CFB-D2: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Week 3 Release and Previews

Week 3 Schedule

A nine-week sprint for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s 2024 football championship begins Saturday with all 10 league teams facing league opposition. League-leading CSU Pueblo, which won a Week Zero RMAC outing at South Dakota Mines, resumes its chase for a ninth league title when it hosts Colorado Mesa. Defending champion Colorado School of Mines begins its defense on the road at Chadron State.

Elsewhere in the league, New Mexico Highlands treks northward for its conference opener against a South Dakota Mines squad that picked up its first 2024 win last weekend. Fort Lewis ended the nation’s longest losing streak last weekend and heads north for a matchup at Black Hills State. Closing the Week 3 slate is nationally-ranked Western Colorado, which hosts in-state foe Adams State in the lone night game of the week.

Lead Stories

Colorado School of Mines, Western Colorado, & CSU Pueblo in National Polls

• Three RMAC teams remain ranked in this week’s AFCA Division II Coaches Poll. Mines moved up one spot to No. 4, while Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo remained steady at No. 15 and No. 22, respectively.
• Mines and Western Colorado both moved up in the D2Football.com poll. The Orediggers moved up one spot to No. 5 while the Mountaineers pushed up two spots to No. 14. After being ranked in Week 2’s poll, CSU Pueblo dropped out this week after losing to No. 2 Grand Valley State.

Fort Lewis Snaps Nation’s Longest Losing Streak

• Stone Walker threw for 124 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another 57 yards and a score to lead the Fort Lewis football team to its first win in over five years in a 17-12 victory over Arizona Christian, capping the nation’s longest-active losing streak in college football.
• The win ended the longest active losing streak in college football across all levels (NAIA, NCAA DIII, NCAA DII, and NCAA DI). The streak ended at 40 straight losses, 12 shy of the Division II record set by Lock Haven from Aug. 28, 2008, to Nov. 3, 2012.

CSU Pueblo’s Retzlaff Earns NFF Colorado Player of the Week Honor

• ThunderWolves wide receiver Reggie Retzlaff picked up the National Football Foundation – Colorado Chapter’s Week 2 Player of the Week award after his seven-reception, 164-yard, and two-touchdown performance in a win against then-No. 21 UT Permian Basin.
• It was the second straight week an RMAC athlete has earned the NFF-Colorado honor after CSU Pueblo quarterback Devin Larsen used a 508-yard, five-touchdown passing performance to garner the Week 1 award.

Colorado School of Mines Tabbed as RMAC Preseason Favorite

• Colorado School of Mines received seven first-place votes and 79 points from the league’s 10 head coaches. Western Colorado was picked second with the remaining three first-place votes and 74 points.

Eight RMAC Student-Athletes on D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List

• Colorado School of Mines (4), CSU Pueblo (2), Western Colorado (1), and Chadron State (1) each had a representative on the list.
• Colorado School of Mines wide receiver Max McLeod, punter Blake Doud, and CSU Pueblo defensive back Daniel Bone III were first-team selections. Western Colorado linebacker Kendall Lightfoot was a second-team pick.
• CSU Pueblo wide receiver Reggie Ratzlaff, Colorado School of Mines offensive lineman Nic Van De Graaf, Chadron State defensive lineman Hunter O’Conner, and Colorado School of Mines defensive back Jackson Zimmerman were also listed in the organization’s Top 100.

Week 2 Recaps

South Dakota Mines 17, Upper Iowa 14

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Dawson Dunbar and Orlando Westbrook-Sanchez III each ran for touchdowns as South Dakota Mines picked up its season’s first win, 17-10, against Upper Iowa at O’Harra Stadium. South Dakota Mines used 213 rushing yards to outlast Upper Iowa, with Westbrook-Sanchez and Jake Martinelli each running for 78 yards.

