GUNNISON, Colo. – Western State Colorado University football fans breathed a sigh of relief Saturday. The Mountaineers were able to fend off the New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys for their first victory of the season. Western trounced the Cowboys 26-16 in front of a rowdy Mountaineer Bowl home crowd.
 
Western (1-7, 1-7 RMAC) set the tone early. After stalling on the first drive of the game, Western was forced to punt. The unrelenting Mountaineer defense forced a three-and-out on NMHU's (2-6, 1-6 RMAC) first possession of the game.
 
Forced to punt, the Cowboys kicked the ball to one of the most dangerous returners in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Rodray Perkins fielded the punt at Western's 33-yard line, cruised past the 11 Cowboys on the field, and waltzed into the end zone for the first score of the game.
 
 Just like the Cowboys' first possession, Western's defense stood firm, unwilling to give even an inch. After three downs, NMHU was forced to punt again. After two drives, the Cowboys had amassed -2 yards on offense.
 
Western started the following drive on the Highland's 35 yard line after the Cowboys elected to not punt to Perkins, but rather kick it out of bounds. It took six plays, before the Mountaineer offense found the end zone. Quarterback Easton Bruere followed his center one yard into pay dirt for the score, giving Western a 13-0 lead with 6:37 left in the first quarter.
 
Bruere threw for 88 yards on Saturday and ran for 49, including the one-yard touchdown sneak.
 
Assisting the Mountaineer running attack was redshirt freshman Ty Leyba. The running back was a problem for Cowboy defenders all game, running for a career high 111 yards.
 
Leyba is the first Western player to break the century mark in rushing yards this season.
 
In the second half, NMHU focused on getting the ball into the hands of their playmaker, running back Rodolph Zleh. Zleh scored the first touchdown of the day for the Cowboys, breaking a 63 yard run for the score.
 
Zleh's 63 yard run accounted for nearly 70 percent of NMHU's rushing yards. The Mountaineer defense allowed just 91 yards on the ground in the win.
 
Zleh also had another big play receiving a 60 yard pass for a touchdown to put NMHU down 10, 26-16 with 7:55 left to play.
 
Western kicker Max Smith was 2-of-3 in field goals. Smith hit from 27 and 37 yards.
 
Along with Perkins, kick returner Kyree Gerstle-Goodman gave the Cowboy coverage team fits. Goodman had three terrific kickoff returns for 102 yards, including a 51-yarder.
 
Kacin Nowlin led the Mountaineer defense in tackles with six, while adding one tackle for a loss.
 
Elijah Gilbert scored the other Mountaineer touchdown on the day. Gilbert took a sweeping carry into the end zone from one yard out at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter.
 
The Mountaineers will play their final road game of the season next Saturday. Western will travel to CSU-Pueblo for a 2 p.m. game in the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.