Western air attack dominant against Black Hills State

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's top rushing attack turned to the air on Saturday, as No. 8 Western Colorado University threw for four touchdowns in a 35-14 win over Black Hills State University.

The Mountaineers accumulated 399 yards through the air. Quarterback Drew Nash connected on 34 of 45 pass attempts for 346 yards and three touchdowns.

Western's offense got into gear with its second possession of the game, driving to the Yellow Jackets' 26-yard line before the drive stalled. The Mountaineers lined up for a field goal attempt, but the kick was blocked and returned for a Yellow Jacket touchdown. It was Western's first deficit since the second game of the season.

That seven-point hole faded quickly, as Nash pushed the offense down the field. He first connected with tight end Daniel Parsek for 9 yards, followed by a 65-yard touchdown to Victory David.

The Mountaineers exploded for three touchdowns in the second quarter, converting consecutive Yellow Jacket turnovers. The first was a six play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 53-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Sage Yazzie to a wide-open Josiah Ayon. Nash tossed a long lateral out to Yazzie, who found Ayon downfield for the easy score.

A fumble on Black Hill’s next play gave Western the ball at the opposing 20-yard line. Royce Pao took a handoff and sprinted untouched off the right tackle for a 20-yard touchdown gallop.

The Yellow Jackets then threw an interception on their next offensive play, giving the ball back to the Mountaineer offense at its own 43-yard line.

Western used 1:59 of the time remaining to finish off a touchdown drive on a 12-yard Nash to Yazzie pass. Black Hills State finally put together a scoring drive late in the third quarter, but were stymied the rest of the way.

After a fourth down, Yellow Jacket incompletion, Western scored one more touchdown on the short field. Nash completed a 4-yard pass to Parsek to close the day's scoring.

The victory secured a 6-0 start to the Mountaineers season, and a 4-0 RMAC record. Next up, Western will host South Dakota Mines in a “Red Out” game at the Mountaineer Bowl on Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.

(​Gregg Petcoff is the assistant athletics director for communications at Western Colorado University and can be reached at gpetcoff@western.edu.)