St. Thomas 24, Black Hills State 14

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Luke Duby threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a 63-yarder to Cameron Goods, but it wasn’t enough as Black Hill State fell to Division I St. Thomas, 24-14, at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. The Duby-to-Goods touchdown gave Black Hills State a 7-3 lead with 11:08 left in the first half. St. Thomas scored the game’s next two touchdowns before another Duby touchdown throw cut the deficit to 17-14 at halftime. Neither team scored in the second half until St. Thomas’s touchdown run with 47 seconds remaining in the game, which sealed the win. 

Colorado School of Mines 31, Washburn 28

TOPEKA, Kan. – Landon Walker ran for all four Colorado School of Mines touchdowns to help the Orediggers escape with a 31-28 victory against Washburn in Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl. Walker finished with 142 rushing yards, including his touchdown runs of 75, 1, 6, and 8 yards. His eight-yard touchdown run with 7:38 left in the third quarter proved the game-winner, putting Mines ahead 31-21.

Central Washington 28, Colorado Mesa 12

GRAND JUNCTON, Colo. – Colorado Mesa opened with game’s first nine points, but Central Washington scored 28 consecutive points to claim a 28-12 victory at Stocker Stadium. Colorado Mesa’s Aiden Taylor scored the game’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run in the first quarter, but the Mavericks only added a pair of Sullivan Moon field goals (20 and 35 yards) the rest of the game.

Fort Lewis 17, Arizona Christian 12

DURANGO, Colo. – Fort Lewis snapped the nation’s longest losing streak with a 17-12 victory against NAIA foe Arizona Christian at Roy Dennison Memorial Field. The Skyhawks built a 14-0 halftime lead thanks to Stone Walker’s 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and his two-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Hunter Villavicencio’s 19-yard field goal with 9:15 left in the game provided a 17-6 advantage that would hold up.  

Texas Permian Basin 67, Adams State 14

MIDLAND, Texas – Adams State had few answers against Texas Permian Basin and fell 67-14 at Astound Broadband Stadium. Chase Nelson got the Grizzlies on the scoreboard early in the third quarter with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Cooley, but that only cut the ASU deficit to 32-7. Adams State would find the end zone again when Alexander Grado hit Noel Moreno on a 12-yard touchdown pass. UTPB amassed a 612-225 advantage in offensive yardage.

Grand Valley State 24, CSU Pueblo 21

PUEBLO, Colo. – CSU Pueblo trailed 17-0 at halftime, but three Devin Larsen second-half touchdown throws made things interesting before the Thunderwolves fell to Grand Valley State, 24-21, at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl. Larsen threw for 309 yards in the loss, including touchdown passes to Tyler Dvorak, Nigel Mitchell, and Taylor Tosches. Reggie Retzlaff, the RMAC’s leading receiver, caught seven passes for 147 yards, but was kept out of the end zone.

Western New Mexico 36, New Mexico Highlands 33

SILVER CITY, N.M. – Jeliun Carter came off the bench to throw two key fourth-quarter touchdowns, but Western New Mexico found the end zone with 49 seconds left to escape with a 36-33 victory at Ben Altamirano Field. Carter entered the game on NMHU’s second drive of the fourth quarter and led the Cowboys to touchdowns on his first two drives, the second providing a 33-28 lead. Western New Mexico gained possession with 4:01 left and used a nine-play, 65-yard drive to score the go-ahead touchdown. Mike Jones’ 41-yard kick return on the ensuing kickoff set NMHU at midfield and Carter nearly led the Cowboys to the win, but time expired with the ball inside the Western New Mexico 20-yard line.

Western Colorado 26, West Texas A&M 17

CANON, Texas – Drew Nash ran for three touchdowns and Cameron Cooper supplied a 96-yard pick-six as Western Colorado powered past West Texas A&M, 26-17, at Buffalo Stadium. Nash posted 185 passing yards but used his feet to do the most damage, rushing for 133 yards and touchdowns of 62, 6, and 2 yards. With Western Colorado leading by a narrow 13-10 margin at halftime, Cooper’s 96-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed the advantage to 10 points for the first time with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter.