Highlands and Colorado State-Pueblo, the nation’s No. 1 ranked Division II team this week after previous leader Pittsburg State was knocked off Saturday, lead the RMAC with their perfect records in the conference.
Chadron State, which is 5-2 overall, is next with a 4-1 conference record.
Highlands opened the season by downing arch-rival Eastern New Mexico 42-14 and has defeated Fort Lewis 50-0, Colorado Mines 42-37, Colorado Mesa 40-36, Western State 31-17 and Adams State 34-20 in conference clashes.
“They’re very talented and very athletic,” CSC head coach Jay Long told the Eagles Booster Club on Monday. “They’re a very good football team. We’ll need to play very well to beat them.”
The Cowboys definitely have a high-powered offense, led by quarterback Emmanuel Lewis. A 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior from Bakersfield, Calif., Lewis is averaging 406.8 yards a game to lead Division II in total offense.
He’s completed 164 of 283 passes for 2,306 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’s thrown just four interceptions. He’s also run for 130 yards, despite losing 116 yards while being sacked.
“When he gets his feet set, he can throw darts,” said CSC defensive coordinator Jeff Larson. “He’s dangerous. We’ll give him some different looks and try to mix up our defenses against him, but he’ll give us some trouble, I’m sure.”
Like many RMAC teams, the Cowboys largely depend on the pass for their offense. Larson said Lewis spreads the ball around to several receivers and all of them appear to have excellent speed.
“We’ll have to do well with our coverages and do a good job of making tackles in the open field,” Larson added.
The top receiver is Darius Davis, who has 41 catches for 725 yards and eight touchdowns. Another major threat is Kevon Williams, who has 42 receptions for 574 yards and four TDs.
The leading rusher through seven games is Lavelle Peterson, who has 54 carries for 219 yards. He shares playing time with Wayne Jacobs, who has 46 totes for 131 yards.
The Cowboys have some kingpins on defense, too. Among them is senior linebacker Jordan Campbell, who was the RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and received this week’s RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after making 17 tackles, including 3.5 for lost yardage, against Adams State last Saturday.
Another standout is cornerback Abdul Kanneh, who leads the RMAC with six pass interceptions.
Highlands got off to a fast start last fall, winning its first four games. However, injuries wiped out three quarterbacks and the Cowboys lost their last seven games. Lewis led them to their first two victories and his successors were at the controls during victories the next two weeks.
But, by the time Highlands came to Chadron to play the Eagles on Oct. 15, Clint Barnard, a converted linebacker, was calling the signals. The Cowboys had eight turnovers in the game, including five fumbles that the Eagles recovered in the first quarter, when CSC built a 24-0 lead en route to a 42-12 triumph.
The Eagles have won 17 of the 20 games in the series. Highlands’ last win over CSC was in 1998 by a 31-28 score on a late field goal.
Williams, the wide receiver, and Toni Cognasi, a guard, are the only returning starters on the Highlands’ offense from a year ago when the Cowboys came to Chadron. Besides Campbell and Kanneh, just two others who start this year were in the starting defensive lineup a year ago against the Eagles.
Saturday’s game has some major implications for both teams. The winner has a good shot at making the Division II playoffs, particularly if it can win the remaining three games. However, the loser on Saturday could have a rough time reaching the postseason.
Left on the Eagles’ schedule after Saturday are Western New Mexico, Fort Lewis and Colorado Mines. The Cowboys will still have to play Black Hills State, CSU-Pueblo and Western New Mexico.