LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Leave no doubt. Coming into the contest, many believed Saturday's contest should have served as a CUSA Championship qualifier despite Jax State being in its second year at the Division I level and, therefore, ineligible for postseason play. Ultimately, (RV) NM State (10-3, 7-1 CUSA) laid any doubt to rest as it defeated Jax State (8-4, 6-2 CUSA) by a score of 20-17 thanks to a game-winning kick that split the uprights as time expired on the clock.
With the victory, NM State reached double digit wins for just the second time in the history of its program – joining the 1960 team who finished the season 11-0. The win also marks the first time since 2002 that the Aggies tallied five wins at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
In Saturday's bout, the Aggie offense was fueled by yet another big-time performance from first-year Aggie wideout Trent Hudson who finished the game with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Hudson's quarterback, Diego Pavia, controlled the Aggie offense and ended the night as the Aggies' leading passer – 269 yards and one touchdown – and the Aggies' leading rusher – 68 yards.
Defensively, NM State was led by a second consecutive dominant performance from linebacker Gabe Peterson who concluded the game with a team-high tying nine tackles, including two tackles for loss and one sack. Fellow sophomore linebacker, Keyshaun Elliott also turned in nine tackles while both Myles "Ghost" Rowser and Dylan Early intercepted Jax State passes.
Perhaps the biggest star of the night was senior kicker Ethan Albertson who connected on all four of his kicks – two field goals and two extra points, including the game-winning field goal on the final play of the game.
FIRST QUARTER
The Aggies began the game with favorable field position as the opening kickoff sailed out of bounds to set the NM State offense up at the 35-yard line. From there, NM State used 13 plays to travel 65 yards in under seven minutes when Jamoni Jones punched in the game's first touchdown. The drive was highlighted by a conversion on 3rd-and-12 in which Diego Pavia found Bryce Childress streaking over the middle for a 29-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
Following the methodical drive from the Aggies, Jax State trotted its up-tempo offense onto the field, however, due to this speedy approach, the Gamecocks remained on the field for only one minute and 29 seconds before punting the ball back to the Aggies.
The Aggies then got Chris Bellamy in on the action as he hauled in a 44-yard pass on the opening play of the ensuing drive. NM State would also go through the air to finish the drive as Pavia connected with Trent Hudson for the touchdown to mark Hudson's eighth receiving touchdown of the season while also putting the home team ahead by 14 points.
Hot off his CUSA Defensive Player of the Week selection, Gabe Peterson later put an emphatic end to the quarter as he came up with a sack on third down as the time expired.
Scoring plays: Jamoni Jones rushing TD (1 yard); Trent Hudson receiving TD (11 yards)
End Q1: NM State 14, Jax State 0
SECOND QUARTER
After turning the ball over on downs by way of a failed attempt at gaining a first down on 4th-and-1, the Aggies punted the ball back to the Gamecocks who entered the red zone on their first play of the drive. Fortunately, the Aggie defense stood tall and forced Jax State to attempt a 33-yard field goal which it made to reduce the deficit to 11 points.
The Aggies returned to the ground game on the following drive as they fed freshman Makhilyn Young who had back-to-back carries of 24 yards and 14 yards, respectively. Unfortunately, the third Young handoff resulted in the first of six turnovers to occur in the Saturday evening showdown – giving the ball back to Jax State. Ultimately, the Aggies would emerge unaffected from the turnover as Jax State went down the field and missed a 36-yard field goal – keeping the Aggies ahead 14-3 with a little over three minutes remaining on the clock.
Later, the Aggies would take advantage of their own offensive production as Ethan Albertson split the uprights from 27 yards out as the remaining ticks ran off the clock to send NM State into the locker room with a 14-point advantage.
Scoring plays: Alen Karajic field goal (22 yards); Ethan Albertson field goal (27 yards)
End Q2: NM State 17, Jax State 3
THIRD QUARTER
After combining to score 20 points in the opening two quarters of action, the scoring would subside in the third quarter as neither side added points during the third stanza. The best opportunity for either side to come away with points in the quarter came when the Aggies drove the ball 46 yards down to the Jax State one-yard line. However, during the Aggies attempt at pushing it across the goal line, a Gamecock defender knocked the ball loose while a second defender jumped on the ball to avoid giving the Aggies complete control of the game.
With possession, Jax State ran just five plays before the Aggie defense came up with a turnover of its own as Myles "Ghost" Rowser intercepted a pass that sailed over the head of the Gamecock receiver. Before the Aggie faithful could embrace the joy, Jax State would take the ball right back as Pavia threw an interception on the very first play of the ensuing drive. Initially, it appeared as though the Gamecock defender would return the ball to the end zone, however, for the second straight week, Pavia put an end to an interception return as he brought the interceptor at the nine-yard line after a 62-yard return.
Scoring plays: None
End Q3: NM State 17, Jax State 3
FOURTH QUARTER
The tackle made by Diego Pavia near the end of the third quarter would prove to be worth four points as Jax State's following drive spanned just four plays and actually resulted in a loss of one yard – setting up Karajic for his second field goal of the game.
The Aggies' offense remained scoreless in the second half following its first drive of the fourth quarter as Zach Haynes punted the ball back to the Gamecocks with the lead at 11 points. Jax State then drove the ball deep into Aggie territory before a poorly placed pass ended up in the arms of Aggie defender Dylan Early who stood at the back of the crimson-painted end zone.
Once again, the Aggie offense failed to give its defense much of a break as the Gamecocks came away with their second interception of the night. Moments later, the opposing sideline was injected with life as it scored a touchdown before capping it off with a two-point conversion to shrink the Aggies' lead to just three points.
The next Aggie drive was stymied by a drive-killing sack as the momentum fully swung to Jax State which used its next drive to travel to the Aggies' 10-yard line. However, the Aggie defense once again leaned on its bend, don't break mentality as it limited the Gamecocks to a field goal which tied the game at 17 points with just 43 seconds remaining on the clock.
After six consecutive drives which resulted in three punts and three turnovers, Diego Pavia and the Aggie offense produced when it need to most. Pavia used the first snap of the drive to rush 10 yards, however, NM State was going to need at least one chunk play to even give itself a chance at avoiding overtime. The Aggies got just that on the very next play as Pavia found Trent Hudson for a 37-yard completion – moving the ball down to the Jax State 28-yard line. While most collegiate teams would see 21 seconds on the clock and feel the need to take shots at the end zone, Head Coach Jerry Kill showed ultimate faith in senior kicker Ethan Albertson as he ran the ball two times to line the ball up in the center of the field and set up for a 42-yard game-winning field goal attempt. Albertson then rewarded Coach Kill by calmly knocking in one of the biggest kicks of his illustrious Aggie career.
Scoring plays: Alen Karajic field goal (27 yards); Malik Jackson rushing touchdown (11 yards); Alen Karajic field goal (27 yards); Ethan Albertson field goal (52 yards)
FINAL: NM State 20, Jax State 17
##NM State##
