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Chadron State College Defensive Coordinator Clint Sasse congratulates Xavier Harrell for his interception in the first quarter of the Eagles’ game against Colorado Mines last Saturday. Defensive lineman Blayke De La Rosa also was proud of his teammate’s pick.
Two football teams looking for their first wins will meet Saturday at noon when the Chadron State Eagles visit the Fort Lewis Skyhawks in southwestern Colorado at Durango for a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference clash. Kickoff will be at noon.
The Eagles are 0-5 and the Skyhawks are 0-4. Both have had trouble scoring. Chadron State is averaging 14 points a game and Fort Lewis is averaging 8.8.
Fort Lewis, coached by former Skyhawk star Johnny Cox in his first season, lost its opener to Arizona Christian 52-12 and has fallen to New Mexico Highlands 27-3, Adams State 52-17 and Colorado State-Pueblo 75-3 the last three weeks.
The Skyhawks have a more stable situation at quarterback than the Eagles. Braden Wingle, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound junior, apparently has taken every snap from center for his team. He has completed 83 of 145 passes for 646 yards and three touchdowns. He’s been intercepted 10 times.
Chadron State opened the season with transfer Heath Beemiller calling the signals. He sustained a knee injury early in the fourth quarter of the third game against Black Hills State and was replaced by sophomore Mason Hamilton.
Hamilton completed that game and played most of the fourth contest at Western Colorado in Gunnison, but has a left (he’s right-handed) shoulder injury and was along the sidelines with his arm in a sling last Saturday, when the Eagles hosted Colorado Mines.
That made redshirt freshman Preston Pearson the Eagles’ field general. With neither of the other two on this week’s depth chart, Pearson is expected to be the starting QB again at Fort Lewis, CSC Offensive Coordinator Micah Smith said.
Altogether, the Eagles have competed 85 of 171 passes for 863 yards and four TDs, three of them by Hamilton and the other by Pearson last Saturday. They have been intercepted 10 times, two of them thrown by Pearson.
This is not the first time the Eagles have been forced to play their third team quarterback when he was a freshman.
In 1975, John Burns suffered a dislocated right shoulder while scoring a touchdown at Colorado Mines. Senior Jack Gutierrez was to be his replacement, but broke a finger on his throwing hand in practice the next Monday afternoon, ending his career. After some experimenting by Coach Sparky Adams that included trying to form a wishbone offense with other players, freshman Brad Fults came to the rescue, and the Eagles won their final five games of the season.
Thirty years later, Tyler Hidrogo was the CSC quarterback through the first five games, when he sustained a dislocated his left shoulder (he was right-handed) late in the first quarter at Fort Lewis. With backup Ross Janssen not on the trip, true freshman Joe McLain of Chadron, who had been charting plays on a clipboard and had not played in the previous games, was forced into action.
Chadron State fans will recognize that both of these “third stringers” became Eagles’ all-time greats. Each was the starting quarterback the next three years with exceptional results. Both Fults and McLain received the Omaha World-Herald’s Male State College Athlete of the Year honor as seniors.
Time will tell how Pearson fares now that he’s being pressed into action under similar circumstances. As a footnote, he’s the only left-handed quarterback at CSC in the past 60 years aside from Gering native Patrick O’Boyle, who wasn’t the starter, but was an invaluable alternate 2011-14.
The Eagles also may be without one of their other offensive leaders Saturday. All-conference tackle Juan Estrada-Sanchez did not play most of the second half against Colorado Mines after reinjuring an already gimpy ankle.
Also, last year’s leading rusher, Jeydon Cox, was on the field for only one play against Mines because of an injury and may not be available for much duty Saturday.
On the other side of the ball, the defense has welcomed back senior safety Brendan Brehmer of Alliance, who sustained a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener, but has recovered sufficiently to make the trip to Durango.
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Chadron State College Defensive Coordinator Clint Sasse congratulates Xavier Harrell for his interception in the first quarter of the Eagles’ game against Colorado Mines last Saturday. Defensive lineman Blayke De La Rosa also was proud of his teammate’s pick.
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