushing for 102 yards on just 11 carries and scoring two touchdowns. The Mavericks scored quickly on their opening possession, in what was just a three play, 63-yard drive that ended in a touchdown for Mesa. Being down 7-0 three minutes into the game and with quarterback
John Buksa going out with injury, the Grizzlies relied on Payemanu to get them back in the game. He did exactly that, taking a
Markell White handoff 61 yards on a full sprint all the way to paydirt. Following the
Erick Ruiz kick, the Grizzlies instantly nodded the score at 7.
The score would stay tied at 7 for the remainder of the quarter, in what looked as though it would be a tight, defensive game throughout. Early in the second quarter, the Mavericks took another chunk out of the Grizzlies armor on a 19-yard scamper that put them up 14-7 following the extra point. With Buksa out, the Grizzlies had a tough time moving the ball as third-string quarterback
Markell White was in for his first action of the season. White had a few big plays on the day, but the dual-threat quarterback was mostly neutralized, passing for 74 yards on 12-29 passing and rushing for another 66 on 19 attempts, and had two interceptions. His efforts would not be enough to get points before the half, and the Grizzlies went into halftime down 14-7.
The second half proved to be all Mavericks, as their defense stepped up and gave them opportunities on offense. They stalled the Grizzlies on every offensive possession of the third quarter, and scored twice late in the quarter to put them up 28-7. Colorado Mesa would add another touchdown in the fourth quarter, and at that point, the route was on, and they went up 35-7.
The fourth quarterback on the Grizzlies' roster,
Michael Morales saw time in the game late, and was able to engineer a final touchdown drive, on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended in
Otumus Payemanu's second touchdown run of the contest. Morales ended the day with two completions for 38 yards both of which went to receiver Sha'corey Foster, who led the Grizzlies in receiving yards with 38. The
Erick Ruiz point-point after try was blocked by the Mesa special teams unit, and that would be all she wrote, as time ran out on the tough day for the Grizzlies, and they went down 35-13.
With one game remaining on the season for the Adams State Football team, they will look to rally back this week and prepare for a tough Dixie State team next Saturday on the road. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Saturday from St. George, UT in what will be the final game of the 2019 season. If they can go down to Utah and get a victory, the Grizzlies still have a chance to break the four-win barrier and get their fifth, which is a feat that has not been accomplished since 2013.
